Editing Riding shotgun (section)

==Etymology==
The expression "riding shotgun" is derived from "[[shotgun messenger]]", a colloquial term for "express messenger", when [[stagecoach]] travel was popular during the American [[American frontier|Wild West]] and the [[Colonialism|Colonial]] period in [[Australia]]. The person rode alongside the driver. The first known use of the phrase "riding shotgun" was in the 1905 novel ''The Sunset Trail'' by [[Alfred Henry Lewis]].<ref name="sunsettrail" /> 

{{Blockquote|Wyatt and Morgan Earp were in the service of The Express Company. They went often as guards—"riding shotgun," it was called—when the stage bore unusual treasure.|author=Alfred Henry Lewis|title=''The Sunset Trail''|source=Chapter 14}}

It was later used in print and especially film depiction of stagecoaches and wagons in the [[Old West]] in danger of being robbed or attacked by [[bandit]]s. A special armed employee of the express service using the stage for transportation of bullion or cash would sit beside the driver, carrying a short [[shotgun]] (or alternatively a [[rifle]]),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fradkin |first=Philip L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QILdMe7lYXgC |title=Stagecoach: Wells Fargo and the American West |date=April 24, 2002 |publisher=[[Simon and Schuster]] |isbn=978-0-743227-62-9 |location=New York, New York |language=en |oclc=893160059 |author-link=Philip L. Fradkin |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> to provide an armed response in case of threat to the cargo, which was usually a strongbox.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Agnew |first=Jeremy |title=The Old West in Fact and Film: History Versus Hollywood |publisher=[[McFarland & Company, Inc.]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-786468-88-1 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |pages=17 |language=en |oclc=817224898}}</ref> Absence of an armed person in that position often signaled that the stage was not carrying a strongbox, but only passengers.<ref name="phrases">{{cite web |last=Martin |first=Gary |title=Riding shotgun |url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/riding-shotgun.html |access-date=May 1, 2010 |work=The Phrase Finder}}</ref>