Why did cowboys in the Wild West wear scarves (6 photos)

Nowadays, almost anyone who has ever seen a Western film will undoubtedly recognize a cowboy by his fancy hat, boots and dusty neckerchief tied around his neck.





Although this unique piece of fabric goes by many names - bandana, scarf, mascada (scarf in Spanish) - this fashion accessory was and remains one of the most valuable tools of absolutely any cowboy.

Moreover, no self-respecting cowboy in the Wild West could do without a neckerchief.

But why?

Now we will tell you more about this in our new article:

In America, miners initially began using neckerchiefs.



In 1799, during the first gold rush in North America (the Caroline gold rush), local prospectors picked up the idea of neckerchiefs from the Spanish vaqueros (shepherds).

The Americans noticed that Spanish shepherds who came to North America in order to earn extra money constantly tied a scarf around their necks and covered their mouths with it to protect themselves from dust.





Still from the television series "Klondike"

This idea was liked by prospectors and miners, who often mined gold, as well as tin and copper in mines and thereby protected themselves from “swallowing” dust.

Therefore, initially in North America, neckerchiefs were worn primarily by miners and gold miners (prospectors), and only towards the end of the 1800s this fashion gradually passed into cowboy culture.

Cowboys only wore silk scarves



Cowboys preferred to wear silk scarves exclusively, rather than cotton ones, like most prospectors or miners.

This is because silk was an ideal material due to its versatility regardless of the season; it can wick away moisture during the summer months and provide warmth during the winter months. Silk fabric also becomes softer as it wears.

But of course, for a cowboy who had limited finances, it was a joy to purchase a simple cotton scarf, which usually cost almost 3 times less than a cotton one.

So why did all the cowboys start wearing neckerchiefs?



When many people think of a cowboy neckerchief, their first thought is that cowboys wore them over their faces to simply protect themselves from dust while working on the farm or driving cattle.

However, this is far from the only way to use a neckerchief.

Nothing serves more purposes than this unique piece of square fabric.

Here are just a few reasons why every cowboy wore a scarf around his neck and was ready to pay an entire salary for it:



But of course, these things were not the only things the scarf could be used for. For example, professional shooters (gunfighters) or robbers very often used scarves as bandanas when robbing banks or attacking stagecoaches to disguise their identity.

And in the film “Appaloosa” with Ed Harris and Vigo Mortensen, Mortensen’s character directly shows the viewer how the handkerchief was necessary for the cowboys of the Wild West - after all, in one of the episodes he patches a hole in his clothing, using a piece of a handkerchief for a patch.