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In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a shotgun messenger was a private "express messenger" and guard, especially on a stagecoach
Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled closed coach for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand....
 but also on a train
Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles that move along a track to rail transport from one place to another. The track usually consists of two rail tracks, but might also be a monorail or magnetic levitation train guideway....
, in charge of overseeing and guarding a valuable private shipment, such as particularly the contents of a strongbox (on a stagecoach) or safe (on a train). The express messenger for stagecoaches typically rode in a seat on top of the coach, next to the driver (this was usually on the driver's left, since stage drivers typically sat on the right).






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In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a shotgun messenger was a private "express messenger" and guard, especially on a stagecoach
Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled closed coach for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand....
 but also on a train
Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles that move along a track to rail transport from one place to another. The track usually consists of two rail tracks, but might also be a monorail or magnetic levitation train guideway....
, in charge of overseeing and guarding a valuable private shipment, such as particularly the contents of a strongbox (on a stagecoach) or safe (on a train). The express messenger for stagecoaches typically rode in a seat on top of the coach, next to the driver (this was usually on the driver's left, since stage drivers typically sat on the right). In the Old West
American Old West

For cultural influences and their development, see Western .The American Old West or Wild West comprises the history, geography, peoples, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States , most often referring to the period of the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of th...
 of the 1880s, if a stagecoach had only a driver and no Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Co. is a diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the 4th largest bank in the US by assets and the second largest bank by market cap....
 messenger, this meant the coach carried no strongbox, and was thus a less interesting target for "road agents" (bandits).

Wells Fargo Co. express messengers typically carried a short (or sawn-off
Sawed-off shotgun

A sawed-off shotgun also known as a sawn-off shotgun or a short-barreled shotgun , is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel and often a shorter or deleted stock ....
) 12- or 10-gauge
Gauge (bore diameter)

The Gauge of a shotgun is a Units of measurement of measurement used to express the diameter of the Gun barrel.The gauge of a barrel is equal to the number of solid spheres of lead each having the same diameter as the inside of the barrel that would in total weigh a pound ....
 double-barrelled shotgun
Shotgun

A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called lead shot, or a solid projectile called a shotgun slug....
, loaded with buckshot
Lead shot

Lead shot is a collective term for small balls of lead. It is used primarily as projectiles in shotguns, but is also used for a variety of other purposes....
. This was a most effective weapon in use against pursuing riders. Such weapons were sometimes referred to as "messenger shotguns" or, more commonly, "coach gun
Coach gun

A coach gun is a double-barrel shotgun, generally with barrels approximately 18" in length placed side by side . The name comes from the use of such shotguns on stagecoaches by shotgun messengers in the American Wild West and during the Colonialism period of Australia....
s" (a name still used today). To some extent these weapons also carried over to use by private guards in trains with strongboxes or safes, where they were again effective.

Like "gunslinger
Gunslinger

Gunfighter, also gunslinger, is a 20th century name, used in cinema or literature, referring to men in the American Old West who had gained a reputation as being dangerous with a gun....
", the actual term "riding shotgun" was apparently never used until the 1920s fiction about the Old West. See also "calling shotgun" which dates from use in autos to about 1954, at a time it was being used in the popular TV series Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
.

External links

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