<P> Riding shotgun was used to describe the guard who rode alongside a stagecoach driver, ready to use his shotgun to ward off bandits or hostile Native Americans . In modern use, it refers to the practice of sitting alongside the driver in a moving vehicle . The phrase has been used to mean giving actual or figurative support or aid to someone in a situation . The earliest coining of this phrase dates to at most 1919 . </P> <P> 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 ." </P> <P> Driven by Alex Toponce and A.Y. Ross, an old fashioned stage coach made in 1853 and used on the Deadwood stage line in the early days of Wyoming, will appear in Ogden streets on the day of the Golden Spike celebration . </P>

Where did the saying riding shotgun come from
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