What am I listening to?

One of the nice things about my daily commute is that I have time to listen to 'books-on-tape' and other stuff while sitting on the subway. Personally, I love audiobooks, especially as it gives me a chance to catch books I'd otherwise put aside for later. I'll listen to one book for half the trip and then open up whatever 'real' book I happen to have along.

I usually don't mention the audiobooks that I check out from the library, but just wanted to mention the most recent.

APPALOOSA is an unabridged version of the recent Western novel by Robert Parker. Parker is probably best known for the SPENSER series, which was adapted to television for a series and some made-for-tv movies. This particular novel tells the story of Hitch & Cole, two gunmen who become the law in the title town. Plenty of gunfights and other standard fare, with a plot which wouldn't surprise anyone who has seen a score of old western movies or episodes of GUNSMOKE. I'll give it three out of four spurs.

One of the reasons I mention the thing at all is the heavy use of the "F" bomb throughout. Now, now having ever seen the cable show DEADWOOD I can only go by what I've read. Apparently, the characters in that particular western are pretty fluent in the use of curse words. It's not that I'm offended by that type of language mind you, and Parker has used similar in his novels set in a contemporary Boston. I'm just curious to know if this particular four letter word was really that widely in use in late 19th century America.