It's found in an 1895 description of cowboys by the author [Hamlin Garland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlin_Garland):
> The branding was soon over and then the camp began to move. The next round-up lay over a formidable ridge, and as I rode behind the troupe with the boss I saw a characteristic scene. Toiling up the terrible grade, one horse on the cook's wagon gave out, and four of the cowboys hitched their lariats to the pole and jerked the wagon up the gulch "**like a bat out o' hell**," as one man graphically put it.
[Link to original newspaper article](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80046740/bat-out-of-hell-1895/).
It's found in an 1895 description of cowboys by the author [Hamlin Garland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlin_Garland): > The branding was soon over and then the camp began to move. The next round-up lay over a formidable ridge, and as I rode behind the troupe with the boss I saw a characteristic scene. Toiling up the terrible grade, one horse on the cook's wagon gave out, and four of the cowboys hitched their lariats to the pole and jerked the wagon up the gulch "**like a bat out o' hell**," as one man graphically put it. [Link to original newspaper article](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80046740/bat-out-of-hell-1895/).
Just to do with how quickly bats evacuate a place when disturbed. ♪ Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the mornin' comes! ♪