The hanging of Tom Horn on November 20, 1903, marked the end of the Old West, a place and an era ultimately strangled by railroads, telegraph wires,...
The Shirt of a Condemned Man
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G. Daniel DeWeese
The Vanity Plates of Footwear
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a picture and an 80-word description were still inadequate for style number 3542, one of Justin Boot Co.’s...
Vested Interest
Mustaches, hats, boots and vests became sartorial staples among males in the American West during the 1800s. Case in point is the accompanying...
Great Movie (and TV) Hats
Despite the television show’s invitation to return to “those thrilling days of yesteryear,” The Lone Ranger of the 1950s depicted times, places and...
The Tombstone Legacy
On Wyatt Earp’s arrival in Tombstone in the 1993 movie Tombstone, the preening and corrupt Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan bragged about the...
This is a Hold Up
The jaundiced characterization of a dandified, belt-wearing, young riverboat hand is vintage Mark Twain—and a puzzle. After all, men seldom wore...
Custer’s Dash
Courageous. Brilliant. Foolhardy. Ambitious. Insubordinate. Aloof. Flamboyant. Vainglorious. These are all terms used by contemporaries and...
The Mexican Hat Dance
The elegant Californio gentleman shown in the accompanying photo may or may not have ever danced on his hat, as the fellow did in Allan Sherman’s...
A Rustler’s Roughouts
In rock ’n’ roll’s first across-the-charts hit, written on a paper bag in 1955 by Carl Perkins, the singer admonishes his dance partner not to step...
On Wild Bunch Time
The infamous Wild Bunch made a trip to Fort Worth, Texas, in November 1900 to attend the wedding of gang member Will Carver to Callie May Hunt, one...
The Tucked-In Rangers
During the Canadian River Campaign of 1858, Texas Ranger Capt. John “Rip” Ford wore his striped trousers tucked into heavy-top boots. In the most...
Let’s Rodeo
Wild West shows and frontier rodeos are largely responsible for the distinctive styling and flare seen on cowboy shirts today. The arena cowboys...