Bandanas have been popular with lots of users over the decades, or centuries.

One group of wholesale users were the American cowboys (quite different from the South American Gauchos, but more on them later...). 

The bandana started as a cheap means of protection against dust while riding the prairies, following cattle creating a nightmare for asthmatics.

Over time, it proved an excellent means too for bank robbers and other outlaws,  a practice later adopted by gangs and bikers clubs.