Galón means braid, and many Spanish hats in era had braids on them. The ten-gallon hat got its name from the Spanish word “Galón,” not because it could hold 10 gallons of water. Famous lawmen such as Wild Bill Hickok and Wyatt Earp wore low-crowned hats because giant cowboy hats would have made them easy targets for adversaries. In addition to the derby, men wore flat wool caps, Mexican sombreros, or old Civil War hats (such as the kepi).Īs for the ten-gallon hat, it would have been impractical, even if it was impressive to 20th-century moviegoers. Most photographs from that time feature men wearing them and one of the reasons they were popular is because they stayed on in windy conditions.įrontiersman typically wore hats related to their employment, and they were commonly made of beaver fur-felt and were natural in color. Men commonly wore hats on the American frontier, and derby hats were functional for various occasions.

An 1882 photo of Jesse James shows the outlaw in a low-crowned cap with an upturned brim. Wild Bill Hickok was photographed in a flat, pancake hat. The classic photo of American West gunfighter Billy the Kid depicts the outlaw wearing what resembles a top hat. Left to right: Bat Masterson, Billy the Kid, Wild Bill Hickok, and Jesse James.įamous gunslinger and gambler Bat Masterson also favored the derby. Longabaugh (the Sundance Kid), Ben Kilpatrick (the Tall Texan), Robert Leroy Parker (Butch Cassidy), Harvey Logan (Kid Curry), and Will Carver-donning derby hats. Photos of the Wild Bunch from 18 clearly show the gang-Harry A. A cowboy’s preferred choice of hat? The derby-also known as the bowler. The iconic Stetson came onto the market in 1865, and it wasn’t popular until the end of the 19 th century. They rarely fought Indians, they were more likely to die from falling off a horse than in a gunfight, and they didn’t wear those tall, wide-brimmed cowboy hats you see in Westerns. Sorry to burst your bubble, but in this weekly column, Ripley’s puts those delusions to the test, turning your world upside down, because you can’t always…Believe It!Ĭowboys are a symbol of the American Wild West, but there are some tales about them that aren’t true. In today’s world many misconceptions have been perpetuated-becoming modern day “facts”-when, in reality, myths and hearsay have taken over.

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