
James Butler Hickok
lived a fast, violent life. A union scout/spy, frontiersman, buffalo hunter and lawman, Wild Bill was murdered just days after arriving in Deadwood, Dakota Territories in 1876. continued
Authentic
Old West Hats
The Cowboy Hat defines the wearer. . . .
A 19th century cowboy prized his old west hat above all things – with good reason. It was often worth a month or two’s wages – and that made it very expensive. The cowboy likely spent hours personalizing the hat with creases to the crown and molding the brim – making it his.
An old west cowboy would go to hell and back to retrieve a misplaced cowboy hat and it was seldom further than an arm’s length away.
Old Fashion Quality
You won’t find these western hats at your nearest mall. Many of the brim shapes or crowns may look familiar – may even be the same – but they are poor imitations, cookie-cutter designs. They are mass produced and available virtually anywhere. Don’t follow the herd – strike out on your own with a classic custom western hat from The Last Best West.
The Last Best Cowboy Hat
We start with the best fur-felt hat body available – made in the USA – and fashion as fine a hand-made western hat as you can find anywhere, for any price. Don’t believe us? Read our testimonials page.
You’ve owned the rest, now wear the best!

Top of San Juan Hill
The 1898 Rough Rider
Crown: centre trench/side pinch
Brim: hand rolled – Open.
Hatband: 1″ Satin with 1898 bow. Color: Sahara in 20X Fur-felt
Teddy Roosevelt called these short 4 months in 1898 the most exciting of his life; culminating in leading his “Rough Riders” up San Juan Hill in that storied charge. If you look at any picture of the US Expeditionary Force, you’ll see almost as many brim and crown treatments of the same basic hat as there are soldiers.
Our thanks to the Major and his Roughriders for the honor of making 4 custom
1898 Roughriders’ Hats for the Commander and 3 Non-Com’s of USF-1. Color: Pecan
From: Uhe, Roger C MAJ USA USF-I J-3 Convoy Ops/Rough Riders
Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2010
To: ‘Sonja’ Subject: Rough Rider Hat
Howdy Sonja: The hat arrived safely and is now a part of the unit. Attached is a photo of me with one of my “horses” in our motor pool. As you can tell from vehicle and me we are both old war horses. But the hat looks great! With Honor and Success!
MOUNT UP!
ROGER C. “CHANCE” UHE
MAJ, FA
USF-I ROUGH RIDERS
Commanding
Old West Cowboys and their Hats
Up until the turn of the 20th Century most cowboy hats were sold in Mail Order Catalogs. In those days if the local haberdasher didn’t have the hat you wanted, he likely had a catalog to order one from. The first cowboy hats were all made from 100% beaver fur-felt, natural and undyed, and worth their weight in gold to working cowboys and all other Westerners.
The Montgomery Ward Catalog of 1872 was the first to offer a “Western Sombrero” for sale to the public. Like our open crown cowboy hat, Captain Call, most hats were shipped with uncreased crowns, and little shape to the brim. Manufacturers knew that most cowboys would personalize the hat themselves so they shipped unfinished. Remember Hoss from Bonanza and his big dang hat? That was the most authentic old west hat of any of the Bonanza cast.
The Hickok
Crown: 3 3/4″ Texas Flat
Brim: 4 1/2″ Pencil Roll Bound
Hatband: 1 1/2″ Satin with Bow
Color: Black
Many re-enactors rely on us to create their prized western hat, because of our attention to detail and ability to re-create historical hats from only a picture.
Bill Hickok was larger than life and he liked his hats the same way – this is our best guess on what Wild Bill was wearing in the picture at right.
We start with an oversized hat body to make this classic western hat, with a short crown and wide brim.
The Custer
Crown: 4″ Soft Pecan
Brim: Hand shaped right center pushed up
Hatband: 1 1/2″ Satin with Bow
Color: Rust with black hatband and bound edge
George Custer and Wild Bill were contemporaries, and according to history Custer thought very highly of the tall, rangy plainsmen.
Hickock acted as scout for Custer in 1868 and it is interesting that Custer and Hickok died within a few months of each other, in 1876, Custer at the Little Big Horn, and Hickok in Deadwood, Dakota Territories.
Here’s a great example how any of our custom hand made hats can be put into service for any type of use. Guitar Master, James Thornbury, sporting a modified Custer hat is just one fine example.
From: Rhyl Lewis Sent: January-13-13
To: service at thelastbestwest.com
Subject: Thornbury Custom Lid
Hi Sonja, We are loving James’s custom lid (Modified Custer) and wanted to send you a glimpse of its new home. Next time James will be gigging in it! Thanks for everything. Rhyl and James in Australia.

A classic single action holster
Custom Cowboy Leather
Hand-made custom gun leather, Indian style rifle sheaths, chaps, and leather accessories that most every old west cowboy and wrangler would have needed to be a real Buckaroo.
All our Cowboy leather has been researched and designed; tried and tested in Old West Shows and at Cowboy Action Shoots. Our holsters; belts and chaps are based on pictures from museums, archival photos and mail order catalogues from the Old West Era: The late 1800s and early decades of the 20th century.
The Wasey
(pronounced: Way see)
Modified Sagebrush shaped crown was one of the most common of the first few decades of the 20th century.
Made famous in the early silent westerns by pioneering movie maker and star William S. Hart.
Hart lived the old west and wore this Sagebrush crown shape with many different brim styles.
Shown here in an Undyed Natural color in 100% beaver fur-felt.
As the name implies, the color is a rich mid-brown, similar to a beaver’s pelt. This crown shape traces back to old time handling dents.
The Ten Gallon Hat
Legendary slang from the old west – this is a common term for a very large cowboy hat – along the same size as our Wasey. The idea being you could carry ten gallons of water in it for your horse. Well, the 10 gallon hat doesn’t exist – simple as that. This was a misinterpretation by Texas Cowboys of the Spanish word, “galón” that Mexican Vaqueros used to describe the narrow, braided trimming they used to decorate the crowns of their hats. In reality the largest cowboy hat crown would barely hold one gallon of water, and any hat that would hold 10 gallons would be so large and unwieldy that it’d be un wearable – just ask Homer Simpson!
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Augustus
$310.00 – $700.00 Select options -
Captain Call
$310.00 – $700.00 Select options -
Samuel Jones Movie Hat
$310.00 – $700.00 Select options -
Sundance Kid Cowboy Hat
$310.00 – $700.00 Select options -
Hickok Old West Cowboy Hat
$335.00 – $740.00 Select options -
Yellowstone Kelly
$335.00 – $740.00 Select options -
Jeb Stuart Hat
$325.00 – $740.00 Select options -
Plainsman Custom Hat
$330.00 – $740.00 Select options -
Westerner Movie Hat
$325.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Pinkerton Custom Town Hat
$305.00 – $700.00 Select options -
The General Custom Handmade Hat
$305.00 – $700.00 Select options -
Boss of the Town Hat
$285.00 – $660.00 Select options -
Have Gun Will Travel Dress Hat
$315.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Butch Cassidy Handmade Bowler
$305.00 – $700.00 Select options -
Jolan Custom Handmade Dress Hat
$305.00 – $700.00 Select options -
Virgil Cole Movie Hat
$315.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Pale Preacher Movie Hat
$305.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Tristan Movie Hat
$305.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Alfred Legends of the Fall Hat
$305.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Ike Clanton Movie Hat
$305.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Doc Holliday Cowboy Hat
$305.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Curly Bill Custom Cowboy Hat
$335.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Texas Jack Vermillion Hat
$315.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Tall T Custom Cowboy Hat
$325.00 – $720.00 Select options -
Paladin
$325.00 – $760.00 Select options -
Dead Eye Marston
$330.00 – $740.00 Select options -
Will Munny Cowboy Hat
$325.00 – $715.00 Select options -
Darling Clementine Cowboy Hat
$305.00 – $715.00 Select options -
Col. Yorke Old West Cavalry Hat
$310.00 – $715.00 Select options -
Hondo Custom Cowboy Hat
$310.00 – $715.00 Select options -
Nat Love Handmade Hat
$325.00 – $740.00 Select options -
Big Jim Cowboy Hat
$325.00 – $715.00 Select options -
Texican Movie Hat
$325.00 – $715.00 Select options -
Rock’n Billy
$315.00 – $715.00 Select options -
Little Hoss
$315.00 – $700.00 Select options -
USMC M1902 Campaign Hat
$305.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Roughrider
$305.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Wasey
$325.00 – $740.00 Select options -
Boot Hill Old West Cowboy Hat
$320.00 – $740.00 Select options -
Custer Civil War Cowboy Hat
$335.00 – $740.00 Select options -
Lt. Col. Kilgore
$315.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Officer’s Slouch Civil War Cavalry Hat
$315.00 – $720.00 Select options -
1890s Cavalry Hat
$305.00 – $700.00 Select options -
Working Champie Cowboy Hat
$305.00 – $735.00 Select options -
Northwest Peak Cowboy Hat
$305.00 – $710.00 Select options -
Rocky Mountain Ranger Cowboy Hat
$325.00 – $715.00 Select options -
Short Grub Character Hat
$315.00 – $700.00 Select options -
Union Cavalry Hat
$335.00 – $690.00 Select options -
Bohannon Cowboy Hat
$300.00 – $675.00 Select options -
Buffalo Bill Cody Commemorative Hat
$355.00 – $765.00 Select options