Cold Weather Hat

[Two Bit Charlie]

I want to finish my cold weather outfit. I've got a mackinaw, I've got a pair of horse hide mittens, i just need a cold weather hat. What would a Wyoming or Montana cowboy have for a winter hat in the later 1870's or early 1880's? I know the army had muskrat hats. Would they have been used by civilians? Or what about the mountain man hats, you know the ones with a fox, or any other animal, face and tail. Or is that from an earlier time frame?

Thanks

Two-Bit Charlie

[St. George]

He'd wear anything in that line that you can find in a reprint "Sears, Roebuck & Co' or 'Montgomery Wards' catalog.

That's where the dry goods store got their goods, and where everyone else bought pretty much everything they could want, via mail order.

Your local library should have copies.

Scouts Out!

[nativeshootist]

maybe a buffalo fur hat? I know the time you described the buffalo fashion was just hit its peak and was probably descending at that point . so I think a fur cap wouldn't be too out of place.

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[Coffinmaker]

I gave the question some serious thought.  From a personal standpoint, if it's cold enough outside, I need a special had to keep my head warm, I'd be staying inside ..... thank you.

On a practical note, I've never seen pictures of cowboys in actual Winter.  No Clue.

[LongWalker]

I've seen pics of working cowboys in the late 1880s-early 1900s wearing caps similar to the military muskrat caps.  In the earliest pics, the caps looked to have a "peak" or "point" like the early military caps.  None of the pics were clear enough to really identify the caps for certain. 

That said, period accounts seem to mention wrapping a scarf or similar over the top of the cowboy hat and tying it under the chin.  the brim of the hat folds down like ear flaps. 

I've worn both in unpleasant weather (sub-zero, with winds >30 mph).  The muskrat hat is warmer, brim could be a little longer to shade the eyes.  Both call for a scarf or strip of blanketing wrapped around the neck to cover that unpleasantly-exposed spot at the base of the neck.

BTW, in that weather--not unusual for the High Plains--the winds are going to cut through your mackinaw like an ice knife.  A duster over the top will help a lot, as will knit gloves worn under the horsehide mittens. 

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

There is a photo of Wild Bill Hickok wearing a  fur hat in 1873-74.  The photo was taken at Deadwood and since he was in Deadwood during the summer, it is not explained why he was wearing a fur hat.  Source - The West of Wild Bill Hickok by Joseph G. Rosa, published by University of Oklahoma.

[Coal Creek Griff]

For reference, here is the Wild Bill photo.

I'm also attaching a photo of Frank Canton, AKA Joe Horner, of Johnson County War fame.  That photo is likely taken later than the period you mentioned, but it's the only one that came immediately to mind.

CC Griff

[Two Bit Charlie]

So, I would be in character with any fur hat, be it beaver, muskrat, buffalo or what ever?

Thank you for the info. I like to dress in character in public at times and the wool railroad hats came much later.

Two-Bit Charlie

[Coal Creek Griff]

I believe that your safest bet is to take St. George's advice and see what was actually available to the average person in the time period.  While the two photos I posted above do show fur hats, there are potential issues with each--Wild Bill had a certain amount of capital and eastern connections, as well as flair, that may have contributed to him wearing something out of the ordinary.  As I mentioned, the Frank Canton photo may be somewhat later than your period as well.  Does that mean that a Wyoming or Montana cowboy wouldn't wear those?  I don't know--I haven't done the research suggested.  I suspect that anything that was military issue or available in mail-order catalogs is the way to go.

CC Griff

[Grenadier]

Are Mackinaws correct for that time frame?

[Coffinmaker]

Mackinaw is a type of wool cloth.  Most of the "Mackinaw Hats" hats I've seen, more resembled a baseball cap with ear flaps and would have been from a much later period??

PS:  Currently, Duluth Trading Co. offers a nice Winter hat.  With the flaps tied up, would look a lot like the hat shown on WBH.  Were I personally going to be out inna cold and looking "period" I'd be seriously considering a Ushanka.  I don't like cold one little bit.

[Abilene]

I just looked in my copy of "I See By Your Outfit" which concerns cowboys of the northern plains, and all it says on the subject is:
"For winter wear, there was a variety of caps available.  The hunter's style wool or corduroy tie-top caps appear to have been the most popular among Wyoming's cowboys.  The scotch cap is also conspicuous in historic photographs.  Even so, these types of winter headgear only begin to appear in photographs of the late 1890s and after the turn of the century."

And they quote Teddy Blue Abbott, wiring about his cold weather gear in the winter of '86-87, and he mentions a "big sealskin cap."