Dutchmans Flat (Ss) (1986) by L'amour Louis

Author:L'amour, Louis [L'amour, Louis]
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2010-12-12T06:26:18.062000+00:00

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AUTHOR'S NOTE McQueen of the Tumbling

A working cowboy seldom wore a coat. It impeded the free action of his shoulders in roping as well as in many other activities, so he settled for a vest, usually worn open. The vest pockets carried his tobacco sack and such odds and ends as he believed necessary. Later, when there were pockets in shirts, the tobacco sack was relegated to a breast pocket with the paper tag hanging out, easy to the hand.

Shirts in the earlier days were without pockets and without collars. When a man "dressed up" he wore a starched collar or one made of celluloid. Although the latter was easy to clean, it had to be kept from contact with heat, particularly from cigars, cigarettes, or even warm ashes. A celluloid collar had a way of vanishing in a burst of flame, often followed by every thing in the vicinity.

The bandanna, worn loosely about the neck, usually with the full part hanging in front, was not worn for decoration. It was probably the most useful item a cowboy wore. Over a hundred possible uses have been found. Usually it was pulled up to cover the nose and mouth when riding "drag" in the dust behind a moving herd of cattle or horses. It could be used as a bandage, a sling for a broken arm, to strain water for drinking, to protect the back of the neck from sun, and so on.

Bandannas were nearly always red. This was not a matter of choice, as other colors were not to be found. Later, blue bandannas with polkadots were made and sold largely to rail road men, for whom blue seemed a uniform color. Occasionally, of course, a cowboy would wear a silk neckerchief, which might be of any color.

Shirt collars, whether starched or celluloid, were attached to the shirt by collar buttons, one behind and one in front. Collar buttons were one of the most refractory, obstinate, and just downright ornery objects a human ever had to deal with and probably were the cause of more profanity than anything man invented until the arrival of the Model-T Ford. Invariably, in the course of a man's struggle with a collar button it would slip from his fingers and roll into the most inaccessible place in the room. It was never possible to simply stoop down and pick up a collar button.

One always had to get down on one's knees and reach under whatever piece of furniture was nearby and feel around for the missing object. It has been reliably reported that even ministers of the gospel used unseemly language on such occasions.

At first cowboys, as was the case with any working man, wore whatever old clothing they possessed.

Pieces of uniforms from the Civil War were often seen, and especially the over coats, in both gray and blue. These were warm, highly efficient garments and their presence on the frontier was obvious for at least forty years after the war's end. They were superseded in many cases by the buffalo\coat.

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