John B. Stetson’s revelation and subsequent creation of the cowboy hat during the post-civil war American West inspires one cowboy to embark through the ensuing century and on to uncover the unique American invention that lives on to hold a place in modern culture.

Is the cowboy hat currently as valid and iconic today as it was in the late nineteenth century? Are those who were once alienated by its symbolism now able to openly embrace the unique American empowerment?

From Buffalo Bill Cody and Thomas Edison’s collaboration beginning the Western as a film genre, to the art of master custom hatters outfitting presidents in the twentieth century and beyond, The Cowboy Hat Movie stops at each bullet point along the cowboy hat timeline.