he man. The cowboy's costume was
harmonious with its surroundings. It was planned upon lines of
such stern utility as to leave no possible thing which we may call
dispensable. The typical cowboy costume could hardly be said to contain
a coat and waistcoat. The heavy woolen shirt, loose and open at the
neck, was the common wear at all seasons of the year excepting winter,
and one has often seen cowboys in the winter-time engaged in work about
the yard or corral of the ranch wearing no other cover for the upper
part of the body but one or more of these heavy shirts. If the cowboy
wore a coat he would wear it open and loose as much as possible. If
he wore a "vest" he would wear it slouchily, hanging open or partly
unbuttoned most of the time. There was a reason for this slouchy habit.
The cowboy would say that the vest closely buttoned about the body would
cause perspiration, so that the wearer would quickly chill upon ceasing
exercise. If the wind were blowing keenly when the cowboy dismounted to
sit upon the ground for dinner, he would button up his waistcoat and be
warm. If it were very cold he would button up his coat also.

The cowboy's boots were of fine leather and fitted tightly, with light
narrow soles, extremely small and high heels. Surely a more irrational
foot-covering never was invented; yet these tight, peaked cowboy boots
had a great significance and may indeed be called the insignia of a
calling. There was no prouder soul on earth than the cowboy. He was
proud of being a horseman and had a contempt for all human beings who
walked. On foot in his tight-toed boots he was lost; but he wished it
to be understood that he never was on foot. If we rode beside him and
watched his seat in the big cow saddle we found that his high and narrow
heels prevented the slipping forward of the foot in the stirrup, into
which he jammed his feet nearly full length. If there was a fall, the
cowboy's foot never hung in the stirrup. In the corral roping,
afoot, his heels anchored him. So he found his little boots not so
unserviceable and retained them as a matter of pride. Boots made for
the cowboy trade sometimes had fancy tops of bright-colored leather. The
Lone Star of Texas was not infrequent in their ornamentation.

The curious pride of the horseman extended also to his gloves. The
cowboy was very careful in the selection of his gloves. They were made
of the finest buckskin, which could not be injured by wetting. Generally