Posted By John Hinds on Jun 1, 2019

Jim’s Ole Cowboy Hat

By J. Douglas Hinds
As Published in A Peek at the Peak, December 2005

He’d rope those calves a runnin’
With their tails up in the air
You could hear that lariat singin’
Out in front of his ole mare

He’d lasso a calf in seconds
Every throw a perfect loop
An almost flawless cowboy
From his hat down to his boots

The gals all really loved him
And we never thought it strange
When he said he never married
Cause he loved the open range

But Jim’s ole hat was ugly
That he wore with stubborn pride
And no one dared to tell him
So they always let it slide

One day that hat got wind born
When the devil took it home
It swirled up and disappeared
And left ole Jim alone

The dust rose up a thousand feet
As his hat sailed out of sight
He searched all day for that ole hat
And rode in late that night

Where’s your hat the foreman said
Ole Jim just walked on past
Not another word was ever said
As no one else would ask

Next day a rancher found his hat
On the Forty Niner spread
He knew the man who owned that hat
How he wore it on his head

So as a joke he rode to town
Though he wasn’t being mean
He gave the mercantile Jim’s ole hat
And had it blocked and cleaned

They hung it up a lookin’ new
Just waitin’ for a buyer
We followed Jim into the store
Every one of us a liar

How about this one, Dusty said
As he handed it to Jim
He looked it over and tried it on
And said he liked the brim

Mighty fine hat I’d have to say
It makes ya look right smart
Another lie I told that day
But it came right from the heart

Twenty bucks the owner said
And what a bargain price
We like Jim’s hat an awful lot
And it really does look nice