SPURS
SPURS. The use of spurs can be traced to Roman times. Early spurs were made of wood or bone, later ones of metal. Spurs were a necessary implement to the cowboy when he was mounted and a social requirement when he was dismounted. Though spurs are often highly decorative-"gal-leg" spurs, for instance, had shanks shaped like a woman's legs-utility has always been the first consideration. Cowboys used the spur for everything from a branding iron to a grave marker.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Charles de Lacy Lacy, The History of the Spur (n.d.). Louis P. Merrill, "The Spur," Cattleman, September 1941. Jane Pattie, Cowboy Spurs and Their Makers (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1991).
Citation
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.
"SPURS," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/aos01), accessed February 13, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
