Iconic Stetson first made at peak’s base

National park rangers proudly wear them. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have donned them for more than a century. Colorado State Patrol troopers wear them, too.

Boy Scout leaders, military drill sergeants and even Smokey Bear, the renowned champion of forest protection, wear Stetson Boss of the Plains ranger hats.

Perhaps they should be standard issue for Colorado Springs police, given that the distinctive flat-brimmed felt hat with the “mountain peak” crown and leather band was conceived and created by John B. Stetson at a campfire at the base of Pikes Peak in 1862.

Stetson, the son of a New Jersey hatmaker, was diagnosed with tuberculosis, so he left the family business and went to explore the West before he died.

He worked as a brickmaker in St. Joseph, Mo., before joining a Pikes Peak gold-mining expedition.

According to historical accounts, he was camped with a dozen men near Pikes Peak when he drew on his skills to fashion a hat out of beaver fur to protect him from the sun, rain and wind.

Stetson wore his widebrimmed, domed hat throughout the expedition that year — at a time when bowlers and smaller hats were popular.

He sold his first hat for a $5 gold piece to a cowboy on horseback in a mountainside mining camp.

In 1863 or so, he left Colorado and settled in Philadelphia, where he opened a hatmaking business two years later, specializing in the design he created.

“That’s pretty cool history,” said Bob Leaverton, supervisor of the Pike and San Isabel national forests. His forest rangers wear a later version of the Stetson, with a curved brim.

“Ours is a little different, to distinguish us from the Park Service,” Leaverton said.

Still, he’s proud that Forest Service hats can be traced to the hat Stetson created while camped near Pikes Peak, though some credit the design to Christy’s Hats in Bristol, England.

“It symbolizes our history and culture of being outside and working with the natural resources and the people who work on the land,” Leaverton said.

“It’s neat to know there’s a local context.”

The history and ties to Colorado make the Boss of the Plains special to Larry Frederick, a ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park at Estes Park.

“I’ve been wearing this hat for most of my career, which spans 35 years,” Frederick said. “It’s the symbol of a national park ranger.

“When you see a flatbrimmed hat on somebody, the public reacts very positively. They see it as somebody they can trust. Somebody who can help them, who is knowledgable and can make their park experience more informed and enjoyable.”

Beyond the symbolic value, Frederick treasures his Stetson for the protection it provides.

“It is absolutely practical,” he said. “It provides incredible sun protection for the neck and ears. It keeps rain from going down the back of the neck or the front.”

The hat is legendary among rangers — national and state — according to longtime Glacier National Park Ranger Charles “Butch” Farabee, who recounted its history in a chapter of his book: National Park Ranger: An American Icon.

He described the classic Stetson ranger hat with a 4-inch flat brim and 4-inch crown. It was adopted by the Canadian ranger corps in 1901, Farabee said in his book. And a version was worn by troops in World War I.

In 1911, the superintendent at Glacier National Park ordered it for his rangers.

The National Park Service was created in 1915, and soon the stiff-brimmed Stetson was adopted as the official hat of park rangers. A straw version was introduced in 1959 for summer wear.

Frederick said rangers treasure their Stetsons, which also are generically referred to as “campaign” hats.

“Some rangers have more than one,” he said. “They keep one flat hat for rough-andtumble horseback riding and hiking and another one to wear when they are trying to dress up and look sharp.”

John Stetson died in 1906, and his company was purchased a few years ago by Hatco of Garland, Texas.

Frederick said older rangers take special pride in owning “original” Stetsons.

But it really doesn’t matter, because today’s Stetsons are made at the same factory in St. Joseph where they’ve been produced for years.

And, Frederick said, it’s more about what the hat stands for and its history dating to that campfire on Pikes Peak than anything else.

“The Stetson,” he said, “is synonymous with the West.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0193 or bill.vogrin@gazette.com