The Cowboy Hat
The other day I was on my way fishing when a song came up on the radio by Chris Le Doux, entitled, This Cowboy Hat. I always liked that song. It reminded me a little bit of my cowboy hat. When I started guiding, I purchased a 6X Silverbelly Resistol hat from Eagle’s in West Yellowstone. It was way out of my price range, but I knew that a cheap felt or wool hat wouldn’t hold up. I wore that hat whenever I was on the river for roughly 15 years until I sunk my drift boat at the Fun Farm Diversion and lost it. I couldn’t find another one like it, so I purchased a 6X Stetson Billy Kid model with a chin strap. I wore it for another 20 years or so, but I never liked it as much as my Resistol. Eventually found another Resistol, the same model that George Strait wears.
My two hats got me on the cover of 7 fly fishing magazines. I’m sure the publishers didn’t want me; they wanted my hat. One day I was reading through one of the flyfishing magazines when I saw an advertisement from one of the prominent flyfishing companies featuring me and my hat. When I called them, they said they wanted an ad that featured an angler with the “Marlboro look”. I don’t smoke, never have, and I wasn’t very happy because I didn’t support the company. They agreed not to use it again. Another time I read a review of one of my videos. They guy made fun of my hat, as well as the way I talk. Otherwise, the review was pretty good.
Hearing the Chris Le Doux song took me back to a time when four lawyers from North Carolina traveled here to fish the Henry’s Fork. There were actually 3 attorneys. The lawyers included a father and adult son team, and another younger guy. The fourth member of their group was a pharmacist. They all had terrific personalities and were very fun to be around. They fished for a few days with our guides and also a few days on their own. One morning while they were getting ready to go out, the father asked me if he could take a look at my hat. It had had a lot of hard use, and it was weathered and worn. I let him try it on. The guy went nuts over it. He looked exactly like a lawyer wearing a cowboy hat. He asked if I would consider selling it to him. I asked him if he had heard of the song, “Don’t Mess Around with Jim”, by Jim Croce. Of course he had heard it. I told him they left out the fourth part. After “Don’t tug on Superman’s Cape, Don’t Spit into the Wind, Don’t Pull the Mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don’t mess around with Jim” they should have also included “Don’t try to buy a hat off a cowboy’s head.”I told him I would forgive him once, but he better not ask me again. I told him he should buy his own hat. He wanted to know where to buy one. I told him Eagle’s in West Yellowstone should have one like mine. They were heading to the park the following day and he was excited to go to Eagle’s.
The following morning, he came into the shop, dejected and down in the mouth. He told me he went to Eagle’s, but their hats were crisp and nice and looked like Roy Rogers’ hat. I explained that it usually took a year or two to get a hat to look right. It needed to get rained on a few times, blown into the river, sweated in, and whatever else to make the hat weathered and worn. I explained that was why he likely wouldn’t get any takers if he tried to buy one off a guy’s head. In fact, I recommended he shouldn’t ask. The next morning, they came into the shop. He was grinning from ear to ear, wearing a weather-beaten Stetson.
The story was they were in the bar at Mack’s Inn. Two cowboys came in and sat at the end of the bar. A seat opened up next to them, so the old lawyer sauntered on over and sat down. He said the cowboys looked pretty tough. He finally got the courage to ask. The cowboy responded as predicted, “Hat’s Not For Sale!” He figured he would get dragged out in the parking lot if he persisted, so he sat quietly. After a short time, he laid $50 in front of the cowboy. No response. A few minutes later he laid another $50 in front of the cowboy. Again, no response. After a couple more fifty dollar bills the cowboy slammed the hat down on the bar, grabbed the money, and stomped out of the bar. It didn’t quite fit right but he knew he could get it resized.
I thought about the cowboy. I’m sure he kicked himself after he went through the $200. Getting a hat right isn’t easy. I retired my Stetson. Today I wear the Resistol on occasion but it isn’t right and broken in yet. It needs to get rained on, blown into the river and sweated in. The main problem is I don’t spend enough time on the water to get it there. Hopefully I have enough years left to fix that.