The American Mountain men wore spurs with jingle bobs over forty years before the first cowboys started punchin cattle north to the railroad shipping yards. George Fredrick Ruxton, English explorerer and author wrote of Bill Williams, famous mountain man and former guide for Colonel John Fremont, the Great Pathfinder. In his book, "Life in the Far West, describing Bill Williams he writes, "...and iron spurs of incredible proportions, with tinkling drops attached to the rowels, were fastened to his heel, a bead worked strap four inches broad, securing them over his instep." I believe the mountain men wore large spurs as a fashion statement as much as a riding aid.
