ing anything suitable for their purpose, and making
their selections rather with a view to the durability, than the
handsomeness, of the clothing.

But in years gone by, there was almost as much fashion changing among
the men on the prairie as among the woman in the drawing-room. At the
close of the war the first of the arbitrary dictates of fashion went
out. A special form of stirrup was introduced. It was very narrow and
exceedingly inconvenient, but it was considered the right thing, and so
everybody used it. Rawhide was used in place of lines, and homespun
garments were uniform. Calfskin leggings, made on the prairie, with the
hair on the outside, were first worn, and large umbrella-like straw hats
came into use. A little later it was decided the straw hat was not
durable enough for the purpose. When excited a cowboy frequently starts
his horse with his hat, and when he is wearing a straw, four or five
sharp blows knock out of the hat any semblance it may ever have had to
respectability and symmetry. The wide brim woolen hat was declared to be
the correct thing, and every one was glad of the change. The narrow
stirrup gave place to a wider one, and the stirrup leather was shortened
so as to compel the rider to keep his knees bent the whole time. The
most important change in fashion twenty years ago, was the introduction
of tanned leather leggings and of handsome bridles. Many a man now pays
two or three months' wages for his bridle, and since the fashion came
in, it is probable that many thousand dollars have been invested in
ornamental headgear for prairie horses and ponies. A new saddle, as well
as bow and tassel decorations, also came in at this period, and it is to
be admitted that for a time exaggeration in clothing became general. It
is an old joke on the prairie that the average man's hat costs him more
than his clothes.

Many a cowboy earning $30.00 a month has spent three times that sum on
his saddle alone. More than one man earning $25.00 a month has invested
every cent of his salary in silver buckles for his strange looking hat.
Equally extravagant is the average man as to his saddle, bridle, and
even spurs and bit. Those who talk so much about the bad habits of these
people, will hardly credit the fact that many a cowboy abstains from
liquor and tobacco for an entire year at a stretch, simply because he
wants to purchase some article of attire, which he thinks will make him
the envy of the entire ranch.