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Antique Saddles
New Announcement, August 2007
We are offering our 30-year saddle collection of
approximately 50 saddles for sale as a group.
If interested, please give Mike a call at 254.715.9801 or e-mail him
at
speedhorses@hot.rr.com.
Will sell collection at a fraction of their value and prefer to sell
to one party.
Serious inquiries only, please.
We have a collection of approximately
70 antique, high-back saddles, and periodically offer a select few for
sale. Most were made by famous saddle makers in the late 1800's and
early 1900's.
Photos of saddles currently
for sale are listed under each of the following saddle makers.
Saddles can be shipped for the cost of shipping of your choice, with no
additional handling charges.
Please feel free to e-mail us if you are
looking for one in particular and you don't see it here. If we can't offer it, or one like it,
for sale, we may know where you can discover one. These saddles are
fantastic for nostalgia, re-enactments, old west style home or office decorating,
parades, and more! Most all saddles in my collection are stout and
serviceable as is. They came mostly off ranches in the Midwest and
mountain states and were "using" saddles, not museum pieces.
If they need repair or if they are not rideable, I will point that out in
the description.
E.C. Lee
Emmett C. Lee was located in Pierre,
South Dakota. His first
catalog was issued in 1907 and his twentieth catalog in 1927.
History is sketchy concerning the beginnings of E.C. Lee but his
saddles tell the story of a great artisan and leather craftsman.
His saddles consistently displayed ornate tooling, uncharacteristic
of the period. Lee Saddles
were world famous during the 1920’s.
His popularity grew during this period because he made the Cooper
Contest Saddles. The
original contest saddle was made for Kenneth Cooper who lived west of Ft.
Pierre, South Dakota. Kenneth
Cooper was the Casey Tibbs of his day.
Casey Tibbs was a nine-time, world champion cowboy who went on to
become a Hollywood celebrity in the 1950’s.
The swell or pommel of the contest saddle came out wide on both
sides so a rider could get his knees under them and “lock on”.
The saddles were later disqualified for competition.
This style was better known then and today as a ”Bear-Trap
Saddle”. E.C. Lee
made other style saddles, but his “contest saddle” was the most
popular with cowboys who supplemented their income riding bucking horses.
Collins and Morrison
John S. and Gilbert H. Collins opened
their first shop in Omaha, Nebraska in 1864, under the name Collins
Brothers. They moved to Laramie, Wyoming in 1872 and opened another
shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1876. It later became their main shop.
Three years later John was named Secretary of the Sioux Indian Commission,
a position he held until 1877. They made a very durable saddle that
was widely used. It was commonly referred to as the “Cheyenne
Rig” or the “Northern Plaines”. This saddle was the choice of
Buffalo Bill Cody. Gilbert died in 1880 and the Cheyenne Shop was
ultimately closed sometime before 1886. The Omaha Shop was sold to
Alfred Cornish. John retired after Gilbert’s death, but retirement
was to quiet a life for John. He went into business with John
Morrison of Omaha and they made fine saddles under the name of Collins
& Morrison. In 1890 Alfred Cornish bought their Omaha Shop and
the Collins & Morrison trademark. Cornish continued making saddles
under that name into the early 1900’s. John S. Collins died in
1910. Collins & Morrison saddles are prized by collectors and
have a reputation of being big, stout, well-made working saddles that will
last forever.
Fred Mueller
Fred Mueller was born in the mid
1860’s in St. Louis, Missouri and died in 1924 in Denver, Colorado.
His first shop was opened in 1891 at the historical address of 1415
Larimer Street, Denver, Colorado. It was located one block away from
the West’s first Wells Fargo office. Mueller believed a cowboy
should be able to do all of his shopping at one shop. In addition to
saddles, chaps and gun rigs, he carried spurs, bits, hats, boots and
anything else a cowboy would need for himself or his horse. Mueller
sold the business to his employees in 1917 and the shop continued until
the early 1950’s. Mueller was known for making a sturdy,
dependable saddle.
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Harpham Brothers
The Harpham Brothers started business
in Lincoln, Nebraska circa 1900. They issued 34 different catalogs
before their 1928 merger with the Askew Brothers and the Atchison Saddlery
to form The General Leather Industries. By the mid-1930’s the
Harpham Brothers were independent makers again and they continued into the
1950’s. In the 1930’s they stamped the saddles HB BRAND,
LINCOLN, NEB. In the 1940’s and 50’s the saddles were stamped
Harpham Brothers - Lincoln, Nebraska. Harpham Brothers were famous
for deep seats, high cantles and big, square skirts. Many of the
early Harpham Brothers saddles were stamped California Stock Saddle.
Saddles with this stamp are very rare and highly collectable.
R.T. Frazier
Robert Thompson Frazier was born in
New Philadelphia, Ohio October 3, 1850 and died in Pueblo, Colorado July
27, 1931. He fought in the
Civil War. He learned saddle
making from his father. He
went to Leadville, Colorado in the 1870’s where he had a saddle shop and
he was also the Deputy Sheriff. He
worked for Peter Becker in Colorado Springs, Colorado before moving to
Pueblo, Colorado in 1880. He
went to Durango then on to Pueblo. His
first job in Pueblo was with the Gallup Saddlery.
Around the mid-1880’s he went into a partnership with S.C.
Gallup. In 1892 they legally
formed the S.C. Gallup and Frazier Saddlery that lasted until 1898.
When Gallup and Frazier split up, Gallup continued to use their
trademark steer. Frazier’s
trademark became the phrase “Builder Of The Famous Pueblo Saddle”.
The Frazier Saddlery employed over 50 saddle makers and in 1917 he
was the largest producer of stock saddles in the United States.
R.T. Frazier died July 7, 1931.
His widow, Kitty, ran the saddlery until it closed in 1958.
Kitty Henly Frazier died December 21, 1959.
Cowboys from Texas to the mountain states knew if they were riding
a Frazier saddle, they were riding high.
R.T. Frazier saddles need no introduction among saddle collectors
and western historians. They
were the real things.
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Maker Unknown
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Great, all original and
complete old saddle. Very rare to find an old
high-back in this condition. Has rawhide bead on
cantle and very ornate, unusual steel stirrups. Has
complete basket weave borders, rare 16” seat, 51/2”
cantle, large 17” swells, square skirts, and ¾ rigging.
No maker’s mark found but has two holes on the back of
each skirt where a maker’s plate was located. Price
$675. |
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Model 003. Cannot read
maker’s mark but it is on nearside, rear skirt. This
is a solid old high-back with 15” seat, medium 14” swells,
double rigging and a 5” cantle. Border and swells
basket-weave embossed with great old oxbow stirrups and metal
side plates. Wool removed and ready for replacement.
Price $475. |
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M & M
Quarter Horses 
