Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a general intensifier, excellent, first-rate, very large, very unpleasant etc.

c.1858		J.H. Green Reformed Gambler 119: ‘That gentleman, sir, I presume to be a preacher, and its quite likely he’ll accommodate you.’ ‘You know him, don’t you? Just get him to give us a snorting sarmint.’.
1873		Wkly News-Democrat (Emporia, KS) 7 Mar. 2/6: A cold, chilly, cheerless, chopping, hell-snorting, rip-roaring wind came down on us.
1880		in M. Lewis Mining Frontier (1967) 98: Amerriky’s a hell-snortin’ big piece of land.
1900		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 10 Oct. 1/1: Next to owning a ring-tail, sporting good horse, the best thing is to own a pretty good one.
1907		C.E. Mulford Bar-20 xi: Yore th’ snortingest ki-yi that ever stuck its tail atween its laigs, yu are.
1914		Sun (NY) 10 May 8/2: They have given the fellow one snorting good time.
1922		Times (Munster, IN) 9 June 9/1: In the fifth round of a vicious hel-snorting fight [...] Tremblay [...] tossed in the sponge.
1923		M. Garahan Stiffs 289: After a snorting supper we were dallying with black beer.
1924		San Anselmo Herald 25 Apr. 1/1: He radiates peace [...] when everything is quiet in the forests. But give him a man-made fire and he’s a hell-snorting officer of the law.
1944		W. Blair Tall Tale America 1: From the beginning, we Americans have had a better stock of snarling, snorting, rock-ribbed hardships than any other country.
1999		Guardian G2 18 Aug. 11: Not a snorting great debt, is it?