Hat maker goes Wild West

PENDLETON, Ore. — An Oregon hat company is adding a touch of the Old West to a Disney show in Paris.

Montana Peaks Hat Co. in Pendleton is the exclusive supplier of handmade, custom hat creations for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show at Disneyland Paris’ Disney Village.

Company owner Laura Wortman and partner Richard Blackburn make replicas of the original hats worn by Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley along with Tom Mix replicas and open-crown styles that are worn in the show.

Hats by Montana Peaks have even made it to the big screen. Sissy Spacek wore one in “Streets of Laredo” and so did Paul Gross in the Canadian Western “Gunless.”

Wortman and Blackburn make 300 to 400 hats a year.

The show in Paris performs twice daily, five days a week. The company has been sending hats to the show since before Wortman bought it seven years ago, she said. Montana Peaks this month shipped 96 hats to Disneyland Paris, with 64 remaining to be made and shipped to Europe — a total of 160 hats.