It seems that this
colourfully
familiar but often
misunderstood term was intimately associated with the
ambitious project of the building of the
Union Pacific Railroad in the mid-
1860s.
As noted in the
Dictionary of the Range, Cow Camp and Trail (
1946): "This expression originated during the building of the Union Pacific Railway in
1867. As the rails were laid
westward, the
honkytonks,
gambling halls and
harlots were loaded on flatcars and moved to the new
terminals."
Now, the term tends to be used for those
drivers of
automobiles (or other
wheeled implements of
transportation, such as
bicycles,
motocycles or
inline skates) that proceed
recklessly and without
heed of their own
safety or the safety of others.