15. Western wear was usually not the famous Stetson hat
The great Stetson hat featured in film and television as the favored headwear of western settlers was not as common as believed. Especially among the men who made their living either through gambling or enforcing their will through the use of their guns, hats more often associated with the cities of the east were far more common. Bowlers and top hats were the preferred covers for gunslingers, who weren’t called gunslingers at the time. They were commonly referred to as shootists. Nor did the majority of them wear their guns in holsters slung low about their hips. Most carried their weapons in their belts or in shoulder holsters.
The Stetson hat didn’t become popular until near the end of the 19th century, and the headwear known to modernity as the cowboy hat wasn’t worn by most of the men in the cattle drives across the plains before that time. Slouch hats, kepis left over from wartime service, and even sombreros were what was worn by most. Another myth of the west was that men walked about town wearing their firearms. In reality, most towns quickly established areas in which firearms were off-limits, and visitors were required to check their weapons at the so-called gun line before conducting their business in town. Unable to carry openly, many fearing trouble carried smaller weapons concealed somewhere on their persons.