Who was allowed to wear feathered bonnets and what did they signify?
Ken Sellers
Evant, Texas
Warriors were awarded feathers as the tribe’s acknowledgment of acts of bravery and honor—much like ribbons worn on military dress uniforms today. The meanings of individual feathers range from taking a scalp to counting coup (touching an enemy in battle) to capturing an enemy to being a battle leader to being wounded in battle.

True West March 2019
In This Issue:
Features
Western Books & Movies
To The Point
Departments
- Good Things to Eat
- Can You Tell me What Version of the Winchester ’73 Jimmy Stewart Used in the Movie of the Same Name?
- The Central Pacific’s Chinese Trail
- What Was the Availability of Eyeglasses Like in the Old West?
- Omaha is Still “All Aboard”
- Saratoga, Wyoming
- What History Has Taught Me: Dolan Ellis
- Dead Man Running
- Did Old West Cowboys Really Wear Bib Shirts?
- What Did Cowboys Do After Reaching the End of a Cattle Drive?
- The Big Fight
- Did Frontier Saloons Serve Cold Beer?
- Who Was Allowed to Wear Feathered Bonnets and What Did They Signify?
- What History Has Taught Me: Alan Rockman