logical puzzle IV

this is a bit easier than the other ones

this story is about three cowboys being captured by the evil indians. all three cowboys are being tied to totem poles, one behind another, so that the first one only sees the empty prairie in front of him, the second one sees the first cowboy in front of him and the third cowboy sees the other two in front of him.

each of them gets a feather stuck to their hat, but so they can't see the one on their own hat. the indian chief tells them: "our tribe has in total two white feathers and three black feathers. each of you got one of those feathers on your hat. one of you has to make a guess which color the feather on his hat has. if his guess is correct, you all will be set free. if the guess is wrong, you will all be killed."

then everyone fell silent. after a few minutes, the first (front) cowboy suddenly says "i've got a black feather on my hat". he is right and all three are set free.

how did he know?

ps: don't post if you already know the answer

pps: it's a pure logical thing, there's no cheating or other weird stuff involed.

jeder von euch hat eine davon auf dem Kopf und zwar die letzten drei genannten, also die schwarzen

weil genau so steht es dort, drei schwarze und jeder von euch hat eine davon auf dem hut

wrong, even in english

JayCan said:

jeder von euch hat eine davon auf dem Kopf und zwar die letzten drei genannten, also die schwarzen

weil genau so steht es dort, drei schwarze und jeder von euch hat eine davon auf dem hut

Click to expand...

:blink::blink::blink::blink:

argh... i used to know this one... trying to remember

The one at the back can see a white feather, and doesnt know what colour his is, the one in the middle can see the black feather ahead but isnt allowed to say to the first cowboy, and the front cowboy not hearing the others speak must have the black feather

maybe

Southern Man said:

The one at the back can see a white feather, and doesnt know what colour his is, the one in the middle can see the black feather ahead but isnt allowed to say to the first cowboy, and the front cowboy not hearing the others speak must have the black feather

maybe

Click to expand...

i think you got it right, but try to elaborate a bit more

Southern Man said:

The one at the back can see a white feather, and doesnt know what colour his is, the one in the middle can see the black feather ahead but isnt allowed to say to the first cowboy, and the front cowboy not hearing the others speak must have the black feather

maybe

Click to expand...

i dont get it... I remember the answer being something like that, but if someone can explain the reasoning that'd be nice...

ermm the more i look at it the less i see how i got there

in that case, keep guessing