Cowboy hat to tell where a cowboy hat was from, right down to which ranch, simply by looking at the crease in the crown. Later as the mystique of the "Wild West" was popularized by entertainers such as Buffalo Bill Cody and western movies starring actors such as Tom Mix, the Cowboy hat came to symbolize the American West. John Wayne christened them "the hat that won the West". The Boss of the Plains design influenced various wide-brimmed hats worn by farmers and ranchers all over the United States. Later designs were customized for law enforcement, military and motion pictures. The first
Samuel Franklin Cody England, Cody and Mrs King lived together as husband and wife. She used the name Lela Marie Cody and was generally assumed to be his legal wife. Her younger sons, Leon and Vivian (King), were known as Cody. However, the marriage of Cody and Maud was never legally dissolved. While in England, Cody, Lela and her sons toured the music halls, which were very popular at the time, giving demonstrations of his horse riding, shooting and lassoing skills. While touring Europe in the mid-1890s, Cody capitalized on the bicycle craze by staging a series of horse vs. bicycle races against