THE HAT 165 



men " hat-wearers," and takes notice of our 

 baldness. Savages who wear no hats are never 

 bald. Why then should we wear hats ? I 

 think that on the range, if we began early 

 enough, we should do well to let our hair grow 

 for the protection of the head and the nape of 

 the neck from the sun. On the old American 

 Frontier the pioneers did grow long hair 

 because a man with no scalplock was not worth 

 killing, and therefore barred from councils of 

 the Indians. 



The primitive hat of the range was a disc of 

 bison skin, sodden, and the middle, thrust into 

 a hole in the ground, was filled with stones. 

 A leather string laced round the edge kept the 

 brim from flopping. A leather band fitted the 

 crown to the head. 



Later came a Mr. Stetson of Philadelphia, 

 with a copy of this range hat in beaver-fur felt 

 soaked in shellac, and so felted that the edges 

 did not flop. A bootlace round the front of the 

 hatband passed through an eyelet above each 

 ear, and was tied with a hard knot behind the 

 head. This prevented the hat from blowing 

 away and let in air behind the head to ventilate 

 the crown. Pinching the crown with four 

 dints for the words North West Mounted 

 Pohce, branded the cowboy Stetson as a 



