According to Wikipedia.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dude - The original use of dude implied an individual unfamiliar with the demands of life outside of urban settings, as in dude ranch, a ranch catering to urbanites seeking more rural experiences. The implicit contrast is with those persons accustomed to a given frontier, agricultural, mining or other exurban setting. This usage continues into the present.
The term "dude" was first used in print in 1870, in Putnam's Magazine.
One of the earliest books to use the word was The Home and Farm Manual, written by Jonathan Periam in 1883. In that work, Periam used the term "dude" several times to denote an ill-bred and ignorant, but ostentatious, man from the city. The term was also used as a job description such as "bush hook dude" as a position on a railroad in the 1880s.
