cuff or gauntlet from which hung a little fringe to flutter in
the wind when he rode at full speed on horseback.

The cowboy's hat was one of the typical and striking features of
his costumes. It was a heavy, wide, white felt hat with a heavy
leather band buckled about it. There has been no other head
covering devised so suitable as the Stetson for the uses of the
Plains, although high and heavy black hats have in part
supplanted it today among stockmen. The boardlike felt was
practically indestructible. The brim flapped a little and, in
time, was turned up and perhaps held fast to the crown by a
thong. The wearer might sometimes stiffen the brim by passing a
thong through a series of holes pierced through the outer edge.
He could depend upon his hat in all weathers. In the rain it was
an umbrella; in the sun a shield; in the winter he could tie it
down about his ears with his handkerchief.

Loosely thrown about the cowboy's shirt collar was a silk
kerchief. It was tied in a hard knot in front, and though it
could scarcely be said to be devoted to the uses of a neck scarf,
yet it was a great comfort to the back of the neck when one was
riding in a hot wind. It was sure to be of some bright color,
usually red. Modern would-be cowpunchers do not willingly let
this old kerchief die, and right often they over-play it. For the
cowboy of the "movies," however, let us register an unqualified
contempt. The real range would never have been safe for him.

A peculiar and distinctive feature of the cowboy's costume was
his "chaps" (chaparejos). The chaps were two very wide and
full-length trouser-legs made of heavy calfskin and connected by