Come hell or high water

At first glance, the expression come hell or high water meaning that no obstacle can stand in the way of completing a task or assignment, appears almost Shakespearian in tonality. Nothing could be further from the truth. The expression is American and dates from the late 19th/early 20th century deriving its origin from the relentless cattle drives from the ranges to the railheads of the mid-West. Cattle drovers would go through hell and high water to get their herds to market. American newspapers writing about these tough, hazardous cattle drives were the first publications to use the expression in print.