Boss of The Plains

4" flat top crown

4" flat brim with bound
edge.

1" wide ribbon band with
bow

In sizes:
6 7/8 to 7 5/8

The Boss of The Plains is the first purpose made western, or cowboy,
hat. Notice the difference in the crown profile of our Boss of The
Plains versus that made by others. The sides are more vertical and
the top is flatter on ours than that made by other hat makers.

The Story Of The Boss of The Plains

John B. Stetson had a hat making background, as his father was a
master hat maker back East. John decided to take a trip to the
Rockies after the civil war ended in 1865 and he wore an Eastern City
Hat because that was what he had. John B. soon realized that the
small brim city hat was not good enough for the extremes of the
Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. So while in the mountains he
had access to beaver furs and he decided to make his own hat over
the campfire. To form the hat all he had was a pot and a flat iron
frying surface, hence the shape. Thicker felt and a wide brim did the
trick.
John Stetson told of encountering men on the trail back to St. Louis.
He reported being offered as much as the price of a colt pistol at that
time for his hat. He realized he had something in this new hat,
John visited shops in St. Louis and took orders. He then returned
East and started his company with $100 and the rest was history.
The original form was a 4" crown and you could order any brim width
up to 3 3/4. You could have a curled edge as worn by Marque De
Moray or most popularly flat as worn by Chief Joseph. Notice how flat
the top of the crown is in those photos. Most Boss of The Plains had
the ribbon binding on the edge of the brim but some smaller brims
did not.
We scale up our Boss of the plains 1/4" in crown and brim because
we are so much larger today than they were 150 years ago. (Did you
know that the maximum weight to be in the cavalry was less than 130
lbs.) By enlarging 1/4" we maintain the proportions and a 4" crown
simply won't go down far enough on many peoples heads today.
Stetson did change the profile circa 1900 (or so) to a 4 1/2" and more
rounded shape. Stetson still has this "block". As far as we know only
we make the original profile and we can make it with 4x Stetson felt
so it will bear the famous Stetson name and logo. Or we can go all
the way up to 100 % Beaver in our Knudsen Brand. We have a new
felt body in extra heavy 10X Beaver that I highly recommend.
Variations of the Boss Of The Plains were worn in the movie
Tombstone by Billy Clanton,The Mc Laurys, Texas Jack, and Curly Bill.
Look for this style in original Remington and Russel pictures. The
Boss Of The Plains was very common in the Old West. The larger
crown Stetsons arrived in the 1880's, but the Boss Of The Plains
remained popular 'till after 1900.

Available in:

Knudsen 20X Beaver:
Black: $519.98
Sand, Silverbelly: $585.98

Knudsen 10X Extra Heavy
Beaver:
Black, Char Brown, Mesa Tan:
$349.98
Desert tan, mist grey: $398.98

Knudsen 10X Beaver:
Black, Choco, Pecan, Grey:
$298.98
Fawn, Sand, Silverbelly:
$359.98

Genuine 4X Stetson Felt
Black $224.98
Pecan, Sand, Sahara Tan
$229.98

4X Knudsen Beaver
(Nearly Gone):
Pecan, Black $179.98