a narrow belt or strap. They were cut away entirely at front and
back so that they covered only the thigh and lower legs and did
not heat the body as a complete leather garment would. They were
intended solely as a protection against branches, thorns, briers,
and the like, but they were prized in cold or wet weather.
Sometimes there was seen, more often on the southern range, a
cowboy wearing chaps made of skins tanned with the hair on; for
the cowboy of the Southwest early learned that goatskin left
with the hair on would turn the cactus thorns better than any
other material. Later, the chaps became a sort of affectation on
the part of new men on the range; but the old-time cowboy wore
them for use, not as a uniform. In hot weather he laid them off.

In the times when some men needed guns and all men carried them,
no pistol of less than 44-caliber was tolerated on the range, the
solid framed 45-caliber being the one almost universally used.
The barrel was eight inches long, and it shot a rifle cartridge
of forty grains of powder and a blunt-ended bullet that made a
terrible missile. This weapon depended from a belt worn loose
resting upon the left hip and hanging low down on the right hip
so that none of the weight came upon the abdomen. This was
typical, for the cowboy was neither fancy gunman nor army
officer. The latter carries the revolver on the left, the butt
pointing forward.

An essential part of the cow-puncher's outfit was his "rope."
This was carried in a close coil at the side of the saddle-horn,
fastened by one of the many thongs scattered over the saddle. In
the Spanish country it was called reata and even today is
sometimes seen in the Southwest made of rawhide. In the South it