where did the saying riding shotgun come from
Riding shotgun The expression "riding shotgun" is derived from "shotgun messenger", a colloquial term for "express messenger", when stagecoach travel was popular during the American Wild West and the Colonial period in Australia. The person rode alongside the driver. The first known use of the phrase "riding shotgun" was by The Ogden Examiner in May 1919, in a story titled "Ross Will Again Ride Shotgun on Old Stage Coach."