MAN MADE MOBILE 

Early Saddles of Western North America 

< . 

HSKIS^ 

Richard E. 

EDITOR 

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION PRESS 
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a 

FRONTISPIECE.—a, Mexican saddle, ca. 1830 (see also Figures 18, 60) ; 6, vaquero saddle, 

ca. 1870 (see also Figure 66) ; c. Sioux pad saddle, ca. 1850 (see also Figure 72) ; d, 

U.S. western stock saddle, ca. 1880 (see also Figure 68). 
SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY • NUMBER 39 

MAN MADE MOBILE 

Early Saddles of Western North America 

Richard E. Ahlborn 

EDITOR 

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION PRESS 

City of Washington 

1980 
ABSTRAC T 

Ahlborn, Richard E., editor. Man Made Mobile: Early Saddles of Western 

North America. Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology, number 39, 

147 pages, frontispiece, 84 figures, 1980.—This study of early forms of saddles in 

Western North America features four distinct discussions: major horizons (widespread appearances of historical prototypes) within the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries; Mexican origins of form and associated activities; development 

among U.S. riders before the professional cowboy era (post-Civil War); and 

development of equestrian equipment among the Plains Indians collateral to 

the emergence of the U.S. western stock saddle. The four essays are followed by 

an illustrated catalogue of the equestrian artifacts drawn from the Smithsonian 

Institution's holdings and from other important collections for an exhibition at 

the Renwick Gallery, 1974-1976. There is also a glossary of Spanish and English 

equestrian terms used in this study. It is projected that this presentation of early 

saddle forms with many well-documented illustrations and descriptions will provide both a reference source and also the inspiration for additional typological 

and social studies. 

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded 

in the Institution's annual report, Smithsonian Year. COVER: "Catching Wild Horses," by William Ranney, 184G (see also Figure 26). 

Library of Congress Cataloging on Publication Data 

Main entry under title: 

Man made mobile. 

(Smithsonian studies in history and technology ; no. 39) 

Bibliography: 

1. Western saddle—History. 2. Saddlery—The West—History. 3. Saddlery—Exhibitions. I. Ahlborn, Richard E. II. Series: Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian studies in history and 

technology ; no. 39. 

SF309.9H67 685 M'0978 78-8550 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington. D.C. 20402 
CONTENTS 

Page 

PREFACE vi 

INTRODUCTION 1 

Richard E. Ahlborn 

HORIZONS OF THE WESTERN SADDLE 4 

Richard E. Ahlborn 

ORIGINS OF MEXICAN HORSEMANSHIP AND SADDLERY 21 

Daniel F. Rubin de la Borbolla 

WESTERN SADDLES BEFORE THE COWBOY 39 

James S. Hutchins 

SADDLES OF THE PLAINS INDIANS 72 

John C. Ewers 

DESCRIPTION OF SADDLERY IN THE RENWICK EXHIBITION 85 

Ann Nelson 

GLOSSARY 137 

Richard E. Ahlborn 

ILLUSTRATION CREDITS 146 
PREFAC E 

Saddles used (and often manufactured) in what is now the United States 

south and west of Saint Louis prior to 1865 constitute the ultimate focus of 

this composite study. The development of this presentation of emerging 

saddle types depended on three factors: (1) an enthusiasm on the part of 

the researchers for the unglamorized life sustained on the prairies and 

plateaus of our Southwest, in large part the northern borderlands of Mexico 

until the decade after 1836; (2) a serious commitment to the study of the 

history and cultural geography of the region (extending into present-day 

Canada and Mexico) in terms of a single class of significant, documented 

artifacts; and (3) an opportunity to gather together a grouping of historical objects for intense examination. It was a natural outgrowth of such 

a study project that these choice, finely crafted historical artifacts should 

be shared with the public through an exhibition. 

In 1973, three Smithsonian staffers, John C. Ewers, James S. Hutchins, 

and I, formed an ad hoc committee to discuss the study and exhibition of 

early horse equipment as a class of artifacts in the pre-1865, trans-Mississippi West. We realized that this tremendous, geographically diverse territory encompassed three grand-scale cultural complexes, each having a full 

set of characteristic gear for horse and rider—northern Hispanic-Mexican, 

Plains Indian, and westering Anglo-Americans. Based on experience common to us and other collectors and curators, the committee recognized from 

the outset that even this vast area would be unable to provide complete, 

documented outfits for the mounted rider in the various component cultural 

patterns. This was presumed true even in the critical 1836-1865 era, the 

period in which previous experiments in the design of horse gear found 

culmination in a distinctive type common throughout the southwestern 

United States. Thus, we chose to concentrate on the single most characteristic piece of horse equipment, the saddle. A second factor in selecting this 

tighter focus was the up-coming celebration of our nation's bicentennial 

anniversary, and its urgent requirements for most of our exhibition capabilities. 

The project was made possible by Joshua C. Taylor, director of the 

Smithsonian Institution's National Collection of Fine Arts (NCFA). Dr. 

Taylor offered display space and exhibit capabilities at the Renwick Gallery 

through its director, Lloyd Herman, and pledged support for a series of 

scholarly articles, as well as funds to contract for a project assistant. 

The first task was to research and identify artifacts to make up a compelling and historical exhibition. As project assistant, Ann Nelson, a graduate student in American Studies from Utah, was chosen to work under 

my supervision and to consult with Dr. Ewers and Mr. Hutchins. All the 

necessary Indian artifacts—saddles, crupper, quirt, and stirrups—were 

selected by Dr. Ewers from the collections in the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution, with the assistance of George Phebus and his staff. The AnthroVI 
NUMBER 39 Vll 

pology Conservation Laboratory (ACL) under Bethune Gibson provided 

facilities for conservation services contracted from Bettina Raphael. 

The selection of Mexican and Anglo saddle types was more involved. Mr. 

Hutchins and I reviewed the riding gear in two divisions of the National 

Museum of History and Technology (NMHT), Smithsonian Institution: 

Ethnic and Western Cultural History, now named Community Life (assisted by Ulysses G. Lyon) and Military History (assisted by Donald Kloster 

and Dan Stanton). Then, with research notes in hand, Ms. Nelson set off 

through several western states, examining hundreds of saddles and sending 

back suggestions for loans. Collections in Arizona, California, Colorado, 

and Wyoming, as well as the state of Toluca, Mexico, made general loans. 

By early 1974, all the Mexican and Anglo saddles were selected and received 

at the National Museum of History and Technology. Because of the dearth 

of documented saddles pre-dating 1865, we selected several items for exhibition that were made after that date but that represent, we believe, styles 

in use in the Southwest during the target period. 

Within NMHT, the Smithsonian's Conservation-Analytical Laboratory 

(CAL), under its chief, Robert Organ, undertook fumigation, material 

analysis, and conservation. Reports were prepared under the supervision 

of Eleanor McMillan by scientists Martha Goodway, Walter Hopwood, 

Barbara Miller, and Joan Mishara, and by conservator Mary Lou Garbin, 

who revitalized tired surfaces of tooled leather and tarnished silver. With 

conservation completed, the necessary papers were prepared by Undine 

Jones of the Division of Community Life, and by Virginia Beets, Martha 

Morris, and Ken Bush of the Registrar's Office. Ann Nelson and Robert 

Weiss of the project team undertook the delicate task of transporting the 

saddles to the Renwick Gallery for photography and installation. 

At the Renwick, curator Ellen Myette, assisted by Edith Martin, arranged for photography by Lowell Kenyon, and for installation by Frank 

Caldwell. The design of the handsome exhibition, tailored to fit a single 

gallery, was the inspiration of Val Lewton (Figure 1). Because horizontal 

display space was severely limited in the small gallery, emphasis was placed 

on the use of vertical space. The floor level was varied and large visually 

open shafts defined by raw wood were set at an angle to the room's walls. 

These tall transparent "cages" protected the 18 saddles and associated 

objects while allowing them to be viewed from several angles. A second, 

closely related room held the magnificent Mexican saddle and provided 

hanging space for illustrations. Two 35 mm slide presentations were 

mounted in the main room providing additional historical and modern 

reference concerning the form and use of the mobile saddle seat. Natural 

wood, simple colors, and dramatic lighting provided a splendid setting for 

the saddles that made men—and women—mobile in the early west. The 

exhibition, entitled "Man Made Mobile: The Western Saddle," opened in 

July 1974 and was on view for two years. 

During the process of selecting, studying, and installing the saddles, 

authors were writing essays for this study on early saddles of western 

North America. The task of assembling data for these essays involved 

many persons in addition to the authors. Several photographs of Mexican 

saddles were provided for Dr. Borbolla's article by Sr. David de la B. 

Argiiedas. Mr. Hutchins was materially assisted by Dr. Sara D. Jackson of 
Vlll SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

C « e TO «C |g\ADK 

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NUMBER 39 IX 

FIGURE 1.—Plan (left) and elevations (above) by Val Lewton for the exhibition "Man 

Made Mobile: The Western Saddle," held at the Renwick Gallery, Washin^on, D.C, 

from July 1974 through June 1976. 

the National Archives, Mrs. Frances H. Stadtler, archivist of the Missouri 

Historical Society, and "that large-hearted gentleman" (as the late J. Frank 

Dobie styled him), Dr. Arthur Woodward. The research for the catalogue 

section of this study, "Descriptions of Saddlery in the Renwick Exhibition," 

was compiled by Ms. Nelson. 

Without such marshalling of individuals and information, neither exhibition nor publication could have become a commodity for public consumption. 
SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

With photographs and drawings, laboratory reports and essays in hand, 

Carroll S. Clark of NCFA undertook an initial editing. The Borbolla article 

was translated and re-edited by 1976. It was then time for the exhibition 

to be dismantled. More photography and examination were required before 

the return of the saddles to their owners; elaborate crates were constructed; 

and the on-going schedule of rechecking data, writing, and editing went 

forward. Additional typing was accomplished by Barbara Lane and Undine 

Jones. Barbara T. Spann, this study's publication editor and designer for 

the Smithsonian Press, contributed exceptionally to its logic, organization, 

and appearance. In short, dozens of conscientious professionals supported 

the exhibition-publication project for more than three years; my gratitude 

to each is boundless. 
MAN MADE MOBILE 

Early Saddles of Western North America 

Introduction 

Richard E. Ahlborn 

This study is composed of four essays, a catalogue of saddlery artifacts, and a glossary of 

the Spanish and English equestrian terms used 

in the publication. Its purpose is to establish a 

perspective, earlier and broader in scope than 

any previously projected, for the study of western saddles as significant cultural objects. Up to 

now, descriptions of the Anglo-American stock 

saddle have featured regional variations in 

form and name, often drawn from the personal 

experience of cowboy-authors; Jo Mora and 

Philip A. Rollins are prototypes. Most writers 

have concentrated on illustrations of the 1865-

1935 era. With such resources there are problems with provincialism or romanticism. Often 

local terms, such as "Texan" or "Santa Fe" 

saddle, do not stand up as consistent definitions 

of unique regional types. At the same time, 

illustrations by cowboy-artists may reveal more 

about their creative imagination in combining 

saddle elements and cultural environments than 

about the actual historical usage of specific 

saddle types. Later documents, such as trade 

catalogues from N. Porter (Phoenix, Arizona), 

Hamley (Pendleton, Oregon), and dozens of 

other firms, reinforce the factor of industrialized production and the lessening of individual 

taste in saddle design. Finally, histories of specific saddlery firms (L. M. Rice and Glenn R. 

Richard E. Ahlborn, Department of Cultural History, 

National Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560. 

Vernam, They Saddled the West, 1975, is perhaps the best example) seldom convincingly 

link production models with earlier custommade types. In contrast to these approaches, 

this study has chosen to view the western saddle from a more distant vista, and to deal only 

with well-documented artifacts and illustrations. 

In order to realize the basic purpose of this 

study, three objectives are addressed. First priority is given to artifact-centered research focused on the West prior to the end of the Civil 

War. The saddles in the Renwick exhibition 

represent, we believe, the major types from the 

beginning of our political annexation of the 

Southwest (1836) to 1865, when the modern 

U.S. western saddle (stock saddle) began to 

dominate the scene. This exhibition-publication 

project makes available to an interested and 

critical public a comprehensive overview of the 

matrix out of which the western saddle emerged. 

Secondly, we draw attention to the problem of 

the uncertainty of the origins and development 

of the modern Mexican stock saddle, especially 

before 1836, a period for which relevant documents and artifacts are scarcer than for the 

succeeding era. Thirdly, we hope that the emphasis on pre-1865 saddles may help to place in 

a more accurate historical context the wellknown, often-repeated story of American military and stock saddle types. Their full significance can be understood only through a con-
SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

tinning effort to study the origins of earlier 

forms. The discoveries, judgments, and unanswered questions of this study are projected 

with the desire to stimulate this never-completed process of historical research. 

In the first essay I discuss the saddle as an 

artifact highly descriptive of the culture it 

serves, and single out the major horizons (widely distributed historical prototypes) in its evolutionary history that eventuated in the American stock saddle after 1865. These horizons 

involve the transmission of the saddle concept 

from ancient Persia through Europe and northern Africa to the Iberian peninsula. 

After the establishment of the heavy European estradiota saddle and the lighter Arabic 

jineta saddle in Spain by 1500, the next horizon 

of the western saddle lay across the Atlantic 

Ocean. In colonial Mexico, these two principal 

Spanish saddle types and riding styles are examined in native sixteenth-century illustrations 

of the Conquest. From colonial Mexico (1521-

1821), however, there are no surviving, fully 

documented saddles. And specifically from 

Spain's northern tier of colonial provinces, 

there remain no more than a few inconclusive 

illustrations and literary references to the estradiota-, jineta-, and later vaquero-ty^e saddles. 

Based on what is known and can be reconstructed, there is projected a model for the 

development of the western saddle. This model 

includes the possibility of a northern variant 

(norteno) for the vaquero saddle. Such a "norteno saddle" might prove to be a useful concept 

in moving from the vaquero saddle of the late 

1700s, known only through sketches and literary references, to the U.S. western saddle. Certainly by the next century, northern Mexico 

had a variety of regional stock saddle types, 

among them the famous charro. Reflections of 

features of the European estradiota saddle are 

traced through various Mexican types to the 

U.S. western saddle. 

In the contribution on Mexican saddlery Dr. 

Borbolla maintains a broad focus on typology 

and social history. He stresses the complexity 

of the Mexican traditions of riding styles and 

saddlery. He notes early efforts to organize 

ranching activity and the effect of the new 

environment on Old World practices. He asserts 

that the nineteenth-century Mexican stock saddle, precursor of the U.S. western saddle, was 

the end product of modifications (occasioned 

chiefly by open-range stockhandling) of the 

Moorish jineta-tyv^ combat saddle favored by 

the conquistadors. In describing the basic 

elements of the saddle, he gives attention also 

to the variations of the more recent Mexican 

charro and working types. 

The latter distinctions imply regional differences that occurred as certain cities became 

known as saddle-making centers by the 1830s. 

Through the commercial centers of Monterey 

and Chihuahua in northern Mexico, production 

models of saddles as well as handcrafted examples of provincial types entered our southwestern territory, especially Texas. From western Mexico, saddles made in Guadalajara and 

northward reached into California, providing 

another regional impact on the western stock 

saddle. The durability of the skeletal, hide-covered Hispanic-Mexican saddletree was quickly 

recognized by Anglo-American riders, manufacturers and artists who encountered it. 

The essay by Mr. Hutchins carries the story 

of the "Spanish tree" into the Southwest a generation prior to 1865. In an analysis of the 

early development of the western saddle "before the cowboy," the author carefully records 

the evidence for the great impact that the Mexican tree had on American civilian and military 

saddles west of the Mississippi: virtually every 

venture by military and commercial expeditions 

into the new states and territories of the Southwest was made on saddles reflecting direct 

Mexican influence in form, decoration, and 

usage. He describes the U.S. military's onagain, off-again affairs with the Mexican saddle, giving special attention to the McClellan 

saddle. He also notes the influence of saddle 

forms common in the eastern part of the 

United States (primarily of English origin) 

and in European military endeavors. 

The paper by Dr. Ewers rounds out the presentation of the saddle as used in western 

North America prior to 1865. "Saddles of the 

Plains Indians" is based on artifacts that appear to illustrate the two major theories for the 
NUMBER 39 

presence of all cultural traits: diffusion and 

polygenesis. The presence of the skeletal tree in 

both pack and women's riding saddles of the 

Crow nation, as well as the arched form of the 

stirrups used by several Plains Indian tribes 

that occupied areas now a part of the United 

States and Canada, points to an intercultural 

borrowing from Hispanic Mexico. At the same 

time, the development of a stuffed pad, or 

cushion, cinched down and ornamented with 

trade cloth and beads, independently repeats a 

"saddle" form used in the East and Old World 

more than five thousand years ago. While some 

pads for Mexican open trees may have entered 

the Indian trade, the Plains Indians used and 

adapted this form for their own purposes in a 

totally non-Hispanic fashion. The author demonstrates that the role of women as artisans 

and riders influenced Indian saddle production 

and usage. No evidence is presented to suggest, 

however, that Indian saddle design or construction contributed in any way to the evolution of 

the western saddle. 

Appropriately, the essays are followed by the 

sort of evidence that supports each of the previous discussions: a presentation of the saddles 

themselves. In Ms. Nelson's catalogue, we discover that no complete example dates before 

the 1830s, but that in the extant examples earlier traditions are well represented in elements 

of varied materials, design, and manufacture. 

These Mexican, Indian, and Anglo-American 

saddles record something of substance about 

the complex ancestry of the western saddle, and 

about the stamina of our cultural values. 

The "Glossary" is a compilation of the equestrian terms, in Spanish and English, that are 

used in this study. BiHngual equivalents and 

a brief definition are given along with page 

references to the major uses of the term in the 

text and also figure references to illustrations 

in which the item is depicted. 

Under "Illustration Credits" are found the 

sources for all illustrative material. If the item 

has been photographed by the Smithsonian 

Institution, the negative number for the photograph is given in parentheses. Requests for 

copies of these photos should be directed to the 

Smithsonian's Office of Printing and Photographic Services. Sources of material quoted 

in illustration legends are also referenced in 

this section. 

Comments by the volume editor or by one of 

the publication's contributors are inserted in 

brackets and bear the commenter's initials. 

The dynamics of the interaction of traditional 

taste and new needs are fully tested in the laboratory of historical study focused on the development of the western saddle. An examination of the myriad of craft technologies, the 

cultural range in form and ornament, and the 

overlapping functions of the western saddle 

reveals some of the components of the shifting 

matrix of historical human activities and values. In one sense the modern western saddle 

has regained the image of its own ancient ancestors: a symbol of power and prestige. No 

longer essential to conducting combat, daily 

work, or travel—except for a few users—^the 

western saddle is approaching a position of 

"status symbol" in the current national quest 

for leisure and display. 

The development of saddles in the Southwest 

is in some senses a pre-historical phase filled 

with false starts, fossils, and fitful successes. 

Much work is yet to be done in this later-day 

process of "western exploration." Hopefully, 

students of American history and material culture will be inspired to venture further into the 

archives and collections of Spain, Mexico, and 

the Southwest for a better grasp of the mechanisms of change that produce the variety of 

saddles valuable in our cultural, economic, and 

artistic heritage. 
Horizons of the Western Saddle 

Richard E. Ahlborn 

Global Saddle Horizons 

Ever since we succeeded in pushing our national 

boundaries to the Pacific coast, we Americans 

have been talking and singing about riding into 

the West. In 1944, with the nation immersed in 

global struggle, Cole Porter helped us hum our 

way to "where the West begins." We were 

escaping into what had become a popular tradition of cowboy ballads, movie "westerns," 

pulp novels, eye masks, white hats, and sungilded vistas. America's popular culture had 

come of age in the West of six-guns and 

silvered saddles. 

Today, even with demographic soundings 

showing a receeding tide of westward migrants, 

many Americans continue to feel a lingering 

romance for "western" spaces. Amidst unlimited vistas and solitude, one can pose in a 

sculpted seat mounted on a trusted, tireless 

steed. Underlying this nostalgic view of the 

natural world is the reality of an immense, 

on-going historical process—the progressive 

development of American culture, speeded up 

by sophisticated, mobilized equipment. A new 

horizon (spatial distribution of a historical 

prototype) of the saddle has emerged. The 

essence of the western saddle is now embodied 

in the contoured seats of motorcycle, sports car, 

and rocket ship, each with its own source of 

horsepower. 

Another utilization for the western saddle is 

its employment as a modern descriptive device 

for the analysis of American material and social 

history. As an artifact useful in describing and 

symbolizing our western history, the American 

Richard E. Ahlborn, Department of Cultural History, 

National Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560. 

stock saddle can take its place beside F. J. 

Turner's frontier trio of plough, axe, and gun 

and W. P. Webb's revolver, barbed wire, and 

windmill. Looking back more than a century 

historians are aware that America's story owes 

something of significance to the "western saddle," even before the Anglo cowboy appeared 

in large numbers. The western stock saddle of 

Hispanic-Mexican origin, along with parallel 

innovations within American Indian societies, 

can be used as a device to describe and illuminate aspects of nineteenth-century American 

culture. 

Cultural aspects susceptible to such description are both technological and social. The analysis of a saddle's structure and decoration, in 

conjunction with paper documents and documented examples of other saddles, reveals its 

origins in terms of time, place, and purpose, and 

of subsequent cultural choices in taste and usage. The function of a saddle, whether for daily 

life or special occasion, can be read in its shape, 

ornament, and wear. The documentary history 

of a saddle's repair, inheritance, evaluation, and 

disposal can be interpreted as a cultural history 

of material supplies, available craft skills, family structure, and of economic and social value 

systems. In short, the biology and biography of 

a saddle are tools for a wider interpretation of 

American history from frontier life to modern 

functions of work and leisure. 

If the saddle is a viable tool for describing 

and interpreting history, a series of examples 

may suggest its potency as a device for bridging 

the gap between past and present. A Scythian 

burial chamber at Pazirik in the Altai range of 

western Mongolia once held a wall hanging now 

in the Hermitage Museum^ (Figure 2a). De-
NUMBER 39 

picted in appliqued felts is a mounted warrior 

before the Great Goddess. In her presence, the 

rider sits in awe, astride a richly caparisoned 

steed; the bridle and saddle are ornate, as is 

the costume of the rider. Such a horseman 

would not feel uncomfortable, despite a journey 

of thousands of years and leagues, in a formidable German war saddle of the 1500s or a splendid Turkish saddle of the 1600s (Figure 2b,c). 

Through a 2500-year-old lens, there appears an 

after-image of Pazirik, Germany, and Turkey 

at Pasadena, in the "Hollywood cowboy" saddles of the annual Rose Parade (Figure 2d). 

Spanish Equestrian Horizons 

The Spanish conquest and settlement of North 

America was undertaken by men who, given the 

choice, rode rather than walked. And some rode 

well, with the help of fine horses and highly 

developed equipment. 

This pattern of Hispanic horsemanship is 

revealed as early as 4000 B.C. in mesolithic representations of halters on domesticated horses. 

Archaeological evidence of the advent of riding 

in Spain occurs in rock art dating before 2000 

B.C. and in fragments of Celtic weapons, horseshoes, bridle bits, and prick spurs by 500 B.C. 

About the same time, bent-knee riders in saddles of concave silhouette appear in Iberian 

stone carvings, bronze castings, and vase paintings. Examining these ancient arts, Ruy d'Andrade suggests that the leg position indicates 

the use of stirrups, and that the coverings are 

fitted over saddletree frames.^ 

Other authorities, however, place the origin 

of the saddletree in Han China, no earlier than 

200 B.C., and estimate that its use reached the 

Roman Empire, to which Iberia had close ties, 

no earlier than A.D. 400. Likewise, the foot-plate 

stirrup is said to have evolved in China from an 

east Indian big-toe type, perhaps as late as A.D. 

500. Then, "in A.D. 694, Muslim armies in northern Iran [Persia] received the stirrup from 

Turkestan. Shortly afterwards it was found in 

Byzantium, and by the early 730s it had arrived 

in the Frankish realm." ^ At that time Arabic 

invaders from northern Africa were establishing their sophisticated Muslim culture in southern Spain, facilitated by the use of superb 

horsemanship and advanced riding equipment. 

Arabian and Barbary horses were mixed with 

the native Spanish horses and their offspring 

fitted with Arabic bridles and saddles different 

from the heavier, indigenous types that were 

adapted to European styles of combat. Despite 

their antipathy for the Moorish intruders, 

Spaniards were fascinated by this exotic equestrian tradition and in some circles its adoption 

became a mark of fashion. 

Thus, by the early Middle Ages, Christian 

northern Spain was the recipient of several 

riding traditions: (1) ancient Celtic, (2) late 

Roman, (3) early Gothic European, and (4) 

Muslim. By 900, Spain is credited with having 

invented the rowel spur. Prior to regaining 

Granada and setting a westward sail for China 

in 1492, Spain had adopted both the European 

estradiota (or similar brida) saddle (Figures 

3, 5)—with high bows, heavy construction, 

extensive leather housings, and long stirrup 

leathers—and the Moorish jineta light-cavalry 

style of riding and its associated saddle (Figures 11 upper and 14 right) with less confining 

bows, fewer trappings, and shorter stirrup 

leathers. It is virtually impossible to define the 

original or "pure" estradiota and jineta types 

as to the height of the bows, although it is 

certain that a highly structured tree is common 

to both, the lighter being the jineta. The differences between them lie more significantly in 

the three-dimensional conformation of the 

bows and the seat between them. In contrast 

to the pommel of the jineta, that of the estradiota is usually larger, more erect, and elaborately curvilinear, providing a simulated battlement behind which the rider is enthroned. Its 

greater width and thickness is determined by 

the rider's need for protection and stability. 

By 1500, spike and rowel spurs, snaffle and 

curb bits, closed and open stirrups, and estradiota and jineta saddles provided Spanish riders 

with choices consonant with their own traditions and experience. This complex, historical 

panorama of Spanish saddlery was about to 

extend across the Atlantic, where new environments and needs would create another horizon 

within the evolution of the western saddle. 
SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

a 
NUMBER 39 

FIGURE 2.—A 2500-year panorama of elegant saddles: a, the ornate equipage of a horse 

and rider from western Mongolia shown in a sixth-century B.C. wall hanging; h, a 

sixteenth-century estradiota war saddle made by Desiderius Colman of Augsburg for 

Philip II of Spain; c, a seventeenth-century Turkish jineta-type saddle with European 

raised-silver plates and embroidered velvet trappings; d, silver-fitted saddle made by 

Frank H. Coenen of Alhambra, California, for David E. Llewellyn, who rode it in 

several Rose Parades at Pasadena from the 1930s until 1958. 
SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

Early Mexican Saddle Horizons 

From remarkable codices of the mid-1500s, 

consisting entirely of pictorial records drawn 

by Indians on local linen, we can study the 

Spanish types of saddles and other riding gear 

that equipped Cortes and his cavalry for the 

conquest of Mexico. 

A brief review of the famous Tlaxcala Codex '* 

confirms the continued popularity of the heavy 

estradiota saddle (despite the competition of 

the lighter jineta), and documents a wide range 

in combinations of saddle elements (cantle, 

pommel, rigging, stirrups), stirrup length, and 

spur types. No one combination dominates the 

early Mexican saddle. Where feet are shown in 

the codex, 40 display the spur spike, five show 

rowels and 28 display no spurs. Four of five 

rowel spurs appear with narrow-sided stirrups. 

Fifty-five stirrups are equally divided between 

wide- and narrow-sided. 

Girthing includes forward, three-quarter, and 

center; double-rigged saddles do not appear in 

the codex despite contemporary illustration of 

them in Spain (Figure 4).^ The girthing 

arrangements vary between saddle types and 

riding styles, according to tradition. Less significant factors are the saddle's center of gravity, the degree of stability or flexibility desired, 

the angle of leverage of the legs, and the ability 

of different portions of the horse's anatomy to 

sustain the stresses occasioned by the activities 

associated with the saddle type. The lighter 

jiyieta saddles more often used single center 

rigging, while the heavier types employed single 

full forward, single three-quarter, or even double rigging.) 

Of some 75 riding positions illustrated in the 

Tlaxcala Codex, 17 are the straight-legged 

estradiota style. In another 36, knees are sharply bent, and in 22, partially bent, suggesting 

that the Arabic jineta riding style was quite 

popular in the type of combat experienced by 

the conquistadors. Twenty-five saddles clearly 

suggest the heavier estradiota type, and 11 the 

jineta. Sixteen more can be seen to mix high 

and low cantle and pommel bows; but "high" 

estradiota cantles outnumber "low" jineta 

pommels 47 to 18. 

• ^ 

FIGURE 3.—Detail from the "Lienzo de Tlaxcala," a 

codex of illustrations painted by Mexican Indians about 

A.D. 1550, showing an estradiota saddle with high, encircling cantle, swelling pommel, forward rigging, and 

wide stirrup on extended leathers. 

In general, long estradiota stirrup leathers 

appear on high bowed saddles with wide stirrups (nine out of 14) but without spurs (11 

out of 14) ; riders using short jineta stirrup 

leathers preferred a saddle with one or both 

bows low, and also with spurs and wide stirrups 

(22 out of 35). /meia-type saddles with low 

bows occur more often (eight out of 12) with 

narrow-sided stirrups. There are 47 complete 

illustrations of saddles; the most frequent, complete combination of a traditional type (five 

instances) is the extended stirrup leather on a 

high bowed saddle, complete with spurs and 

wide stirrups, the classic estradiota style. Other 

codices support this prominence of the heavier 

estradiota saddle (Figure 5). 

The grand impression of these large combat 

saddles also relied on the attached leather armor 

or housings. This consisted of a complete harda 
NUMBER 39 

FIGURE 4.—A Spanish rider as depicted in a sixteenthcentury German travelog of Spain; note the double 

rigging, wide stirrup on long leathers, and spike-type 

spur. Also of interest are the saddle pad, the breast 

band, and tight reins. 

or coraza covering the saddle and much of the 

horse, later reduced to a set of leather elements, 

including the front-lying armas, the saddlecovering mochila, and the rump-covering anquera. The pride in this apparatus, originating 

with the combat saddle, continued in Mexico 

into the 1800s; the armas became a separate 

pair of chaparreras or chaps; the mochila 

evolved into the attached skirts and the "Mother 

Hubbard"; the rump cover was reduced to an 

anquerita, and finally disappeared. Leather estradiota trappings (as well as the heavy saddle 

with long stirrup leathers) persisted in northern Mexico (Sinaloa) after 1900 (Figure 21). 

These variations and combinations in riding 

equipment in sixteenth-century Mexico suggest 

that adjustments were being made in response 

to the new conditions of warfare, supply, and 

the land itself. Combat with gunless native infantry encouraged a reduction in saddle weight 

and leather housings. There was, moreover, the 

constant problem of repair or replacement of 

the Spanish combat saddles which required 

European craft skills in wood, leather, fabric, 

and metal. Fortunately for the conquistadors, 

the Indians of Mexico had ancient, native traditions of highly skilled artistry. 

Under the supervision of Spanish or creole 

maestros, natives were brought into the transplanted tradition of European craft guilds as 

assistants. The guild of harness- and saddlemakers was approved by Viceroy Mendoza in 

Mexico City on 5 May 1549.^ It required that 

applicants make both a jineta saddle and "una 

estadiota [sic] de cordovan unos asientos de 

barras, y buenos talles [sic], y faldas" (anestradiota-type saddle of cordovan leather, some 

saddletrees, saddle covers, and skirts). Also 

required were a cordovan saddle of French 

type, a pack saddle for a mule, and a sidesaddle 

(el sillon) with all its housings (la gualdrapa). 

In those colonial Mexican saddles we can 

discern the co-existence of European and Arabic crafts. Joined wooden construction, carved 

leather panels, wrought iron fittings, stamped 

silver ornaments, and facings of pelts, velvet, 

and silk proclaim an origin in Spain's international craft traditions, skills that were transplanted in the New World. The finely crafted 

saddles also say much about Hispanic-Mexican 

social organization, reflecting the transmission 

to the New World of the hierarchial and privileged guild system, which mirrored the social 

structure at large. Ultimately, the finish and 

style of the saddle announced the social status, 

or pretensions, of its owner, as do prized possessions to this day. 

The activities of everyday life and of special 

occasions were equally facilitated and defined 

by the Mexican saddle. Church and civil processions; military encampments and campaigns; supply trains, country sports and pastimes ; and especially the herding of sheep and 

cattle were distinguished by variations in basic 

saddle types, which remained intensely Spanish. 

It seems likely that many of the Indian helpers in the Hispanic guild shops became proficient in the crafts. In fact, so quickly did the 
10 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 5.—An estradiota saddle from the Mexican Indian codex "Baranda," of the 

mid-1500s, showing a rump cover, breast band, saddle skirt, and massive stirrup that 

predicts later wooden types. 

Indian learn European ways that the proclaimed laws were futile; forbidding Indians 

from learning to ride suggests that they were 

already doing so. 

The land itself made previously unencountered demands on riders and equipment. Probably in the 1600s, the vastness of the Mexican 

terrain began to modify Spanish riding practices and gear. Additional labor, including 

mestizos and Indians, were needed to handle 

the increasing numbers of sheep and cattle on 

the open range, a task that could be accomplished only on horseback. At the same time, 

Spanish combat saddles had to be made more 

useful to Mexican range work, which demanded 

long hours of riding and intense activity of a 

sort different from that of the mounted soldier 

and even from that practiced by the herdsmen 

of Spain. A saddle with elements borrowed from 

both the estradiota and jineta must have been 

developed by 1700. Protective leather housing 

was being adapted to rangeland brush and dust. 

The rump cover (la anquera), the saddletree 

covers (la coraza, la mochila) and a forward 

piece (las armas defensas, later las chaparreras) , all descendants of Spanish estradiota trappings, were extended by colonial Mexican saddle traditions into our Southwest. Also, the 

long stirrups and high dished cantle derived 

from the estradiota-type saddle provided a comfortable style of riding for long hours on the 

ranching frontier. 

The familiar, horizontal swelling of the pommel on western American saddles apparently 

did not occur to Mexican saddlemakers. In 

Mexico, the persistence of the traditional slick 

fork, perhaps coupled with disdain for the 

personal security suggested by a swelled pommel, contrasted with an Anglo-American attitude of progressive improvement through experimentation. By the third quarter of the 

nineteenth century. American saddlemakers 

were exploring a wide variety of shapes for 

pommel shoulders, even devising attachments 

such as the bucking-roll. Nevertheless, the 

overwhelming influence of stock saddle design 
NUMBER 39 II 

in nineteenth-century North America was from 

Hispanic Mexico to the United States. 

The major innovation during the process of 

modifying the Spanish combat saddle to produce the Mexican range saddle was the vertical 

extension of the pommel into a crooked neck, or 

horn. This structure was developed for holding 

the lariat (el lazo), coiled or stretched out to a 

stubborn steer that enjoyed the untrammeled 

freedom of the open range. Mexican cowboys 

(vaqueros) had developed saddles to their taste 

and needs by the mid-1700s. It was across the 

immense ranchos that spread 2000 km north 

and west from central Mexico that these horizons of the western saddle materialized. The 

mixed cultural traditions that made up Spanish 

saddle horizons in early colonial Mexico, as well 

as the new horizons of the saddle that developed 

there spread gradually, penetrating the northern borderland of missions and mines, scattered 

settlements and presidios of leather-clad soldiers in New Mexico. 

Saddle Horizons in the Southwest 

The appearance of Hispanic saddle types in 

what is now the southwestern United States 

took place only 21 years after their arrival at 

Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1519. From ample documentation, we know that Spanish saddles and 

related gear entered New Mexico with the Coronado Expedition in 1540. The captain's own 

equipment included "tres o quatro aderezos de 

armas de la brida y de la gineta," three or four 

sets of brida and jineta arms.''^ These "arms" 

included European brida or estradiota, and 

Arabic-Spanish jineta saddles. Hispanic-Mexican saddles. served later expeditions to New 

Mexico in the 1500s, but their continued presence was not assured until settlement was established by the Oiiate Expedition of 1598.^ 

From that time on, Hispanic-Mexican saddles 

are documented in colonial New Mexico. Sadly, 

only the paper references survive today. 

Beginning in 1595, a wealthy creole living in 

Zacatecas, Juan de Onate, undertook the settlement of the northern province, Nuevo Mexico. 

Seeking the necessary permission from the 

crown and local authorities to proceed required 

more than a year. The first inspection took place 

in 1596. We learn that Oiiate had gathered 

personnel and equipment near the mines of 

Santa Barbara in Chihuahua. A representative 

of the government in Mexico City, Lope de 

Ulloa y Lemos, undertook an exhaustive inventory of the expendition, as required by law.® 

The totals reveal about 400 persons, some 83 

wagons of different types and more than 7000 

cattle.i" Of the 200 soldiers, 171 declared "complete armor for himself and horse." We may 

surmise that horse armor included, indeed 

would have been useless without, a saddle. 

Counting these 171 saddles and the leader's 14 

saddles, the expedition was prepared to march, 

or rather ride, north. 

The 14 saddles owned by Don Juan included 

the three basic types brought to Mexico from 

Spain. First, there were six "sillas estradiotas," 

the heavily armored cavalry saddle. Of these 

estradiota saddles, which featured high curved 

bows and long stirrup leathers, five had been 

equipped with stirrups, girths, and cinches, 

poitrels or breast bands, and cruppers. Next, 

there were six "sillas jinetas," the lighter cavalry or riding saddle with less high bows but 

with little leather armor and shorter stirrups. 

Its trappings included spurs and poitrels, stirrups, caparison, and saddle coverings. 

The third type of saddle owned by Captain 

Onate numbered only two and was a heavy war 

saddle known as "silla de armas" or "silla 

bridona." It displayed a very high front bow 

or pommel covered in steel and probably possessed a full set of leather armor. Only one 

other bridona saddle was listed among all the 

expedition's equipment. 

Additional references suggest the importance 

of the leather armor for the saddle and horse. 

Some "300 saddle maker's needles," "18 sets 

of buckskin horse armor and 10 hides to make 

more," horses "armored in buckskin, bullhide 

or calfskin," including a "headpiece for the 

horse" are noted.^^ But despite the carefully 

constructed inventory, the expedition was delayed another year due to political rivalries. 

Records of the second inspection, this one 

under Juan Frias de Salazar in 1597, provides 

nearly the same total of saddles: 186. Here, 

however, are five un-typed "saddles," four of 

the arma or bridona type, 13 brida, 27 estradio-
12 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

ta, and 137 jineta. Two heavy spurs (las espuelas bridonas) and one set of light cavalry spurs 

(las espuelas jinetas) are noted, as well as 

short, tightly-reined bridles (los frenos jinetas) 

and long reined, loose-in-the-mouth bits and 

bridles (los frenos de la brida or bridona). 

Again, horse armor is recorded, including "some 

. . . for flanks, breast and forehead," and "one 

complete set of buckskin . . . lined with rawhide" which also covered "head and neck." 

Other equestrian equipment mentioned are 

"three pack saddles with ropes, girths and 

lariats," halters and, perhaps for a woman of 

rank, "sidesaddles and bridles of ocelot skin." ^^ 

With this listing, a distinctive pattern may 

be suggested for saddle usage on the frontier 

of New Spain by 1600, a pattern that varies 

from the earliest days of combat in central 

Mexico, namely a three-to-one dominance of 

the lighter jineta saddle over the more massive 

combat types. This pattern resulted from the 

type of saddle required for day-after-day expedition riding, as opposed to brief combats 

against well-armed warriors. The continued 

presence of the heavier estradiota-type saddle, 

however, must not be ignored. The wide-spread 

occurrence of the estradiota saddle in the 1500s 

as special presentations to the Spanish ruler 

and as combat equipment (the latter recorded 

in New World codices) ,^^ indicates that the 

heavy type was associated with the power and 

prestige appropriate to kings and conquistadors. 

As concerns the next hundred years, the 

1600s, the search for horizons of the western 

saddle reveals a great void. There are no 

documented examples of combat, parade, or 

range saddles from seventeenth-century Mexico, old or New. Even the illustrations of lively 

activities in the 1500s do not continue into the 

next century, except on painted screens (los 

biombos) where the lack of detail and the 

romanticized approach result in their being 

records not fully to be trusted. Only the range 

of sizes in saddle housings and the variation in 

leg positions hint at the presence of several 

saddle types in mid-colonial Mexico. 

This break in the literary and artifactual 

evidence for Mexican saddle types is not difficult 

to understand. The illustrative arts of seventeenth-century Mexico ran a narrow range, 

from religious subjects and official portraits to 

decorative passages. As for the saddles themselves, such useful artifacts were simply worn 

until exhausted, and then broken down into 

metal and leather scraps for the repair of new 

saddles. 

By the 1700s, however, New Mexican inventories list a variety of saddle elements, but too 

few to suggest an evolution for the missing 

examples themselves. Personal saddle equipment appears as "aparejo . . . silla y armas"; ^* 

"una silla buena de montar . . . un fuste pelado 

sin fierros ni corazas y sin estribos"; and "una 

silla de montar completa" ^^ (saddle fittings, 

. . . saddle and leather housings; a good riding 

saddle, .. . a plain saddletree without iron fittings, without covers or stirrups; and a completely equipped riding saddle). Goods presented to Indian allies included "cojinillos . . . 

anqueras . . . frenos" (small saddle pads or 

cushions, rump covers, and bridles),^^ but no 

saddletrees." By contrast, equipment accompanying 114 saddletrees (fustes) at the presidial company in Santa Fe included, and are 

duly recorded as, "mochilas, cojinillos, estribos, 

frenos, jaquimas, cabestros, botas, maletas, and 

guardapolvos" (saddle covers, saddle pads, stirrups, bits, halter headstalls, halters, lower leg 

guards, valises, and dust guards) .^^ 

Saddle types in colonial New Mexico are 

seldom identified in extant documents, except 

for infrequent references to the jineta. They 

appear by that name in civil court records, especially in estate settlements with inventories: 

[1704] I leave to Don Alonso [son] the two jineta saddles 

[1711] 12 pesos .. . a well-made jineta saddle as [debt] 

security 

[1727] an old jineta saddle with stirrups for its use 

[1737] a jineta saddle (of) saddle cover, pad, rump 

cover, saddletree, cinch and stirrups of "back" 

[leather?] 19 

After about the first quarter of the eighteenth 

century, we note in the inventories an increasing lack of the specific terms estradiota and 

jineta in preference for the more general silla 

de montar (1732) or silla de andar (1761).^'^ 

From such meager evidence, we may speculate 

that the traditional form of the jineta saddle 
NUMBE

R 39 

13 

was on the wane, but that elements of leather 

armor borrowed from the estradiota-tyipe saddle 

were still in wide use. 

There is one interesting reference in the will 

of Antonio Martin of Abiquiu (1770) to "an 

old cowboy-type saddle (la silla vaquera) with 

iron stirrups." 21 The identification of a well-

used range or stock saddle in a remote frontier 

village at this date indicates that the evolution-

ary process from conquistador saddle types to 

a cowboy saddle had occurred by late colonial 

times. The iron stirrup could have been either 

an imported European military type consisting 

of a simple arch, or it could have been the 

Mexican parade type in the form of a large, 

flanged cross (Figure 6). 

By the time the first census was taken in New 

Mexico in 1790, only one saddle-maker was list-

ed, a mulato from Mexico living in Albuquerque. 

This complex craft was not widely known, and 

with the scattered population the professional 

saddle maker had to stay on the move to make 

a living.22 

Although we are not in a position to recon-

struct completely the evolution of the western 

saddle from Mexican combat through vaquero 

types, we can propose a model comprising major 

horizons in sequence: from the sixteenth-cen-

tury estradiota and jineta to the eighteenth-

century vaquero to the nineteenth-century west-

em stock. Both negative and positive evidence 

exists for this generalized drift in saddle ty-pol-

ogy, if not for each regional and temporal vari-

ation. Admittedly, some scholars propose the 

thesis that the sequence originates essentially 

in the jineta saddle. This model's rejection of 

the jineta type as the sole ancestor of the Mexi-

can vaquero and western U.S. stock saddles is 

based on the jineta's form and use. The jineta's 

less-high bows, short stirrup leathers, and rela-

tively light tree do not lend themselves to the 

hard, daily usage on the range that includes 

cutting out and roping cattle. 

FIGURE 6.—Cross-form stirrup (el estribo de cruz) from 

Mexico (upper) and a flanged arch found in southern 

New Mexico (lower), both probably dating after 1700. 

These were symbols of status, largely used for show 

riding. The cast form and decoration recall carved 

leather and stamped metal work from the Near East. 

The stirrup tread often was covered with interlaced 

leather work. 
14 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

In support of the estradiota-vaquero ancestry 

of the western range saddle, there has already 

been an accounting (based on the codices and 

New Mexican inventories) of the lingering, 

diagnostic elements of leather housings that 

descended from heavy medieval European horse 

armor. The popularity of estradiota elements 

in the conservative Hispanic-American culture 

is also documented elsewhere. Indians at La 

Purisima Mission in southern California were 

making armas for four to six pesos through the 

late colonial period (1820).^^ And armitas, or 

chaparreras, had evolved from larger forms of 

leather armor by 1840. 

As alluded to previously, not all historians of 

equestrian affairs grant this much centrality to 

the estradiota heritage. Although noting the 

characteristic swelled fork and rounded cantle 

of the western stock saddle, Arthur Woodward 

states that "the light Persian saddle .. . is in 

effect the prototype of all present day Mexican 

and American stock saddles." ^4 And Charles 

Colley, another serious student, supports the 

Persian/Moorish jineta origin of the western 

stock saddle's "high pommel and cantle, high 

fork, and center fire rigging." ^s Colley states 

that Aztecs "eliminated the swell in the la 

jineta saddle" and "capped the pommel." Sadly, 

we lack any such examples of Mexican roping 

saddles securely dated before the 1830s. 

A few early illustrations, however, reveal an 

estradiota-tyj^e saddle in northwestern Mexico 

in the 1760s. A Jesuit missionary from Bohemia, Ignacio Tirsch, reached Baja California 

in 1761.2® In an ink and watercolor rendering 

of his ranch near San Jose del Cabo, Father 

Tirsch depicts two massive, heavily bowed saddles, one with a large housing in place (Figure 

1, upper). 

Another of his sketches reveals estradiotalike equipment: a rump cover, a mochila-type 

housing, and long stirrup leathers supporting 

high cross-form stirrups (los estribos de cruz). 

In our quest for an evolutionary stage from 

estradiota to vaquero saddle, we must carefully 

examine this drawing (Figure 7, lower) of "the 

way a majordomo catches a bull" (by the tail). 

The elegant rider has dismounted, and details 

of the working saddle are clearly seen. In front 

is a leather container and behind, a small. 

scalloped rump cover (la anquerita). Next, two 

leather housings lie over the saddle tree. A 

smaller leather covering like a mochila, snugly 

covers the tree. Next there is a larger, fringed 

covering. An even larger, third item, perhaps 

a saddle pad (el cojin) appears under the previous arrangement. Between this third item 

and the larger covering hang long leathers, 

weighted down by the cross-form stirrups. 

Finally, the bull-catcher's saddletree can be 

studied, and it looks familiar! The cantle is 

high and curved, and the equally high pommel 

ends in a large, forward-turned horn. One cannot see if the shoulders swell, but shadowy 

lines, apparently stitching, suggest a conformation other than a "slick" slope. This rendering 

of a late-colonial, estradiota-tyi^e saddle from 

northern Mexico may be regarded as the earliest known illustration of the Mexican vaquero 

saddle, at least in its norteno variation. 

There are some other illustrations of saddles 

from the northern frontier of Mexico that move 

our study from the colonial era into that of 

independence. In the Vinkhuisen Collection at 

the New York Public Library, there is a series 

of undocumented Mexican watercolor sketches 

probably dating 1775-1800. They include a 

"military volunteer" from the "back country." 

His riding equipment appears to be a saddle 

with a high front bow covered with a mochila 

or coraza, a crupper and long stirrups, and he 

sports large-rowelled spurs. All of these features were associated with estradiota-iy^Q saddles in the early colonial period. An 1803 drawing (Figure 8), preserved in the Archives of 

the Indies and published by Joseph Hefter,^'^ 

illustrates a dragoon of the "Internal Provinces," wearing a seven-layered, leather vest. 

The saddle of this dragoon is even more suggestive of the estradiota-tyipe than that of the 

"volunteer." The neck of the pommel on the 

dragoon's saddle rises into a volute that resembles a roping horn, and the cantle is very 

high and dished. The enlarged pommel and 

cantle are called "fustes delantero y trastero" 

(literally fore and aft trees, in recognition of 

their branching form). There is also a mochila, 

long stirrup leathers, wooden box-sided or 

leather covered (pig snout?) stirrups, forward 

rigging and spurs with very large rowels. To-
FIGURE 7.—Saddles in Baja California, as rendered by the Bohemian Jesuit, Ignacio 

Tirsch, about 1765: upper, heavy, estradiota-type saddles appear piled together in the 

lower left corner in this portion of a painting; lower, depiction of features known on 

western saddles a century later: the bulbous horn, stitching over the pommel shoulder, 

leather housing, pad and extended stirrup leathers. 

/ 
16 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 8.—A "leather-vested dragoon of the Internal Provinces of Mexico, 1803" rides 

a saddle with "bows fore and aft,'' "pockets for water and food," and "stirrups of 

wood." He carries a round shield (la rodela) and wears "'leather leggings and spurs." 

gether these elements indicate conservatism, a 

retention of medieval European military riding 

traditions. Even the round shield (la rodela) 

is quartered with Spanish arms long out-ofdate. The work is signed "fecit Raymundus a 

Murillo." 

Before the turn of the century, artists with 

a scientific expedition illustrated Mexican saddles in Alta (upper) California. The extended 

(1789-1794) Spanish naval exploration commanded by Capt. Alejandro Malaspina made 

landfall at Monterey in 1791. At the Mission 

of San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, the Franciscan padre, Fermin F. de Lasuen, offered assistance, perhaps suggesting local subjects to 

the expedition's artists, Jose Cardero, age 25, 

and Tomas Suria, about 30. In one rendering entitled "Method of Fighting California Indians," 

Suria pictures a charging lancer protected by 

a shield, tapaderas, and scalloped armas; the 

saddle includes an anquera, mochila, and a roll 

of material lying over and, unfortunately, hiding the pommel. Another study, this one "invented and drawn by Joseph Cardero," does 

reveal two pommels, both slick and horn-less. 

In this "View of The Friary, Church and Indian Settlements of Carmel Mission" (Figure 9), the two saddles are depicted with an 

ornately carved anquera and a large saddle 

cover apparently not slit so as to slip over the 

bows, a heavy saddle pad, and open, wooden 

stirrups. Finally, in a shadowy sketch, indeed 
NUMBER 39 17 

FIGURE 9.—Detail from a watercolor by Jose Cardero, 1791, showing Hispanic architecture, costume, and transportation devices in upper California, as well as native 

building and dress. 

a copy of the French original by Gaspard Duche 

de Vancy of the "Reception of La Perouse at 

Monterrey [sic]," one pen stroke suggests a 

high protrusion of the pommel. But is it a 

roping horn ? ^s 

While the intended use of the saddles pictured at Monterey's Mission is uncertain (perhaps they were for ceremony and travel rather 

than working cattle), drawings by Cardero and 

Tirsch do reveal a variety of saddle types in 

northwestern Mexico near the end of the eighteenth century. Certainly not all displayed a 

prominent pommel surmounted by a horn. 

There is only the one sketch "at Monterrey" 

that even vaguely suggests a horned saddle 

north of Baja California before 1800. Was roping from the saddle not yet a practice of California ranching? 

These observations give rise to the speculation that the pattern (model) of evolution of 

the western saddle occurred more than once in 

the vast ranching regions of central Mexico. 

These parallel, but not synchronous, developments spread north, and probably had entered 

New Mexico, Texas and, later, California before 

1800. The horned saddletree of Mexican manufacture was well established in these territories 

prior to the political upheavals in the decade 

after 1836. 

Numerous illustrations of horsemen from the 

era after independence was achieved by Mexico 

in 1821 are in existence and do provide some 

evidence of saddle evolution. Unfortunately, the 

famous lithographs by the European Claudio 

Linati (1828) are not very helpful for the study 

of saddles. A Mexican artist, Lino Sanchez y 
18 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

Tapia, however, provides some clues in the 

watercolors he rendered in the service of a 

border commisison from 1827 to 1831.2** In the 

representation of both military and civilian 

riders in northeastern Mexico, including southern Texas, the use of elaborate housing, long 

stirrup leathers, and stirrup covers (las tapaderas) are recorded. Furthermore, five renderings reveal a saddle horn resembling a hemisphere, perhaps a forerunner of the bulbous 

horn common to some northern Mexican stock 

saddles after 1840. 

The cinch of the "rancher from Nuevo Leon" 

is set well forward, while the "ranch foreman" 

(el caporal) and the dashing "Mexican rider" 

(el charro) appear to be using a center-rigged 

saddle. Other cinch locations are not shown or 

are hidden by the extended, forward position of 

the rider's legs. The "Texas rancher" with his 

jacket, rifle case, and leg-covering armas, all 

fringed, closely resembles the "Mexican presidial soldier." Does this similarity of civilian 

and military riding dress reflect a smilarity in 

choice of saddle type? Certainly by 1830 the 

Mexican vaquero saddle was present in the 

Texas region where it could influence saddle 

usage by incoming Anglo-American military 

and ranching populations. 

Without doubt, in the generation preceding 

1860, properly termed "before the cowboy" by 

James Hutchins, the vaquero saddle of northern 

Mexico (Figure 20) was established in the 

southwestern United States. Woodward has 

noted that although the Mexican vaquero saddle's pommel horn began to spread out like a 

plate after 1860, the saddles of upper California 

retained the earlier, slender horn and sloping 

pommel. ^^ The best Mexican saddles, made in 

Leon and Puebla, were "mere skeletons," according to contemporary comment.^^ For both 

military and vaquero use, unpadded open saddletrees with a minimum of permanently attached leather trappings were common in Mexico. In this skeletal form or as a part of a saddle 

with complete leather housings, the "Spanish 

tree" became, through trade and war, familiar 

to Anglos in the Southwest and beyond. 

This tree was the foundation of all Mexican 

stock saddles from later Spanish colonial times 

to this day. Its presence in the United States by 

1830-60 only documents the reliance of American military and western stock saddles on some 

Mexican prototype; the ubiquity of the Spanish 

tree does not confirm or deny the sequential 

model suggested here, a model that credits the 

estradiota-type with contributing as significant 

elements as the jineta to the vaquero (and perhaps a northern variant, the "norteno"), from 

which our western stock saddle emerged after 

1860. 

From our review of New Mexico inventory 

terminology and illustrations from California 

and Texas, all prior to 1830, we can only be 

certain that the Mexican vaquero saddle with 

leather housings, pommel horn, long stirrup 

leathers, and high, dished cantle—largely estradiota elements—was available as a prototype to 

the western saddle. Whether through a norteno 

variant of the vaquero saddle, or more generally 

from many variations of it, the modern western 

saddle that appeared after the Civil War clearly 

displayed structural and decorative elements 

that were Mexican in origin. 

By the third quarter of the nineteenth century there had appeared the horizon of the 

"western saddle" itself. Drawing on several traditions (at least Mexican, English, and continental European) and adapted to local conditions, it was a product peculiarly of the western 

United States. Although it has exhibited many 

variations—regional, temporal, utilitarian, and 

artistic—it may be identified as a type that 

displays: a high, forward-hooking horn emerging from a pommel with swelled shoulders; a 

high dished cantle; the enclosing of the tree by 

the permanent installation of certain leather 

work deemed essential (e.g., seat and relatively 

short skirts) ; rigging that balances the stress 

on the horse near the center of the saddle (i.e., 

either single center or double rigging) ; and 

long stirrup leathers suspending uncovered, 

generously scaled stirrups. 

The presence of the more typically Mexicanstyle saddle in the Southwest, however, persisted long after the Civil War. Drawings made 

about 1876 in Texas by William Alexander 

Bowie,32 show a saddletree with an enlarged, 

flat horn on a thick neck, encircled by rigging 

straps for a front-fired cinch; an open seat, the 

rear of which is covered by a cushion; and 
NUMBER 39 19 

fancy fenders tied onto long, wide stirrup 

leathers. Likewise, we know of Mexican-made 

trees and charro saddles purchased in California well after 1900. The trade continues today, 

diminished, however, in proportion to the role 

of the working saddle in an automotive culture. 

It may be worthwhile to note that Mexican 

working saddles, like so many other Hispanic 

craft objects, gradually evolved into, or rather 

were resolved into, ideal forms that George 

Kubler terms "time's perfection." ^^ The solution was a mestizo product, Spanish in origin 

but thoroughly Mexican in realization, satisfying both craftsman and consumer. Both the 

Mexican vaquero saddle and the U.S. western 

stock saddle surely fulfill the criteria suggested 

by Kubler for survival and perfection of a 

form: strong surfaces constructed from ample 

quantities of raw materials; simple, underlying 

structure; and "often-repeated performance" in 

both creation and usage. Ultimately, the historical development, time's perfection, of the modern western saddle from Mexican types is important to our recognition of its cultural significance. The fact of the Mexican working saddle's 

continental diffusion from the colonial period 

to the present suggests the capability of certain "ideal" forms to satisfy a variety of human 

tasks and social values within a continuously 

extended environment. 

Notes 

1. Tamara Talbot Rice, The Scythians (London, 

1957), plate 30. 

2. Fernando de Sommer D'Andrade, A Short History 

of the Spanish Horse and of the Iberian "Gineta" Horsemanship (Lisbon, 1973), pages 24-33. "Based on the 

exhaustive work .. . of Dr. Ruy D'Andrade." The preferred spelling of "jineta" will be used throughout. 

3. "Harness and Saddlery," Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition (London, 1972), volume 11, page 119; 

also, "Horsemanship and Riding," volume 11, page 712. 

4. Alfredo Chavero, ed., "Lienzo de Tlaxcalla," AntigUedades Mexicanas (Mexico City, 1892). 

5. Christoph Weiditz, Das Trachtenbuch . . . von 

seinen Reisen nach Spanien, 1529, reprint edition edited 

by Theodor Hampe (Berlin, 1927). 

6. Francisco del Barrio Lorenzot, Ordenanzas de 

gremios de la Nueva Espana (Mexico City, 1920), pages 

103, 296. 

7. Arthur S. Aiton, "Coronado's Muster Rolls," 

American Historical Review, volume 44 (April 1939), 

page 560. 

8. • George Hammond and Agapito Rey, translators 

and editors, Don Juan de Onate: Colonizer of New Mexico, 1595-1628, 2 volumes (Albuquerque, 1953). [Compilation of public records from archives in Spain and 

Mexico.] 

9. Ibid., volume 1, pages 94-168. 

10. Ralph Emerson Twitchell, The Leading Facts 

of New Mexican History, 2 volumes (Albuquerque, 

1963), volume 1, pages 303-311. 

11. Hammond and Rey, op. cit., volume 1, pages 45, 

138, 150, 154. 

12. Ibid., volume 1, pages 215-301. 

13. Albert F. Calvert, Spanish Arms and Armour 

(London, 1907). Illustrates estradiota saddles presented to Philip II (1556-98) from Germany, Austria, and 

Italy, plates 172, 174. Also, see Guia ilustrada real 

armeria de Madrid (Madrid, 1956), page 8; and Francisco Xavier Hernandez, Carruajes, sillas, jaeces . . . 

(Mexico City, 1948), page 6. 

14. Microfilms of the original Spanish documents 

were consulted in the New Mexico State Records 

Center and Archive (SCR), Santa Fe, In this paper 

they are organized by year and document number to 

coincide with Ralph E. Twitchell's two-volume reference, The Spanish Archives of New Mexico (Cedar 

Rapids, 1914). Cited here is document 187, dated 1713, 

in Twitchell's Spanish Archives, volume two, by means 

of the notation: SRC, SA 11-187 (1713); volume one 

of Twitchell is cited as SA I. Other collections at the 

State Records Center are given by name, proceeded by 

SRC. 

15. SRC, SA 11-369 (1732); SA 11-624 (1767) ; SA 

11-889 (1784). 

16. SRC, SAII-1670a (1703). 

17. By 1783, however, "a saddle, saddletrees, bridle 

and spurs" were given to Indian men by the missionaries in Texas whenever necessary. See Fr. Benedict 

Leutenegger, OFM, "Report on the Status of the Mission of Espiritu Santo de la Bahia," in the San Jose 

Mission Archive, San Antonio, Texas, unpublished document 3-3481, and his Guidelines for a Texas Mission 

(San Antonio, 1976), item 43. 

18. SRC, SA 11-1799 (1805). 

19. SRC, SA 1-1027 (1704), folio 3, "dejo a d'^Alonso 

de Vargas las dos sillas jinetas"; SRC, SA 11-168 

(1711), frame 331-343, "12p^ .. . en prenda una silla 

gineta es hiza buena"; SRC, SA 11-344 (1727), frame 

519, "una silla jineta bieja con estribos aluso"; SRC, 

SA 11-422 (1737), frame 985, "una silla gineta, coraza, 

bastes, enguera, fuste, sincho y estrivos de lomo." 
20 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

20. SRC SA 11-369 (1732) "una silla buena de 

montar . . . ^0 ps. [pesos]"; SRC, SA 11-556 (1761) 

"Una silla de andar a caballo." 

21. SRC, Wills and Hijuelas: Antonio Martin, 1770, 

page 4. 

22. SRC, SA II-1092b (1790), frame 320, lists Jose 

Ramirez; interview with Oscar Carvajal, Jr., saddle 

maker in San Antonio, Texas, June 1977. 

23. Arthur Woodward, "The Evolution of the Cowboy Chaps," Los Angeles Museum Quarterly, volume 8, 

numbers 3-4 (spring 1951), pages 5,10. 

24. Arthur Woodward, "Saddles in the New World," 

Los Angeles Museum Quarterly, volume 10, number 2 

(1953), page 1. 

25. Charles C. Colley, "La Jineta, the Art of Moorish Horsemanship in the New World," El Palacio, 

volume 74, number 2 (summer 1969), pages 31-35. 

Especially page 34, based on Arnold R. Rojas, The 

Vaquero (Santa Barbara, 1964), pages 29-30. In The 

Ranch in Spanish Texas, 1691-1800 (El Paso, 1969), 

page 2, Sandra L. Myres credits the "Moorish saddle" 

[read jineta from Spain] as "forerunner of the Mexican charro saddle and the Western stock saddle." She 

also refers to a Mexican work saddle, la silla de campo, 

but no specific examples are cited. 

26. Ignacio Tirsch, The Drawings of Ignacio Tirsch, 

a Jesuit Missionary in Baja California, translated and 

edited by Elsbeth Schulz-Bischof (Los Angeles, 1972). 

The originals are in the State Library of Czechoslovakia, Prague, listed as XVI B 18. 

27. Joseph Hefter, "Cronica del traje militar en 

Mexico del siglo XVI al XX," Artes de Mexico (Mexico 

City), number 102 (1968), page 51. 

28. Donald C. Cutter, Malaspina in California (San 

Francisco, 1960); and Donald C. Cutter and Mercedes 

Palau de Iglesias, The Malaspina Expedition (Santa 

Fe, 1977), pages 19-41. 

29. Richard E. Ahlborn, European Dress in Texas, 

1830, American Scene, volume 13, number 4 (1972), 

20 pages, illustrated. 

30. Woodward, "Saddles," pages 2-3. Also see Jean 

Roemer, Cavalry: Its History, Management, and Uses 

in War (New York, 1863). 

31. Domingo Revilla, "Los Rancheros," El Museo 

Mexicano (Mexico City, 1844), volum.e 3, page 553. 

32. Ellen Bowie Holland, Gay as a Grig: Memories 

of a North Texas Girlhood (Austin, 1963). 

33. George Kubler, "Time's Perfection and Colonial 

Art," Spanish, French and English Traditions in the 

Colonial Silver of North America (Winterthur, Delaware, 1969), pages 7-12. Kubler explores the problems 

of style and seriation in his provocative work. The 

Shape of Time (New Haven, 1962). 
Origins of Mexican Horsemanship and Saddlery 

Daniel F. Rubin de la Borbolla 

(Alicia Edwards, translator) 

The Mexican stock saddle is a relatively modern 

contribution to a saddlery tradition already 

ancient when Columbus set sail for America. 

Evolved from Renaissance Spanish combat saddles that were themselves derived chiefly from 

eighth-century Arabian prototypes, the Mexican saddle is an instructive example of an Old 

World artifact modified and adapted to fit the 

needs of the New. The saddle form that evolved 

in colonial times in response to the demands of 

the expanding frontiers of New Spain is a 

distinct North American contribution to the art 

of saddlery. So successful did it prove that it 

was taken north to the "Internal Provinces" of 

colonial Mexico, which are now part of the 

United States. There the late-colonial Mexican 

stock saddle was adopted by cattlemen from 

Texas to California and, in time, throughout the 

old West. 

Much has been written about charreria, the 

art of horsemanship as it is practiced in Mexico. Numerous writers have analyzed the use 

of the horse as a means of transportation, the 

design and construction of saddle and harness 

equipment, and the ethos of the man on horseback—his clothing, speech, customs, and mounted activities. Little attention has been given, 

however, to the changes in styles of riding that 

occurred in Mexico between 1600 and 1900. 

These riding styles helped to shape the form 

that the Mexican saddle eventually assumed. 

Horse equipment and horsemanship had to 

be adapted to conditions in the New World 

vastly different from those in Spain. This is 

especially notable in the area of stock raising 

Daniel F. Rubin de la Borbolla, Centra Interamericano 

de Artes Populares, Apartado Postal 557, Cuenca, 

Ecuador. 

where the collaboration between horse and man 

is essential. These adaptations can best be understood by focusing upon a historical study of 

what happened in Mexico, as gleaned from 

documentary sources and from discussions with 

historians, charros, and riders of all kinds. Attention will be given first to a brief background 

of the modern horse in America, its early arrival and the conditions established for its use, 

secondly to a description of the Spanish styles 

of riding introduced into colonial Mexico and 

the development of them in this new environment, and lastly to a focus on the equipment 

used in Mexican horsemanship, special attention being given to the saddle. 

The Horse in Colonial Mexico 

NEW ARRIVALS. — Fossil evidence demonstrates that much of the evolutionary history of 

the modern horse occurred in the western hemisphere. An immense variety of species developed over time. In great pulses some of these 

migrated to the eastern hemisphere at times 

when land bridges to Asia or northern Europe 

made this possible. Horses of a modern type 

were widespread throughout the American continents until about 10,000 years ago when mysteriously they died out totally. 

Thereafter, the American continents remained without horses until the arrival of 

the first Spaniards. For Columbus's second 

voyage, in 1493, the Spanish crown shipped 

horses and mares (Figure 10) to establish 

breeding ranches on the recently colonized islands in the Caribbean. During the first half 

of the sixteenth century, horses were supplied 

from Jamaica and Cuba to all the American 

21 
22 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 10.—Spanish method for shipping horses to 

America. 

mainlands touched by Spain. Although some of 

the horses used by the conquistadors were 

shipped directly from Spain, it is probable that 

most were born in Cuba.^ 

Conquistador Hernan Cortes transDorted the 

first horses to Mexico in 1519. From the account 

of the conquest written in 1568 by Bernal Diaz 

del Castillo, we know the owner (s) and description of each animal. 

Captain Cortes: a solid dark chestnut horse, which died 

as soon as we arrived at San Juan de Ulua [Vera 

Cruz]. 

Pedro de Alvarado and Hernando Lopez de Avila: a 

very good sorrel mare, good both for sport and as a 

charger. When we arrived in New Spain [Mexico] 

Alvarado bought the other half share in the mare or 

took it by force, 

Alonzo Hernandez of Puerto Rico: a gray mare, a very 

good charger which Cortes bought for him with gold 

buttons. 

Gonzalo Dominquez, a wonderfully good horseman: a 

very good dark chestnut horse, a grand galloper. 

Baena, a settler at Trinidad: a dappled horse almost 

black, no good for anything. 

Ortiz the musician and Bartolome Garcia who once 

owned gold mines: a very good dark horse called El 

Arriero, the muleteer; this was one of the best horses 

carried in the fleet. 

Juan Sederio, a settler at Havana: a chestnut mare 

which foaled on board ship.2 

At the siege that Cortes laid on the Aztec 

capital of Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, almost all of the horses died. But in 1520 more 

horses were shipped to Mexico from the Caribbean islands and from the Canaries. The continuity of the horse in America was secure. 

LANDS, BRANDS, AND SADDLES.—Manuscript 

illustrations drawn by Indians shortly after the 

conquest reveal a great deal about early Spanish 

horses and horsemanship in Mexico. Details of 

branding, equipment, and styles of riding and 

combat appear in codices such as the "Lienzo de 

Tlaxcala" (Figure 11).^ 

During the first decade of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, the brands used on horses 

merely indicated the animals' places of origin 

(Figure 12, left).^ As the number of horses 

increased, however, so too did problems of differentiation, and the Spanish authorities soon 

had to establish a simple system of identification for all breeders and owners using branding 

irons (fierros) or other methods of marking 

animals. In June of 1529, the municipality of 

Mexico City issued the first ordinance calling 

for the registration of brands by each ranch 

or horse-breeding establishment (Figure 12, 

right). Among the first applicants who requested permission to register their brands were 

El Colegio del Nombre de Jesus, for mares and cows. 

Miguel Lopez for his family, for mares. 

Bautista Marin and for Ana Maria, to brand horses. 

Bartolome de Perales, for mares and cattle. 

Geronimo Ruiz de la Mota, for cows, sheep and mares.^ 

FIGURE 11.—Drawings from the codex "Lienzo de Tlaxcala," made by Mexican Indians about 1550: upper, 

a helmeted soldier riding bent-kneed in a light jinetatype saddle; lower, a warrior riding straight-legged 

in a massive estradiota-type saddle. Both Spaniards 

use the open, triangular drabe (Arabic) stirrup; one 

wears the medieval spike spur. 

24 

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SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

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FIGURE 12.—Brands used on horses in early colonial 

Mexico, compiled from the codex "Lienzo de Tlaxcala": 

left, Spanish brands registered in Cuba and Jamaica 

and employed in the conquest of Mexico; right, brands 

that were among the first registered in Mexico, about 

1530, 

The insistence of municipal authorities, from 

a very early date, on a system of branding was 

of the greatest importance to the development 

of a new national saddle form. As the first 

stockmen were soon to discover, the problem 

of branding stock on unfenced ranges required 

the ability to rope from the saddle, a requirement that in turn demanded a saddle horn on 

which the rope could be snubbed, a sturdy saddle frame that could withstand the strain imposed by the lassoed animal, and stirrups sufficiently long to permit the rider to brace 

himself against sudden stops and sharp turns. 

The need for a saddle with new characteristics was made more acute by the amazing 

rapidity with which grazing ranges were extended out from Mexico City. Estancias, land 

grants given by the royal crown, became crowd-
NUMBER 39 25 

ed with cattle as the first conquistadors and 

other grantees began to devote themselves to 

stock raising. As extensive fields having ample 

pasturage and water and lying near the capital 

were quickly exhausted by the rapid increase 

of cattle and horses, officials ordered the first 

land grants extended westward. Estancias became located ever farther from the central 

valleys. Torquemada describes the ranching 

situation in 1610: 

The cattle having increased their numbers greatly and 

vast lands having been discovered, the ranchers determined to move into more extensive and comfortable 

places. Many ranches in the valleys of Tepepulco, Zumpango and Toluca were depopulated when ranchers 

went out to settle new lands. At this time, taking all 

the ranches together these lands extended more than 

[500 miles] beyond the valleys called "de Guadiana," 

now Durango, and including all the Chichimeca lands.^ 

Thus, by the early seventeenth century, cattle 

raising had reached the semiarid northern 

plains of Mexico and moved into the areas that 

would later become Texas and New Mexico. 

The entire process of extending the activity of 

ranching throughout colonial Mexico was dependent on the development of new skills and 

a style of riding suitable for the rugged condition of the advancing frontiers, and on the 

adaptation of Hispanic horse equipment to the 

new environment of open-range ranching. 

POPULARITY AND CONTROLS.—The horse soon 

became immensely popular with all classes in 

colonial Mexico. To meet the demand for horses 

without relying on uncertain imports from the 

Caribbean and Spain, Mexican authorities 

sought to encourage horse breeding even to the 

extent of taking steps in 1526 to reduce the 

number of mules on the grounds that they were 

nonreproductive animals. Mule owners were 

required to possess at least an equal number of 

horses. A lack of investigative personnel, however, made it difficult to enforce this regulation. 

Whatever the effect of governmental action may 

have been, the number of horses in Mexico City 

grew rapidly, and their prices rose proportionately. 

Corresponding increases were found in the 

number of horse-related services. Christopher 

Ruiz contracted with the municipality of Mexico City to serve as the first official farrier or 

blacksmith (herrero) for an annual wage of 

fifty pesos. Veterinary services as well as 

stables and caravan compounds had to be established and supervised. There was also a public 

demand for establishments where horses could 

be sold and traded. As early as 1532 the authorities in Mexico City were obliged to establish a brokerage (correduria) office for the 

selling and trading of horses. The first broker, 

Diego Lopez Gordillo, paid the municipality 

seventy-five pesos for the right to hold the office 

of concessionaire for one year. 

Rigorous but doomed efforts were made to 

prohibit the subjugated Indian populace from 

owning cattle or riding horses. The Elizabethan 

English adventurer Henrie Hawks, who visited 

New Spain in the sixteenth century, observed 

that "the Spaniards keepe the Indians in great 

subiection. They may haue in their houses no 

sword nor dagger . , . neither may they ride 

upon any horse, nor mules, in any saddle nor 

bridle.,.." "^ 

With the increasing use of Indians as stock 

handlers, however, it was soon necessary to 

grant licenses to Spanish owners of sheep and 

cattle estancias so that the Indians could ride, 

first mules and, eventually, horses. One license 

granting Indians permission to ride was discovered in the "Instrucciones y ordenes de 

gobierno a los corregidores y alcaldes mayores" 

dated by an official in 1619. 

Gabriel de Tapia, procurator for the Jesuit College here, 

has indicated to me that the college owns a ranch for 

sheep and goats called Santa Lucia [with] 100,000 

head . . , there are 20 Indian ranch foremen [capitanejosl assigned to different pastures, and it is necessary for them to ride horseback, using saddle, bit and 

spurs; were it possible to give them permission .. . no 

one would . . . accuse Tapia of breaking the law. 

The noted aficionado of Mexican charreria, 

Leovigildo Islas Escarcega, has pointed out the 

extent to which the sixteenth-century priest 

and agriculturist Sebastian de Aparicio helped 

to teach the Indians the difficult task of domestication and proper use of animals for plowing 

and transport and later for riding. 

With the failure of the royal prohibitions 

aimed at keeping the native Mexican populations from owning cattle or riding horseback, all 

social classes became involved in forging new 

equestrian traditions. A new saddle form was 

already evolving during the early seventeenth 
26 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

century, shaped by the practical necessities of 

rigorous rural living. Its early adoption as a 

general riding saddle by people of all conditions 

of life constitutes a meaningful claim to its 

being a national saddle. 

SADDLERY GUILDS.—The rugged life of stock 

handlers in the range country required wellcrafted saddles that would prove serviceable 

under diflScult and often dangerous circumstances. The existence of guilds of highly skilled 

saddle and harness makers in New Spain helps 

to explain the high quality of the new saddle 

form as it began to emerge in the colonial era. 

Modeled after protective associations founded in Roman times, the craft guilds (gremios) 

had functioned in Spain since the fourth century and, through succeeding centuries, had 

adjusted their structures in accordance with 

economic changes, new craft techniques, and 

stylistic shifts. After the conquests, the Spanish 

government promptly extended ordinances to 

legalize and regulate the establishment of craft 

guilds in the New World. 

Guild ordinances in Mexico set quality norms 

and styles for each craft, and spelled out the 

rights and duties of the artisan members. The 

first ordinances for makers of saddles and horse 

trappings (guarnicioneros de sillas y aderezos 

de caballos) was confirmed in Mexico City on 

5 May 1549.^ The saddle and harness makers 

(talabarteros) gained so much strength that 

they arranged to have their own chapel for 

religious services and festivities. Other artisans 

produced additional kinds of riding equipment 

and had their own sets of ordinances determining processes and prerogatives. 

Saddles made in the middle of the sixteenth 

century in Mexico City were the richest and 

most bejewelled in all the Ameican colonies. 

Indeed, ostentation and expense of saddles 

reached such a point that the crown ordered 

discretion and simplicity in their design, but 

to little avail. Even on saddles used in combat, 

bits, cinches, and breast bands were ornamented 

(Figure 13). Metal saddle parts were forged of 

iron, following traditional Spanish forms, structure, and size. Later, changes were made, especially in surface design. Bits, stirrups, spurs, 

and saddle buckles noted for their decorative 

metal inlay were made even after colonial times 

in Amozoc, a small village near Puebla, 

Spanish Riding Styles 

In its present form the Mexican stock saddle 

represents a long process of evolution from 

older forms developed to fit the needs of traditional Spanish riding styles. 

At the time of the conquest of Mexico, Spain 

had an equestrian tradition that dated back 

more than eight centuries. Roman saddles and 

Frankish stirrups are recorded in Spain prior 

to A.D. 710, but it was the Arabs, in the process 

of spreading the Muslim faith westward, who 

were most instrumental in setting the traditions 

that characterized typical Spanish horseback 

riding.^ On the Iberian peninsula, the skill of 

riding first became popular as a means of herding cattle cross-country to pasture, and was 

soon appropriated by the aristocratic and military classes. The riding styles bequeathed to the 

Spaniards by the Medieval Europeans and by 

the Arabs—estradiota (and the closely related 

brida) and the jineta—are of significance to the 

history of Mexican saddlery (Figure 14). 

LA ESTRADIOTA.—The estradiota style, also 

called croata, appears to be of ancient origin, 

inasmuch as a modern authority defines it simply as the manner developed for riding a horse 

after the invention of stirrups by primitive 

horsemen. This source describes the saddle developed for the estradiota style as follows: 

The saddles had a very high pommel and a flatter and 

lower cantle, also long skirts and very long stirrups, 

which obliged the horseman to stretch out his legs. The 

pommel and cantle were very close, scarcely leaving 

room for the seat and thighs of the horseman. The bits 

had very long curbs ^o (Figure 15). 

An unusual feature of the estradiota saddle was 

the long backward-curved extension of each side 

of the pommel, often constructed of metal, that 

protected the rider's thighs (Figures 26, 11 

lower). 

[The straight-legged style of riding that employed this type of saddle was appropriate to 

European forms of warfare, jousting, and gentlemanly display. It was well adapted to the 

heavy European breeds of horses. R.E.A,] 

LA BRIDA.—The brida style of riding was 

introduced into Spain from Italy during the 

fifteenth century," This style had affinities with 

the estradiota style inasmuch as its most important characteristic was the use of "stirrups 
NUMBER 39 27 

as long as the extension of the leg, holding the 

leg straight and stretched out," ^^ Historians 

confirm that brida riding acquired great prestige with working horsemen, and was also 

adopted by society riders who liked to display 

their horses and horse trappings with pomp. 

The brida saddle was also called de rua, from 

the Spanish ruar, to ride, because it was particularly suitable for riding for show, Charles 

V of Spain (1516-1556) rode this way, as did 

mounted warriors clad in heavy armor, who 

required long stirrup leathers to support a 

straight-legged lean. The brida saddle was distinguished by its lower pommel and cantle, long 

stirrups, and bridle bit with wide curbs. 

LA JINETA.—An extremely popular style of 

"light" (non-work-related) riding in Spain at 

the time of the conquest of Mexico was the 

jineta style. This mode of riding sacrificed the 

stability and comfort of an enclosed seat with 

extended stirrups for the speed and closequarter maneuverability afforded by a less confining saddle and short stirrups. The early 

jineta saddle (Figure 17) displayed a pommel 

and cantle lower and simpler than the estra^ 

diota but closer and higher than found on the 

modern Mexican saddle. 

The jineta style has been described as "the 

art of riding a horse , . . with short stirrups 

and legs bent, but vertical from the knees 

FIGURE 13,—A Spanish rider with ornamented reins and trappings, spearing an Indian 

at "Vitzilapan.'' 
28 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 14.—Styles of horseback riding: left, rider using the extended-leg estradiota 

style (the only visible portion of the saddle is the forward edge of the saddle cover); 

right, rider using the bent-leg jineta style (note the low, curving cantle and small, 

backward-curved pommel, also the forward rigged cinch and larger stirrup). 

downward." ^^ The Tlaxcala codex includes 

drawings that show Spaniards riding a la jineta 

(Figures 11, upper, and 16; see also Figure 14, 

right). This jineta position has also been described by the noted historian of Mexican horsemanship, Senor Alvarez del Villar: "the rider 

holds his thigh in a vertical position . , , the 

leg is bent back at the knee to maintain contact 

with the flank of the horse," i* 

[Spaniards borrowed this riding style from 

their Moorish neighbors. It was suited to the 

Arab tactics of warfare and for the light, agile 

Arab horse. R.E.A.J 

OTHER STYLES.—Other Hispanic-Arabic riding styles and associated saddle forms in sixteenth-century Spain were the bastarda and the 

barda. The length of the bastarda stirrup 

leathers was between those of the brida and 

jineta saddles. In the sixteenth century, the 

bastarda saddle replaced the jineta in Spain, 

became the source of the French saddle, and 

was adapted to the classical riding style that 

came to fullest expression in the Spanish Riding 

School in Vienna about 1565. The barda was a 

popular traveling saddle that represented an 

integration of the jineta and estradiota forms. 

STYLES ADOPTED IN MEXICO.—For a Spaniard, the style of riding and the form of saddle 

selected by an individual were dictated not only 

by the particular type of activity in which he 

was engaged but were also influenced by the 

prevalent mode of riding practiced in his region 

and by members of his social station. Among 

the gentry, riding customs were affected by 

court fashion, with the jineta and brida saddles 

having competed for popularity throughout the 

Renaissance. For those engaged in more rigorous activity, stirrup leathers were partially or 

wholly extended. 

Although several varieties of Spanish riding 
NUMBER 39 29 

styles and associated equestrian equipage were 

transported to Mexico, not all innovations and 

modifications that occurred in Spain found reflection in the New World. Certainly, however, 

the jineta riding style appeared in Mexico with 

the conquistadors and flourished in the new environment. Colonial oflficials and others of 

means and social rank, who imitated the Spanish in everything, scrupulously maintained the 

rules and form of the jineta style as it had been 

practiced at the peak of its popularity at court. 

Even when the style had almost disappeared 

in Spain, it continued in Mexico. In 1580, Juan 

Suarez de Peralta, writing on the art of traditional riding, remarked about the jineta: "That 

style is no longer natural to her [Spain] and it 

has gone to New Spain . , , where it has been 

embraced and esteemed . " 16 

In New Spain the colonists' affinity for the 

jineta saddle is reflected in the persistence of 

the simplicity of its basic form with high pommel and cantle (features that also proved practical in stock handling), modified, however, 

with the longer stirrup leathers of the estradiota and brida types that allowed for a riding 

style more suited to local needs and conditions. 

STIRRUPS.—A consideration of the Spanish 

stirrup that came to the New World is important. One statement purports to describe the 

type of stirrup used by Cortes and his men: 

Stirrups were of Arabic origin and measured some 45 

centimeters high by 30 wide, wth two lateral extensions 

of 11 centimeters; [they were] worked and chased 

with mudejar [Moorish, angular, all over] or plateresco 

[European, curvilinear, clustered] designs and often 

inlaid with silver, copper or gold.i^ 

FIGURE 15.—Bits used in the 1600s on the Iberian peninsula: left, "Moorish" ring bit 

with long, curved shanks; right, joined curb bit. 
FIGURE 16.—Examples from "Lienzo de Tlaxcala" of Spanish soldiers riding in the 

jineta style: upper, an armored soldier at "Piyaztlan"; lower, a Spanish rider at 

"Xonacatla" mounted "a la jineta" and also using the sixteenth-century MoorishSpanish oval shield known as la adarga. 
NUMBER 39 31 

FIGURE 17.—Two views (off-side) of a model of an 

Arabic-Spanish jineta-type saddle used for combat in 

Mexico. 

According to my research no stirrups believed 

to be of an early date have these details. 

Tlaxcala codex and other early post-Cortesian 

codices illustrate a simple, open stirrup constructed of a horizontal rectangular plate and 

triangular sides joined at the top by a bar under 

(or through) which the stirrup leather passes 

(Figures 11,16). 

The Mexican Saddle 

DEVELOPMENTS.—The saddle used by the 

Spaniards in Mexico for cattle raising and 

general field work was a modification of the 

jineta saddle. By 1600 the original conformation had begun to be modified in response to 

the challenge of branding and pasturing great 

herds of animals in unfenced areas of an extent 

undreamed of in Europe. 

No examples of the earliest varieties of the 

"new" (stock) saddle are now extant. However, 

the general lines of its development can be 

guessed at by comparing a model of a sixteenthcentury Spanish combat saddle (Figure 17) 

with a later Mexican ranch saddle whose tree 

is one of the oldest extant examples of its type 

(Figures 18, 60). By the early decades of the 

nineteenth century, the Mexican stock saddle 

had assumed the general appearance (Figure 

20) of the stock saddle that was to become the 

standard in the western part of the United 

States, another vast region where further regional modifications would continue to take 

place. 

Concurrent with the modification of the jineta 

saddle form into the Mexican stock saddle, parallel adjustments in riding techniques emerged 

during the colonial era. As stirrup leathers of 

the new saddle form were lengthened, Mexican 

stockmen began to assume the posture of the 

mexicana riding style (informal, nonacademic, 

and adapted to range use) used in modern 
32 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 18.—A Mexican ranch saddle built on an early tree (1800?) but with later 

nineteenth-century details. 
NUMBER 39 33 

FIGURE 19.—A modern Nicaraguan saddle adapted from 

a Spanish jineta saddle. 

charreria, as can be noted in late nineteenthcentury paintings. 

The Spanish jineta riding style and saddle 

continued in Mexican cities, where horsemen 

wished to display their fine trappings and outfits in parades and festivals, and in Algeria ^^ 

and Nicaragua (Figure 19). The modified jineta saddle that developed in these settings had 

a rather low silhouette to its tree, with a pearshaped knob or horn (la perilla) in front and 

a low-rising cantle sloping backwards. The 

metal perilla was sheathed with a strong and 

resistent vellum, a construction technique still 

used in Central America. Thus, the modified 

jineta saddle differed from the working stock 

saddle that had an all-wood tree lined with 

parchment-like sheepskin and a large, fullbodied horn set on a thick neck. 

By the early seventeenth century, the modified jineta saddle utilized by the first colonial 

Mexican stockmen had evolved into a distinctive 

national form: la silla vaquera mexicana. It 

became famous in the mid-nineteenth century 

in the western United States as the vaquero 

saddle or Mexican cowboy saddle. This form 

displayed many variations, some regional and 

some occasioned by the taste and uses of its 

owner. One variety was sometimes called la 

silla charra, or charro saddle (Figure 64), The 

vaquero saddle was also the precursor of the 

"Texas" saddle (Figure 20), which included 

such modifications as double rigging. Another 

FIGURE 20,—A Mexican stock saddle, after 1850, with 

many similarities to a type common then in Texas. 
34 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 21.—Stock saddle from Sinaloa, Mexico, probably after 1900; note the estradiota features of high 

bows and leather housing. 

variant featured a metal horn and was much 

like modern stock saddles from Sinaloa and 

Sonora in northern Mexico (Figure 21), 

The one major change within the range of 

forms typical of the Mexican saddle occurred 

after 1875 as a result of the efforts of groups of 

charros—Mexican horsemen devoted to the art 

of the mexicana riding style who were anxious 

to preserve the traditions and skills of authentic 

Mexican horsemanship. (As a result of their 

efforts, charreria was organized into a national 

sporting event and is now a traditional part of 

the Mexican culture.) The plate-shaped horn 

used on many saddles had grown to exaggerated 

sizes during the third quarter of the nineteenth 

centry. In the succeeding quarter-century the 

movement for a return to earlier forms brought 

a reduction in the size of the horn used on 

charro saddles although it still remained larger 

than the earliest "dinner-plate" horn of the 

mid-1800s. 

The saddletrees made in Colima and in Silao, 

Guanajuato, acquired a full hemispherical horn. 

Because of their overall quality and high finish, 

the saddletrees that originated in Colima, 

Nayarit, Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Michoacan 

spread throughout Mexico. At present, the most 

popular form of tree is called the "Zaldivar" 

after the famous charro Don Juan Zaldivar; the 

Zaldivar tree has been popularized in the paintings of Don Ernesto Icaza, who is said to have 

designed it. 

The Mexican saddle differs from those developed in other parts of the world. Fundamentally, it is made for the rough work of stock 

raising and general rural use. The unique pommel, with its characteristic structures of horn, 

neck, and shoulders, was designed to anchor the 

lariat by which animals were roped by a 

mounted rider. The Mexican saddle also allows 

the horseman to set himself for whatever kind 

of movement he wishes. Although it is somewhat heavy, it is comfortable for long trips and 

is excellently adapted to the activities of daily 

life in all rural areas of Mexico. 

SADDLE PARTS.—The saddle used for the mexicana style of riding conists of four major systems of parts, each incorporating a range of 

variation in the details of its execution and in 

the naming of its parts: (1) the wooden saddletree (el fuste), which provides the basic structure; (2) the cinch (la cincha) and leather 

straps (las reatas and los Idtigos) connected by 

iron rings (las argollas) that secure the saddle 

to the horse; (3) the skirts (los faldones) and 

leather ties (los tientos) attached to the tree; 

and (4) the stirrups (los estribos) and stirrup 

leathers (los arciones). [Figure 83 is helpful in 

understanding ths parts of the Mexican saddle. 

R.E.A.J 

1. The first system of saddle parts, the tree 

(el fuste), is made in several elements: (a) the 

pommel (la campana), which includes the horn 

(la cabeza), the neck (el cuello), and the shoulders (los hombros); (b) the cantle (la teja); 

and (c) the sideboards (las tablas), which run 

back past the cantle in rear extensions (las 

pajuelas). The structure and function of the 

major elements of the saddletree are as follows: 

a. The pommel (la campana): a wooden 

fork, whose shoulders support the horn and 

neck and which arches in such a way as not to 
NUMBER 39 35 

touch the horse, thus preventing the weight of 

the rider from irritating the withers and allowing both horse and rider complete freedom of 

movement. [A sample of the variety of shapes 

that the structures of the fore ward fork of the 

Mexican saddle may exihibit can be discerned in 

Figures 20, 60, 62-65, 83. R.E.A.] 

b. The cantle (la teja): a semicircular piece 

of wood about 4 cms thick, of concave curvature 

to support the seat of the rider, set onto the 

sideboards about 35 cms back from the pommel. 

c. The sideboards (las tablas): two wooden 

boards, about 50 cms long, each set into a different shoulder of the pommel and running 

back to notch into the cantle. 

2. The second system of parts consists of 

leathers, rings, and cinch. Leather rigging 

straps (los enreatados or las reatas) wrapped 

around the pommel are connected by a rigging 

ring (la argolla) on each shoulder of the pommel to leathers that, in turn, are secured to 

the cinch. The second set of leathers in this system (el contraenreatado) consists, on the near 

side, of a strap (el Idtigo) that passes through 

the cinch buckle (el hebillon or hebijon) and, on 

the off-side, of another strap (el contraldtigo) 

that is secured to the cinch ring (la argolla). 

In addition, there may be rear rigging straps 

(las contrareatas) that pass behind the cantle 

and are connected either to the rings joining 

los enreatados to el contraenreatado or to a 

second set of rings for an additional, rear cinch 

(la barriguera). [Various ways in which the 

forward rigging may be suspended from the 

front fork of Mexican saddles may be seen in 

Figures 60, 63, 66, and 83. Examples of Mexican saddles rigged for a single forward cinch 

are portrayed in Figures 60, 63, 64, and 83; 

double-rigged types appear in Figures 20 and 

66. Single center rigging is not common on 

vaquero saddles. R.E.A.] 

The forward rigging straps measure about 

65 cm in length while the rear ones run up to 

95 cm. The near or on-side Idtigo may be as long 

as 200 cm, passing the cinch buckle more than 

once. Most of the leather straps measure about 

5 cm in width. 

The cinch is a sturdy band of hemp, wool, cotton, or pigskin that runs under the belly of the 

horse to secure the saddle, whether it is a riding 

saddle (la silla de montar) or a packsaddle (la 

albarda). The cinch measures about 90 by 10 

cm and terminates in metal fittings: usually an 

off-side ring and an on-side buckle, although 

both fastenings may be buckles (Figures 18, 

21, 62d). These metal fastenings may be tied 

to the band by "pig knots" (los nudos de puercos). 

3. The third system of saddle parts is less 

complex but equally functional and more decorative than the rigging and cinch system. The 

skirts are two pieces of leather lined inside 

with rawhide, sheepskin, or felt. They serve to 

protect the horse's fianks from scratches in 

timbered country (Figures 20, 60a). Their 

length varies according to the size of the saddletree; the width is about 53 cm. The skirts 

(los faldones) are suspended from the sides of 

the tree with leather thongs (los tientos), 

which also are useful in tying on personal 

equipment such as a serape or lariat (el lazo). 

Thongs are often made of chamois. Usually 

there is one on each side of the pommel, and 

three are placed on each sideboard extension. 

Leather rosettes and/or metal disks (los chapetones or las conchas) with two slits secure the 

saddle ties and add decoration, 

4. The fourth system of parts assists the rider 

in maintaining a secure seat during any action, 

and provides more opportunity for decoration. 

The stirrup leathers (las arciones) measure 

about 300 by 10 cm. Each leather is connected 

to a sideboard of the tree and forms a loop from 

which the stirrup is suspended. Often the arcion 

is twisted in such fashion that the stirrup hangs 

at right angles to the saddle (Figures 64a, 83). 

The arciones hang outside of and unconstrained 

by the rigging system that secures the saddle 

on the horse. 

The stirrups (los estribos), formed of iron 

or wood, square or triangular in shape, dangle 

from the loops of the stirrup leathers to support 

the feet of the horseman. The sides and fronts 

of the stirrups are sometimes covered with 

curved and carved leather hoods (las tapaderas) (Figures 20, 60a,h,i, 66). By the late 1800s, 

a rich variety of wooden stirrup forms were 

known in Mexico, but few influenced AngloAmerican taste (Figure 22). 

In addition to these essential parts of riding 

equipment, there are other pieces of leather 

saddle gear of historic importance to Mexican 
a 

A." '% ; 

-- *^^M**^yM 

^/•'•''j ( 

/ 
NUMBER 39 37 

FIGURE 22.—Carved Mexican stirrups, about 1790 to 

1870: a, soldier-faces with iron reinforcement, about 

1790 to 1830; 6, bow-shaped with serrated edge, about 

1820 to 1850; c, Hapsburg eagle with tail feathers, 

about 1800 to 1840; d, simplified Hapsburg eagle, about 

1830 to 1870; e, base with rosette and chip-carving, 

about 1820-1860; /, base with feathered reserve, about 

1810 to 1850. 

saddles. The tree may have a lining or separate 

pad (el baste, el basto, or el sudadero) (Figures 

60i, 64e, 83), perhaps of fine sheepskin. There 

may be a breast band (el pretal) (Figures 63a, 

83) extending in front of the saddle, which 

provides an attachment for a half martingale 

(la media gamarra) to the bridle (la brida). 

Various types of pouches might be hung behind 

the cantle. Saddle bags of carved and stamped 

leather are named bolsas or cantinas (Figure 

64a). A decorative device (el vaquerillo), sometimes without pockets, is made of kid with the 

long hair left on (Figures 18, 60^^). In rain, the 

hair helps to keep the contents of the pouches 

dry. The pouches also give some protection to 

the horse against goring. When the horseman 

alights, he throws a pouch over the saddle to 

protect its seat from rain or sun. Finally, there 

is the rump cover (la anquera), an indispensable part of the fully rigged Mexican saddle 

(Figures 9, 16). The anquera serves to tame 

the horse, position its tail, improve its gait, 

accustom it to bearing weight on its rump, and 

protect its flanks from being lacerated. It is 

made of several pieces of heavy, embossed 

leather, sewn together and lined with sole 

leather. The anquera is joined to the saddle by 

straps and its sides may hang down a quarter 

of the way to the horse's hocks. Around the 

lower edge are set artistically worked iron 

"buttons" that form an ornamental border (el 

ruedo). These buttons are called higas (amulets), or coscojOS. 

[Other leather devices closely associated with 

the Mexican vaquero saddle, and with certain 

U.S. western saddles, are the loose, separate 

leather coverings for the tree (la mochila) 

(Figure 62 a,b) and for the rider's legs (las 

armas) (Figure 21). R.E.A.J 

Not all saddles are equipped with each of the 

elements described. There is also the Mexican 

skeletal saddle (la silla de esqueleto), a lighter 

and simpler variety, consisting of merely the 

rawhide covered tree adorned characteristically 

by little more than short skirts and fenders on 

the stirrup leathers,^^ 

Notes 

1. FRANCISCO LOPEZ DE G6MARA, Historia general 

de las Indias (Mexico City and Madrid, 1870). 

2. BERNAL DfAz DEL CASTILLO, Verdadera notable 

relacion del descubrimiento y conquista de la Nueva 

Espana y Guatemala, translated and edited by A. P. 

Maudslay (Guatemala City, 1933), volume 1, pages 

44-45. [Other editions exhibit variations in translation 

of color terms, R,E,A.] 

3. ALFREDO CHAVERO, editor, "Lienzo de Tlaxcala," 

Antigiiedades Mexicanas (Mexico City, 1892), plates 

74, 59. 

4. JOSE ALVAREZ DEL VILLAR, Historia de la Charreria (Mexico City, 1941), page 26. 

5. Ibid., page 33. The extracts are taken from a table 

of "the first brands registered in New Spain" (pages 

34-35). 

6. FREY JUAN DE TORQUEMADA, Monarquia Indiana 

(Madrid, 1723), book 5, chapter 11; reprint edition 

(Mexico City, 1943), volume 1, page 610. 

7. HENRY HAWKS, "A Relation of the Commodities 

of Noua Hispania, and the Maners of the Inhabitants." 

In Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation (London, 

1589; reprinted Cambridge, 1965), page 552. 

8. FRANCISCO DEL BARRIO LORENZOT, Ordenanzas de 

gremios de la Nueva Espana (Mexico City, 1921), page 

294. 

9. "Harness and Saddlery," Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition (Chicago, 1974), volume 8, pages 

657-658; see also Luis DE SOMMER FERNANDO D'ANDRADE, A Short History of the Spanish Horse and of 

the Iberian "Gineta" Horsemanship . . . (Lisbon, 1973), 

pages 30-37. 

10. CARLOS RINCON GALLARDO, Diccionario ecuestre 

(Mexico City, 1945), page 302; also see Jos6 I. LEPE, 

Diccionario enciclopedico sobre asuntos ecuestres e 

hipicos (Mexico City, 1972). 

11. GALLARDO, op. cit., pages 70,178. 

12. Ibid. 

13. Diccionxtrio de la lengua Espanol (Madrid: Real 

Academia Espaiiol, 1941), page 744. See also Gallardo, 

op. cit., and Lepe, op, cit. Earlier sources for descrip-
38 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

tions of the jineta style are BERNARDO DE VARGAS MACHUCA, the sixteenth-century expert on equestrian and 

military matters, who wrote Teoria y ejercicios de la 

jineta (Valencia, 1599); and JUAN SUAREZ DE PERALTA, 

the first Mexican to write on horsemanship and veterinary science, Libro de albeiteria (Mexico City, 1953; 

ms. 1575-1580) and Tractado de la jineta y de la brida 

(Seville, 1580; reprinted Mexico City, 1950). 

14. ALVAREZ, op. cit., page 83, 

15. PERALTA, Tractado. Also Alvarez refers to the 

Spanish writer Luis Bariuelos y de la Cerda, regarding 

the deterioration of jineta riding. 

16. MANUEL ROMERO DE TERREROS, Las Artes industriales de la Nueva Espana (Mexico City, 1923), page 

80 

17. J. B. DUMAS, The Art of Riding "a la Jineta," 

cited by Alvarez, op. cit,, page 7. Also ROMERO DE 

TERREROS, El Libro del charro mexicano (Mexico City, 

1946), page 7, cites "General Daumas." [Probably E. 

DAUM'AS, Les Chevaux du Sahara et les mores du desert 

(Paris, c. 1851) ; republished as The Horses of the 

Sa/iara (Austin, 1968). R.E.A.] 

18. GERARDO MURILLO, Artes populares de Mexico 

(Mexico City, 1922), volume 2, pages 237-281. 
Western Saddles before the Cowboy 

James S. Hutchins 

It is probable that a large proportion of modern Americans, if put to the test, would identify 

an example of the western riding saddle on 

sight as a "cowboy" saddle. Should this prove 

to be the case among a people of whom by far 

the greater number have never had real contact 

with the horse or equestrian equipage, then 

much of the credit must go to Hollywood. Most 

of our notions about the cowboy and his appurtenances have come from the "westerns" of 

motion pictures and television. And, from the 

day of William S. Hart down to that of the 

Cartwright clan, the filmsmiths have rarely if 

ever failed to insert the western saddle between 

the cowboy and his galloping steed. In that respect, at least, the present-day image of the 

American cowboy is true to history. 

From a historical viewpoint, however, it is 

not correct to view the cowboy as either the 

only one among American equestrian species to 

use the western saddle or, indeed, even the first 

to do so. Although men were engaged in the 

cowboy'^s craft in Texas for years before 1865, 

it was only after that date—as open range 

ranching commenced its spread from Texas 

throughout the Great Plains—^that the American cowboy emerged as a distinct occupational 

type. Although it is a fact seldom noted, during 

four decades leading up to 1865, Americans in 

a variety of callings—trappers and traders, 

soldiers and explorers, homeseekers and goldseekers—used the western saddle in one form 

or another as they ventured into the vast unknown, the "Great American Desert," that lay 

beyond the Mississippi Valley frontier. 

James S. Hutchins, The Dwight D. Eisenhower Institute 

for Historical Research, National Museum of History 

and Technology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 

D.C. 20560. 

What we term the "western" saddle, Americans of the first half of the nineteenth century 

generally referred to as the "Spanish" saddle. 

Thus they showed their awareness of its place 

of origin. Americans of that time commonly 

used the term "Spanish" to distinguish whatever related to New Spain—Mexico and her 

provinces to the north: Texas, New Mexico, and 

California. And within the locus of the New 

World, it was specifically in Mexico during her 

long centuries under Spanish rule that the western saddle originated and underwent a very 

great deal of its development. By the outset of 

the nineteenth century the saddle used by the 

horsemen of Mexico was founded upon a saddletree incorporating practically all the elements 

of design by which the western tree is distinguished even today. 

As Arthur Woodward and others have shown, 

the Mexican caballero strove always to combine 

the practical and, insofar as his purse would 

allow, the elegant in his riding equipment. Although his saddle trappings had to protect him 

and his horse amidst rough country and from 

bad weather, they had, at the same time, to enhance his appearance. Mexican practice was to 

place large removable leather housings—the 

mochila and the coraza—over the saddletree. 

Back of the saddle extended a leather tailpiece, 

the anquera, which covered the rump and sometimes the flanks of the horse. Such horse apparel was often embellished with gay embroidery 

and embossed leatherwork. In wide use also 

were armas, long leathers that dangled from 

the saddle horn for the purpose of being drawn, 

apron-like, over the rider's thighs in case of 

rain or as a protection against brush. 

Nearly lost to view beneath such layerings 

was the saddletree, the article from which the 

39 
40 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

H.* ...I •« . .. t 1- . , , .XFIGURE 23.—In this watercolor of a caporal de hacienda ("a keeper of horned cattle 

on a great estate") are to be seen nearly all the major elements of early nineteenthcentury Mexican horse equipment. This is one of a series illustrating frontier types 

of northeast Mexico, done by Lino Sanchez y Tapia during the middle or late 1830s. 

Here is seen the saddle housing known as the mochila, with its openings through which 

protrude the horn and cantle of the saddletree. An anquera projects rearward from 

the cantle. 

horse equipage of Mexico took its great excellence. It was a model of simplicity and durability. Four wooden parts made up the whole: 

two bridges, known as the fork (or pommel) 

and the cantle, and two lateral supports, termed 

sideboards. These were joined together by 

means of mortising, wooden pegs, and glue. The 

entire tree was covered with rawhide, applied 

wet and stitched fast with rawhide thongs. The 

rawhide sheath, drawing up tight as it dried, 
NUMBER 39 41 

FIGURE 24.—A mid-nineteenth century representation 

of the "Spanish" tree, as it was known to Americans. 

contributed much to the overall solidity. From 

atop the work there projected upward a horn, 

capped by a knob. The horn functioned as a 

holdfast or snub for the lariat in the business 

of roping, that quintessential act in the craft of 

the Mexican vaquero and his pupil, the American cowboy. Approved practice in the early 

and middle nineteenth century was to fashion 

fork and horn out of one solid piece—a Yshaped tree crotch—as insurance against the 

wrenching shock when a roped steer yanked 

the lariat taut. 

In marked contrast to the riding saddle of 

Mexico was the English type in general use 

in the United States, Produced in a variety of 

styles, including what was apparently an offshoot called "American," this saddle was in all 

essentials the one that was brought over from 

England in the early colonial times. Unlike the 

Mexican saddletree, which itself comprised the 

substance of a rider's seat, the tree of the English riding saddle was but a light skeleton upon 

which to shape a seat. The tree was of wood, 

generally reinforced with iron plating at stress 

points. The fork and the cantle were low in comparison with their Mexican counterparts. Over 

this skeleton tree went webbing, padding, and 

finally leather, all neatly tucked and tacked and 

stitched into place to build up a smooth, flat 

seat. On either side of the tree were small skirts 

(jockeys) and, beneath them, larger rounded 

flaps. Padding attached to the undersurfaces 

of the tree served to protect the horse's back. 

The girth was attached to the saddle at a 

FIGURE 25,—The English saddle, in general use in the 

settled United States in the early nineteenth century, 

as it was pictured in an engraving done as an illustration for a military drill manual prepared in 1826 and 

published at Washington, D,C., in 1834. 

single central point. Open D-shaped stirrups, 

commonly of iron, completed the English 

saddle. 

There is little upon which to form even a conjecture as to when Americans first were aware 

of the Mexican saddle. Some may have been 

acquainted with it much earlier than we can 

now imagine. It is interesting to note that in 

1805, as he and his partner in discovery, Capt. 

Meriwether Lewis, toiled westward across what 

is now Montana, Capt. William Clark recognized as "Spanish" a saddle that he saw in the 

hands of a Shoshoni Indian.^ On the other hand, 

Lewis and Clark's contemporary in exploration, 

Capt. Zebulon M. Pike, does not appear to have 

been familiar with the Mexican saddle before 

he penetrated the borderlands of Mexico in 

1807. Although he thought the saddle a clumsy 

looking affair indeed, Pike was not slow to perceive its advantages. In discussing the equipment of native troops with whom he travelled 

through northern Mexico, he described in effect 

the riding gear in general use: 

The equipments of the horses, are to our idea, awkward; 

but I believe them superior to the English. . . . The 
42 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

saddle is made . . . with a high projecting pommel (or, 

as anciently termed, bow) and is likewise raised behind: this is merely the tree: it is then covered by two 

or three covers of carved leather and embroidered 

workmanship, some with gold and silver in a very 

superb manner. The stirrups are of wood closed in 

front, carved generally into the figure of a lion's head, 

or that of some other beast, are very heavy, and to us 

present a very clumsy appearance. The horseman, seated on his horse, has a small bag tied behind him, his 

blankets either under him, or laying with his cloak 

between his body and the bow, which makes him at his 

ease. Thus mounted it is impossible for the most vicious 

horse ever to dismount them.2 

Mexican stirrups, however, were not always 

as Pike found them, closed in front (Figure 

22), On this point Josiah Gregg, an American 

trader who lived much in New Mexico and Chihuahua between 1831 and 1840, is enlightening. 

The estribos or stirrups are usually made of either bent 

or mortized wood, fancifully carved, over which are 

fastened the tapaderas or coverings of leather to protect the toes. Formerly the stirrups constituted a completed slipper, which superseded [sic] the use of tapaderas.^ 

So far as written records show, it is in the 

1820s, the decade in which traders and trappers 

began pushing out boldly from Missouri into 

the Great Plains, that we find the first evidence 

of Americans putting the saddletree of Mexico 

to their own use. To cover rapidly the immense 

FIGURE 26,—"Catching Wild Horses," by William Ranney, 1846. During the latter 

1840s and early 1850s William Ranney (1813-1857) produced numerous paintings 

depicting life on the prairies. Long neglected, he is now regarded as a significant 

interpreter of the Western scene. As far as is known, easterner Ranney's only personal contact with the West came in 1836, when he went to Texas and bore arms in 

the struggle for independence from Mexico, From that experience, some think, Ranney may have drawn inspiration for later work such as the one seen here. As it 

stands, we can only wonder whether the style of saddle depicted here in such detail, 

represents the sort of thing that came under the artist's own eye in the West. 
NUMBER 39 43 

FIGURE 27.—Thornton Grimsley, St. Louis saddler from 

1822 to 1861. 

open stretches west of the ninety-eighth meridian, where rivers were few and, apart from the 

Missouri, unnavigable, Americans had to resort 

to horse or mule. Amidst the Great Plains environment the Mexican saddletree offered 

marked advantages. There it was a vital necessity that all of one's equipage be of a sort that 

could endure, with relatively simple maintenance, the prolonged exposure, endless pounding, and inevitable accidents that were part of 

life on the trail. To all of these conditions the 

Mexican tree was, from the manner of its construction alone, far better suited than was its 

English counterpart. Again, in terms of design, 

the deep seat of the Mexican tree offered much 

greater security than the flat English variety to 

a rider traversing jumbled country, careering 

after the shaggy buffalo, sticking out the buckjumps of a fractious mustang. 

To whatever extent they may have known of 

it before the 1820s, certainly more and more 

Americans became acquainted with the saddle 

of Mexico as a result of the Santa Fe trade, 

established in 1821, Sojourning in New Mexico 

and in Mexico itself, American traders saw the 

article in daily use. And outlanders in need of 

riding gear in those regions had little choice but 

to acquire the native version. Thus George C. 

Sibley, United States commissioner for the survey and marking of the Santa Fe trail, bought 

at Taos, New Mexico, in 1825, "Spanish riding 

saddles" to outfit a party of homeward-bound 

employees,* And so, through use by returning 

Americans and also, to be sure, by Mexican 

merchants who braved the trail, the Mexican 

saddle made its appearance in the Missouri settlements. It may be that, as has occasionally 

been asserted, some traders hauled quantities of 

Mexican saddletrees or saddles entire up from 

New Mexico with a view to selling them in 

Missouri. I do not know, however, of any proofs 

to that effect and what little evidence I have 

seen suggests that such importation, if it did 

take place, could hardly have been very profitable. 

Apparently by the middle 1820s, certainly in 

the latter years of that decade, at least one 

American saddlemaker, Thornton Grimsley,^ 

was producing at Saint Louis, Missouri, a saddle termed "Spanish." Although this saddle 

seems seems to have differed markedly from the 

Mexican article in most respects, its tree was 

patterned on that of Mexico, horn and all. Records of the Saint Louis-based Western Department of the American Fur Company show that 

as early as 1828 the company occasionally acquired the locally-made Spanish saddle for use 

by members of its field units. At that time the 

firm would obtain Spanish saddletrees and 

sometimes complete saddles from Jesse Pritchett, an American maker who lived not far 

from Saint Louis, possibly in Saint John's 

Township, Franklin County, Missouri. The 

trees it acquired from Pritchett the American 

Fur Company would turn over to Grimsley to 

be fitted out. 

In the middle 1820s, according to Thornton 

Grimsley, American trappers took the Saint 

Louis-made Spanish saddle into the fur trade of 

the Rocky Mountains. It was then that William 

H. Ashley and Jedediah S. Smith, his lieutenant, 

turned away from the Missouri River, the traditional route to the mountains, and showed the 

practicality and utility of taking caravans of 

mounted men and supply-laden pack animals 
44 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

• <ivs.^•^t.'^aa6•^fau.^i:.^iMrJ^l'», 

FIGURE 28.—"Reaching Camp, Removing the Saddles," by Alfred Jacob Miller, 1837. 

The Scottish sportsman Capt. William Drummond Stewart along with Miller (1810-

1874), a young American artist in his employ, travelled west over the Oregon Trail 

with the American Fur Company's annual spring caravan to the Rockies in 1837. 

The many field sketches Miller made during that journey constitute a momentous 

pictorial record of the mountain men, the Indians, and the scenery of the Far West, 

In the example shown, the artist has caught the essence of life on the trail. Note the 

high horns of the saddles lying in the grass in the foreground. 

overland from Missouri direct to the central 

Rockies. In a letter to Maj. Joshua B. Brant, 

army quartermaster at Saint Louis, dated 24 

April 1833, Grimsley stated that Ashley had 

been the first to take the locally produced Spanish saddle into the fur trade and that he had 

supplied the saddles Ashley used (see Appendix, this paper). Grimsley said, too, that he had 

furnished saddles of the same kind to Smith 

and two other Ashley associates, David E. Jackson and William L. Sublette, after they bought 

out Ashley in 1826 to operate together in the 

mountain trade, as they did until 1830. 

There seems to be no reason to doubt Grimsley's claims. From 1822 he had been engaged 

continuously in the saddlery trade at Saint 

Louis. As records show, Smith, Jackson & Sublette did order from Grimsley, through Ashley, 

substantial amounts of saddlery in 1829 and 

1830. Grimsley's statement, moreover, was 

made in an effort to obtain an army supply contract. As he surely realized (and, indeed, must 

have hoped) his letter was practically certain 

to be examined by officials of the War Department in Washington, D.C. And there Ashley, 

who was then a member of Congress, could be 

reached easily for verification. 

Although the American-made Spanish saddle 

was surely used in the fur trade of the Rockies, 

the extent to which it was employed is uncertain. Wintering in New Mexico as some American trappers often did and ranging as far as 

northern Mexico and California, numbers of 

them were thoroughly exposed to authentic 

Mexican saddlery and some may well have come 

to prefer it. Some, on the other hand, seem to 

have taken up Indian-made horse equipage. In 

any case, such were the lives of mountain men 

that, whatever their preferences, many must 

often enough have found themselves using 
NUMBER 39 45 

whatever sort of saddle was within reach. Some 

of them were quite capable of improvising a 

saddle of sorts out of raw materials if occasion 

demanded. 

The records of the Western Department of 

the American Fur Company throw some light 

upon the saddlery preferences of its field forces. 

During the 1830s, when the mountain fur trade 

was at its height, this powerful firm purchased 

many saddles in Saint Louis for its own personnel, for numerous others with whom it had 

business dealings of one sort or another, and 

also for trade to Indians. These saddles were of 

three principal sorts: Spanish, English, and, as 

they went down in the bulky ledgers, "Indian." 

The latter, whatever they may have been like, 

fall outside of the present inquiry. Of the other 

two types, the Spanish saddle was procured a 

good deal more often than the English. Although it is generally quite difficult to do so, one 

can on occasion determine the kinds of saddles 

that the American Fur Company obtained for 

FIGURE 29.—An extraordinary contributor to the pictorial record of the wild West was Rudolph Friedrich 

Kurz (1818-1871), who lived in America from 1846 to 

1852, The young Swiss artist drew pictures, invaluable 

for their detail, of almost everyone and everything he 

saw during a sojourn on the Upper Missouri in 1851-

1852, Note his fine rendering of a western saddle with 

D-shaped metal stirrups. This sketch was made on 

7 September 1851, at Fort Union, an important trading 

post of the American Fur Company sited near the confluence of the Missouri and the Yellowstone rivers. 

the express use of those who served it. In such 

cases the Spanish saddle was a clear favorite. 

In the late summer of 1831, for an extreme 

example, company representative Lucien Fontenelle, about to depart from Saint Louis with 

supplies for the firm's trapper brigades in the 

Rockies, received Spanish saddles for all thirty 

of the mounted men in his caravan. Although 

direct evidence is scanty, the preference of 

mountain men who served other firms was probably little different from that of American Fur 

Company employees when outfitting in and near 

Saint Louis. It is known that in 1834 Nathaniel 

J. Wyeth, already experienced in the mountain 

trade and then readying for an all-out effort to 

conquer a place in it, instructed his outfitters 

at Liberty, Missouri, to procure "riding saddles, 

Spanish," for him and all his party.^ 

St. Louis was not the only place within 

America's western boundaries where Spanishtree saddles were being made. At least by the 

early 1830s, trees on Mexican lines were being 

made in southwestern Louisiana and, it appears, at least the capability to produce them 

was then widespread in the Mississippi Valley. 

In 1833 when cavalry soldiers (termed dragoons) were about to join the ranks of the 

United States Army for the first time since the 

War of 1812, Lt. Col. Stephen W. Kearny and 

Maj. Richard B. Mason, both of whom had 

been stationed on the western frontier, recommended as best suited for service there a saddletree patterned on that of Mexico. Presenting 

to War Department oflficials a specimen horned 

tree, one which had been made, they said, in 

Louisiana's Attakapas region, the two officers 

remarked that trees such as this could be 

turned out "in any part of the Western country." '^ By the late 1830s Spanish-tree saddles 

were being turned out at various places in the 

West and were also being manufactured in 

steadily growing volume in eastern cities such 

as Philadelphia and Newark, New Jersey, 

destined for sale as "ready-made" articles in 

saddlery shops and general stores in the West 

and South. 

It was, as he noted in his journal, astride a 

borrowed army horse wearing a "Spanish saddle with holsters" that John James Audubon set 

out from the steamboat Omega to visit a camp 

of United States dragoons beside the upper Mis-
46 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

souri River in 1843.^ The saddle that the renowned naturalist used on that occasion (and 

which, as a veteran wilderness traveler, he 

recognized at once) was then standard equipment for the dragoons. 

Ten years earlier the War Department had 

approved Lieutenant Colonel Kearny's and 

Major Mason's recommendation that the army's 

then-new mounted corps should use a saddle 

with a tree in the Mexican style. Soon afterward, in his letter of 24 April 1833, to Major 

Brant, Thornton Grimsley had solicited a contract to provide saddles for the dragoons, pointing out that the Spanish saddle, such as he 

could provide, had "great superiority" for frontier service (see Appendix). And on 27 June 

1833, Grimsley had been issued a contract for 

the initial supply of 715 saddles (see Appendix). The saddles received by the dragoons 

were as specified in the contract. They had 

flaps in the English style rather than Grimsley's removable "schabbrack" and differed from 

what he had proposed in certain other details, 

described elsewhere herein. 

Continuously for the 11 years following 1833, 

the dragoons used the Spanish saddle for western border duty and campaigns in Florida. The 

army procured its dragoon saddles at Saint 

Louis until 1836 and then, because of complaints about the quality of the article received 

there, shifted its trade to Philadelphia. In 1844 

the War Department dropped the Spanish saddle for the dragoons in favor of a bumbling 

imitation of a brass-bound saddle in fashion 

among soldiers across the Atlantic. 

In the great burst of emigration that began 

in the 1840s, when Americans in very large 

numbers poured across the Great Plains to 

settle in Oregon and California, some of them 

came to know the Spanish saddle as produced 

in Saint Louis and in other trail-outfitting 

points, such as Liberty and Independence, on 

the lower Missouri River. John C. Fremont, 

whose drama-clothed explorations did much to 

spread knowledge of the Far West, obtained 

Spanish saddles as a matter of course in outfitting his expeditions during the early and the 

middle 1840s. 

Sarah J. Cummins, who as an eighteen-yearold girl emigrated with her family to Oregon 

in 1845, recalled long afterward the moment 

when she placed her "new Spanish saddle that 

was bought for me in St. Louis, on my strong 

and trusty young nag, and, with parting tears 

and good-byes, we dared the wilderness and the 

desert." »In 1846 the aristocratic Francis Parkman and his cousin, Quincy Adams Shaw, 

traveling the Oregon Trail in search of uncorrupted Indians, each bestrode a "plain, black 

Spanish saddle, with holsters of heavy pistols, 

[and] a blanket rolled up behind." ^^ 

The popular term "Spanish saddle" served 

to distinguish any one of a rather sizable family of saddles having in common a tree modelled 

on Mexican lines. There was a great variety in 

housings and fittings, even in the details of the 

tree itself. This diversity was occasioned by 

variations in the skill and artistry of craftsmen, regional preferences, and requirements 

of individual buyers. 

When we attempt to say just what the American-made Spanish saddle of the first half of the 

nineteenth century looked like, there is little to 

go on. Although a few Westward-bound Americans saw a need to preserve details regarding 

primitive Indian horse equipage, most such 

travelers seem to have found, as a whole, little 

reason to record the makeup of such prosaic 

articles as the saddles they themselves used. 

Rarely encountered in the literature of Far 

Western travel and in that of the fur trade is 

the kind of information that is necessary for a 

clear idea of saddlery. The same limitation applies, although to not quite such an extent, to 

the pictorial record left by those few artists 

who early pushed beyond the Mississippi. And 

of those things by which so many questions 

would be answered—well-documented examples 

of the American-made Spanish saddle—it must 

be admitted that not one is known to us. 

Written and pictorial records afford useful 

insights into the nature of the American-made 

Spanish trees. In his letter of 24 April 1833, 

Thornton Grimsley said that size was the only 

material difference between the Spanish tree 

such as he used and its Mexican progenitor. He 

described the former as being 

longer and better proportioned for the Horses of the 

US than those constructed in the spannish country 

would be: for the simple reason that in the latter case 
NUMBER 39 47 

FIGURE 30 (left).—The teamster's saddle that the U.S. Army adopted as part of 

regulation wagon harness in 1854, as sketched in a draft of army harness specifications prepared in 1864. 

FIGURE 31 (right).—An enlarged portion of a photograph taken of a Union army 

camp at some time during the Civil War, in which can be seen with a fair degree of 

clarity the army wagon saddle of that time with its Attakapas tree. 

they are calculated for small horses and mules and are 

made very narrow which renders them unsafe and 

even useless for the horses in this country unless they 

are so low in flesh as not to be in a usable condition. 

Aside from this, Grimsley continued, the two 

trees were alike even to the solid fork and rawhide cover, "so strong that no horse or mule 

can when exerting his utmost strength brake 

them in any part." 

Army wagon harness specifications of the 

1840s and 1850s throw light upon the configuration of the American-made Spanish tree of that 

time. Part of the "jerk-line" harness employed 

in wagoning of the heavier sort was a riding 

saddle, termed a wagon saddle, for the use of 

the wagoner or teamster. Up to 1845 the wagon 

saddle used by the army had a tree on English 

lines. In that year (very soon, it is strange to 

note, after dropping the Spanish tree from 

dragoon horse equipment) the military adopted 

a wagon saddle built, as the official specifications ran, "on Spanish tree." ^^ The change was 

made for increased durability, to withstand the 

very worst that men, mules, and nature could 

mete out. From a crude sketch (Figure 30) of 

the new wagon saddle, included in a draft of 

harness specifications drawn up in the oflfice of 

the Army quartermaster at Philadelphia in 

1846, we obtain a fairly good idea of the Spanish tree, noting its tall, slender horn, and high, 

steep-pitched cantle (and the absence of an 

English style padded seat). The tree was to be 

covered with "leather partly tanned," that is, 

rawhide.^2 

In 1858, for reasons unknown, the army 

ceased referring to the tree of its wagon saddle 

as Spanish. According to harness specifications 

which were issued in that year and which went 

unchanged through the Civil War and beyond, 

the saddle was to be "on Attakapas tree." ^^ In 

an enlarged portion of a photograph of a Union 

army camp during the Civil War (Figure 31), 
48 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

the Attakapas-tree wagon saddle is visible upon 

the near wheel animal of a six-mule team. Upon 

comparing this photographic view with the 

sketch in Figure 30, one is led to believe that 

the only difference between the tree the army 

knew as Spanish in 1845 and that which it 

termed Attakapas in 1858 was one of terminology (see also Figure 24). It also seems likely 

that the saddle tree that the army designated 

as Attakapas in 1858 was directly related to the 

tree that, a quarter of a century earlier, the 

two army officers, Kearny and Mason, had presented at the War Department—one made, as 

they said, "in the Atakapas, Louisiana, but can 

be made in any part of the Western country." 

In the Spanish saddle as produced at Saint 

Louis, English influence seems to have run for 

a long time so strong that, apart from the shape 

of the tree, with its high cantle and horned 

pommel, the article bore probably little resemblance to western saddles of later times. The 

impression is one of a saddle with a tree 

modelled on that of Mexico but characterized 

otherwise by a padded seat and padding under 

the tree as in the English riding saddle, by 

flaps and girthing in the English mode, and by 

the D-shaped metal stirrups common to saddles 

used in English-speaking America from the 

earliest times. One can but theorize as to why, 

if this concept is accurate, so many English 

features were retained. It can hardly be that 

Mexican saddle furnishings were wholly unknown in Saint Louis. For a time in 1828 

Thornton Grimsley advertised in the Missouri 

Republican a "schabbrack saddle," by which he 

meant a saddle with a removable housing 

known as a schabrack covering the tree. That 

Grimsley's "schabbrack" was in reality a form 

of the Mexican mochila is shown by his letter of 

24 April 1833 (see Appendix), wherein he described it as a "leather cover exactly on the 

spannish plan." 

The seeming persistence of English influence 

in the Saint Louis-made Spanish saddle may be 

accounted for partly in that the ways of the 

saddlemakers of that city, pivot of Far Western 

trade though it was, tended to remain those of 

settled America. As newspaper advertisements 

attest, the Spanish saddle and the English saddle were made side by side in Saint Louis shops. 

There, and especially in the 1820s and 1830s, 

when the numbers of Americans journeying 

into the Far West were relatively slight, the 

makers must surely have regarded the Spanish 

saddle as almost a novelty, an article with appeal to only a very small proportion of the market. With the possible exception of Thornton 

Grimsley, they probably saw little reason under 

the circumstances to change of their own volition any more than was necessary from the 

tried and true. 

In addition to the conservatism of saddlers, 

another factor perhaps contributing to the apparent character of the Saint Louis-made Spanish saddle was the outlook of the men who 

bought it. Many of them must have been altogether accustomed to the English saddle and 

only recently or newly concerned with Far 

Western travel. Having come to believe in the 

superiority of the Mexican tree, they accepted 

it, innovation though it was. On the other hand, 

they probably saw nothing to be gained by 

adopting outright the whole of Mexican saddle 

trappings, which must have been strange and 

cumbersome in their eyes. In the Spanish saddle 

as made at Saint Louis, English characteristics 

seem to have endured well into the middle years 

of the nineteenth century. In the Missouri market deep-seated preference for the English style 

could affect even the Spanish tree itself. Commencing probably in the late 1830s there appeared a saddletree in which, while the horn 

was still prominent, there was a combination of 

elements of the Spanish and English trees. This 

hybrid was called "half Spanish," in contrast to 

what was then sometimes referred to as the 

"full Spanish" tree. 

Once fully aware of the realities of Plains 

travel, American horsemen appear to have dispensed with certain English features of the 

Saint Louis-made Spanish saddle. Under hard 

use, seat padding and underpadding were apt 

to fall quickly into disrepair and, leagues from 

any saddler's shop, were troublesome to restore. 

In the Spanish saddles used by the United 

States dragoons, seat padding was omitted from 

the outset in spite of Thornton Grimsley's 

recommendation that it be adopted. Upon his 

arrival in Saint Louis in June 1833 with full 

authority to settle all design details of the service saddle, Lieutenant Colonel Kearny insisted 

—whether because of personal experience or 
NUMBER 39 49 

I. LiAi\DlS , 

IViain MiMct, SI. I.oiiis, 

(Three doors Hhove he Biinkof the 

Unite d SIHIPJS) 

MANUFACTURFS und keeps constant!}-

for s»il« Rn extensive Hssortiuert of 

SADDLERY AND HARNESS; 

Comprisinior nenrly every kind, nnd of a GOOD 

QIIAI ITY . GentU'ineii'p paddles of the latpft iipproved )»t\le, ns well np coiiimon »»nd 

plninmeirs saddles; Spf»ri:.«-h 'ind ho^'s^nddlc?; 

ridr-snddles. carpet hops brii'.Vs, iij:irtinjrale«, 

hiirneM, nniitiiry nrroiiift-ment.S l!«m»*«, collar!*, coach, |e»g, &. dray h'«rn*i?!»; trunks and 

valiPCH, Rtid penenilly every article in his Hne 

will he made nt the f^lioMest notice, und iu the 

iuo*t diirnble manner. 

Me hope* that GOOD WORK AND REDU -

f *ED PRICES viill ensure him a liberal share 

of public patronage. 

Q^Perjon n fr«»m the country visitinn: St. 

Louis to 8npply thems'»lvc« with any of the 

inbove flrlicle«», are invited to call befon; purIfhawng elsewhere* Autr. 21* 

Thomas A^ Miller* 

R

ESPECTI-ULLY inform their fiiendsand th«publie 

in general, that they have commenced the SAD> 

DLE, HARNESS & TRUNK business, between the 

Union and Missouri Hotels^ Main street.. St<.Louis, Mo.1 

sign of the Spanish Saddle. They intend carrying it on. 

in all its various branches, and keeping a constant supply 

of gentlemen's Spanish and American Saddles,, both quilted and plain. Also,Ladies Saddles,consisting ofqudted,. 

quilted fare pieces, buck skin, plush and plush ives, gig, 

coach and dearbon hari?esS(Of every description, plialed, 

brass or black mounting, black and fair leather bridles 

a»cl martingales, all kinds of travelling, fancy and hair 

trunks, saddlebags, valieces, carpet bags and portmanteaus. Dray, wagon and cart harness, blind bridles, collars, haimes, and every other awticle in their line, coach*. 

gig and loaded whips of every description, and switch 

whins of the best quality.. 

All orders in their line thankfully received^ and punc 

tttally attended to. July jis. 

rt' 

J. B. SICKLES & CO. 

AND IMPORTERS OF 

SADDLERY-HARDWARE, 

NO. 140, MAIN STREET, ST. LOUIS, 

OPPOSITE THE BANK OF MISSOURI. 

They have constanUy on hand, an extensive assorUnent of Saddles, 

Bridles, Martingales, Harness, Trunks, Valises, Carpet-bags, 

Bits, Stirrups, Harness Furniture, Leather, Webb, &c. 1 

FIGURE 32.—Purveyors of saddlery and harness could anticipate a brisk demand for 

their wares in bustling Saint Louis, great emporium of the trans-Mississippi West 

during much of the nineteenth century. The two advertisements at the top appeared 

in Saint Louis newspapers in an age when the outside front page was still devoted 

to such matters: that of Thomas & • Miller in the Evening Herald and Commercial 

Advertiser of 5 October 1834, and that of Israel Landis in the Missouri Argus of 

6 November 1835. The advertisement of J. B. Sickles & Co. appeared in the Saint Louis 

directory for 1842. In it is shown an illustration of the "half Spanish" saddletree. 

through foresight is not clear—that the seat be 

left bare. The dragoons M^ould sit upon a 

blanket, "properly folded" and secured by a 

surcingle atop the tree.^* The use of some such 

cushioning material atop the bare tree but separate from it appears to have been common practice among American equestrians engaged for 

any length of time in Fa r Western travel. The 

custom of mountain men, as depicted in their 

natural habitat by Alfred Jacob Miller in 1837, 
50 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

was to deck the saddle with a rope or a blanket 

or both, articles useful not only to ride upon but 

for bedding and wearing apparel as well. 

Many of the Spanish saddles that the American Fur Company obtained at Saint Louis in 

the 1830s seem to have had padding on the undersurfaces of the sideboards, at least at the 

time of purchase. Far removed from the mountains themselves, some of the fur trade nabobs 

of Saint Louis may have looked upon such 

cushioning as a likely means of preserving 

horseflesh and, so, of holding down expenses. 

One who took their advice was Lieutenant Colonel Kearny. As he wrote in July 1833 to his 

superiors in Washington, "after conversing 

with some of the traders, who yearly send parties to the mountains, & seeing letters from 

others, on the subject of saddles suited to that 

particular service, I was induced .. . to direct, 

those made for the dragoons to be padded, in 

order to protect the horses back." ^^ 

In actual service, however, underpadding 

proved a distinct hindrance to the dragoons. Reporting in 1835 on the 76 saddles on hand in his 

company, Capt. David Hunter observed, "I do 

not think there will be one fit for another campaign, unless they are repadded. I have had 

them unstuffed several times, but the pad is 

now so completely decayed as not to admit of 

its being done again." ^^ The army dropped underpadding in favor of a saddle blanket within 

a few years. Mountain men seem always to 

have preferred placing beneath their saddles a 

blanket, a bearskin, or a square piece of buffalo 

robe, the latter being known, in the various 

spellings of fur trade literature, as an apishamore, epishamore, apishemeau, or opishomo. 

If we are correct in our assumptions regarding the nature of the Spanish saddle that Americans evolved as a result of their early probings beyond the Mississippi Valley frontier, 

then certainly their saddlery preferences underwent a pronounced change as the nineteenth 

century neared midpoint. Arriving in evergrowing numbers in the Far West subsequent 

to the rapid conquest of New Mexico and California in 1846, Americans were introduced to 

the whole of Mexican horse equipage and proceeded forthwith to make much of it their own. 

Many of the volunteer soldiers who marched 

down the Santa Fe Trail to seize New Mexico 

D—mn a mule, any how." 

FIGURE 33.—"Damn a mule, any how!" quoth Private 

James Peacock, of the First Missouri Mounted Volunteers, striving to get his refractory beast underway 

for another day's march. Thus a comrade saw Peacock 

on the morning of 6 May 1847, with an American 

military expedition deep in rugged northern Mexico. 

The western saddle saw much use by American mounted 

volunteer soldiers in the conflict between the United 

States and Mexico. 

arrived there on American-made Spanish saddles. They marveled at the New Mexicans' feats 

of horsemanship and lusted for the fancy leatherwork and rich metal fittings with which saddles were embellished there. Adventuring in 

Taos in 1847, youthful Lewis H. Garrard was 

moved to purchase from one Le Fevre a saddle 

from below the Rio Grande. "It came," he recalled, "from Chihuahua originally—high cantle 

and pommel, with ponderous, fancifully carved 

wooden stirrups. It suited me well, and I paid a 

high price for it, though I thought it cheap. It 

was certainly worth nine dollars, and the sight 

of Le Fevre's daughter made me consider the 

remaining nine as nothing." ^'^ 

The Americans who thronged into California 

in 1849 and after in quest of gold found the 

Mexican populace there, just as in New Mexico, 

using the saddle of their motherland. Among 

the Californios saddle decoration had attained, 

it is said, a magnificence unmatched elsewhere 

in Mexico's border regions. Americans took to 

much of the native horse equipage with enthusiasm. In the riding qualities of the California tree they found such excellence that 

within a few years its fame had spread far and 

wide over western America. As Arthur Woodward points out, the mochila gained special attention through its use by the almost legendary 

Pony Express riders in 1860-61. Where speed 
NUMBER 39 51 

FIGURE 34.—A nice specimen of the Mexican saddler's craft, 

this saddle was brought home by Franklin Pierce (destined 

to become fourteenth President of the United States) upon 

his return from service, 1847-1848, as a brigadier general in 

the war between the United States and Mexico. The leather 

parts are embellished with stamping and silver embroidery. 

The horn and pommel are encased in lustrous white metal and 

the cantle has a molding of the same material. A non-Mexican 

addition, doubtless installed by an American saddler at the 

request of Pierce or another, are plain flaps with knee-pads, 

one of which is visible in this off-side view. 

FIGURE 35.—Jefferson Davis (later president of the Confederate States of America) 

used this western saddle on active service, 1846-1847, as colonel of the First Mississippi 

Rifles, in the war between the United States and Mexico. The back of the cantle is 

marked "BLUNN and WALKER. Saddlers / Austin." This is the earliest Texas-made 

saddle of which we have knowledge. The stirrups were made by Davis himself. 
52 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 37.—This illustration from a handbook for travelers to the West depicts the California saddle as the 

one used by many over much of the American West 

during the 1850s and 1860s. The author, drawing upon 

his quarter century of experience on the western frontier, recommended it as possessing "at least as many 

advantages for rough frontier service as any other pattern that has been invented." The leather loop depending from the horn was a means of carrying a rifle (see 

Figure 33). 

FIGURE 36.—The tree of this much-worn saddle was made at Sacramento, California, 

about 1856. Breakage of the rawhide cover has made visible a paper label pasted to 

the wood of the cantle and imprinted "BUDD & LEHMAN/ (Late D. RANSOM),/ 

SACRAMENTO." Duke Ransom operated a saddlery and harness shop in Saint Louis 

during most of the 1840s. Commencing evidently in 1854 Ransom produced saddletrees 

in Sacramento. Budd and Lehman succeeded to his tree-making business in 1856. Note 

the stirrup, carved from a solid block of hardwood. 
FIGURE 38.—"A Forty-niner," by John Woodhouse 

Audubon, 1849. The artist, a son of the celebrated 

naturalist, led a company of gold seekers on a 

grueling journey overland from the Rio Grande 

across northern Mexico to California in 1849. A 

skilled artist in his own right, young Audubon 

made a number of pencil drawings and watercolors along the way. In this one we see a member of the party and two of their horses. Although 

both the saddles certainly qualify as western saddles, they differ from one another in many details. 

As this picture denotes, the party went well 

armed. 

FIGURE 39.—"Don Jose Andres Sepulveda," by 

Henri Penelon, 1856. The subject is portrayed on 

horseback—a pose befitting the lordly owner of 

Rancho San Joaquin, resident of the Pueblo de 

Los Angeles, and devotee of fast horses and 

elaborate dress. The artist appears to have taken 

special pains with the lavish embroidery on the 

mochila, anquera, and tapaderos. The horn and 

cantle of the California saddle are embellished 

with white metal as is the bridle. 
54 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 
NUMBER 39 55 

FIGURE 41.—Trustworthy in its details is this contemporary depiction of a Pony Express rider by the accomplished California pioneer artist, Charles C. Nahl (1819-

1878). Entitled "Swimming the Storm-Swollen Stream," it appeared as an illustration 

in Hutchings' California Magazine of July 1860. 

FIGURE 40.—Very few mochilas appear to have survived 

the wear and tear of the years. This example, stamped 

"T. GRIMSLEY & CO. / MAKERS / ST. LOUIS, MO." 

in six places, dates no earlier than 1850. In that year 

Thornton Grimsley was associated with his son John J. 

Grimsley and his son-in-law George L. Stansbury under the firm of T. Grimsley & Company. The mochila 

is of thick board-like leather, finished black. Overall 

dimensions are 28% by 48 inches (73 x 121.9 cm). 

was vital, this leather housing could be snatched 

from one man's saddle and clapped upon another in a matter of moments. The Pony Express men used a mochila fitted with four 

pockets—cantinas—one in front of and one behind each of the rider's legs. In the cantinas, 

under lock and key, rode the mail. 

When we compare the saddles illustrated in 

Figures 42 and 43, we gain a vivid sense of the 

apparent transformation in saddlery tastes that 

took place among American equestrians in the 
56 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 42.—Produced probably during the 1850s, this saddle exhibits almost all of 

the presumed characteristics of the Spanish saddle as turned out by American makers 

in Saint Louis. The wing-like projections behind the flaps, simulating a separate saddle 

cloth, are dark blue cloth, faced with dark brown leather, and bound with red leather. 

Judging from its manner of construction, the saddle cannot have been intended for 

hard use and must have sold relatively cheap. (See also Figure 67.) 
NUMBER 39 57 

FIGURE 43.—Made by Edward L. Gallatin, this superbly decorated saddle, seen here 

without its mochila, was presented to Col. Jesse H. Leavenworth, of the Second Colorado Volunteers, by his officers and friends at Denver, Colorado, on 4 December 1862. 
58 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 44.—Tooled in each corner of the skirts and 

atop the horn of this saddle is the Lone Star emblem 

of Texas. Stamped in capital letters between the points 

of each star is the word TEXAS. The saddle belonged 

to Robert E. Lee and was used by him, according to 

family recollection, "just before the Civil War." As 

lieutenant colonel of the Second U.S. Cavalry, Lee was 

stationed in Texas during much of 1856-1857 and again 

in 1860-1861. The saddle is marked "E. L. Hopkins." 

Present with the saddle is a martingale, decorated with 

a heart-shaped device of brass. 
NUMBER 39 59 

Far West in the middle 1800s. Undocumented 

though it is, the saddle in Figure 42 (see Figure 

67 for additional views) is unquestionably of 

American manufacture and was turned out 

probably during the 1850s. Only in its stirrups 

and tree covering (coarse cloth, much simpler 

to apply and so cheaper than rawhide) does this 

example depart from the seeming characteristics of the Spanish saddle as produced at Saint 

Louis. The seat padding, underpadding, and 

girthing all follow English lines. 

The Leavenworth presentation saddle shown 

in Figure 43 (see also Figure 69 for additional 

views) was turned out in 1862 at Denver, Colorado, by Edward L. Gallatin.^^ It is founded, 

as its maker recounted, upon "the California 

saddle tree" ^^ and it shows much of Mexican 

influence throughout. Especially when seen, as 

in Figure 43, without its mochila, Gallatin's 

product of 116 years ago bears in the overall 

a strikingly modern look when viewed side by 

side with the saddle in Figure 42. Although 

both, in that they have horned trees, are of the 

western saddle type, and despite a probability 

that they are nearly contemporaneous in their 

dates of manufacture, these two saddles stand 

clearly an age removed from one another in 

terms of design. 

The California saddletree unquestionably was 

popular in the West but it was not without a 

competitor, however, at least so far as Texans 

were concerned. This competition came from a 

horned tree known generally to Texans by the 

term "Hope"; non-Texans appear to have called 

it, more often than not, simply the "Texas" 

tree. Its devotees would hear of no other. In the 

mining regions of California in 1851, Sam 

Ward—later to gain fame as "King of the 

Lobby" in the national capitol—found Texans 

singing the praises of the incomparable Hope 

tree. As Ward put it, among the diggings, "the 

saddletree consisted .. . as in Mexico, of four 

pieces—a loggerhead [fork]), two side plates 

and a crupper [misnomer for cantle]. This style 

of saddle pervades even Texas, where, as in the 

Golden State, the work of certain masters is 

more highly prized than the goblets of Benvenuto Cellnini. . . . The two rivals in public 

estimation were Hope of Texas and Graham 

of Santa Clara, whose naked trees would command from one to three ounces [of gold], either 

of which, it must be acknowledged, is a 'fancy 

price.' " 20 

Just when the Hope saddletree came into being, why it was called as it was, and whether its 

place of origin lay in Texas or elsewhere, all 

have yet to be determined. Americans, present 

in Texas continuously from the 1820s, were, in 

that environment, exposed quite early to Mexican saddlery. Their own saddles obviously took 

on Mexican features eventually but there is 

little to suggest how soon this began or the rate 

at which it progressed. 

By 1840, according to Walter Prescott Webb, 

there existed on the Mexican border a considerable trade between Texans and Mexicans and 

among the wares that the latter brought to San 

Antonio were saddles. From 1836 to 1845, when 

Texas was an independent republic, its mounted 

rangers used, according to an authoritative 

memoir quoted by Webb, the "Mexican saddle, 

improved somewhat by the Americans." ^i What 

was true of the Texas Rangers must also certainly have been the case with other frontier 

Texans of the 1830s and 1840s. Ferdinand Roemer, a Gernian geologist who managed to see a 

good deal of Texas during a sojourn of eighteen 

months in 1846 and 1847, noted that the "Mexican type of saddles with high pommel and high 

backs" were in common use among the settlers.22 

By mid-century, then, a great many American users of the western saddle had come to regard it with a degree of sophistication. Certainly, the old all-encompassing term, Spanish 

saddle, could no longer suffice. Foreshadowing 

a steady proliferation of western saddle styles 

in the century's latter decades, there were the 

California saddle and the Hope (or Texas) saddle and the distinctions between them, now not 

altogether clear, were well understood then. The 

primary difference between the two lay unquestionably in the configuration of their trees. In 

1860 both sorts came under the appraising eye 

of Sir Richard F. Burton, the British explorer 

and orientalist, as he made the long trek between Saint Joseph, Missouri, and San Francisco. Burton's observations provide at least a 

clue to the distinctions between saddle types. 

"The civilised saddle," he found, "in these lands 

varies with every region." With great detail he 

observed: 
60 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

The Texan is known by its circular seat; a string 

passed round the tree forms a ring: provided with 

flaps after the European style it is considered easy and 

comfortable. The Californian is rather oval than circular; borrowed and improved from the Mexican, it has 

spread from the Pacific to the Atlantic slope of the 

Rocky Mountains, and the hardy and experienced 

mountaineer prefers it to all others. . . . The tree rests 

upon a "sweat-leather," a padded sheet covering the 

back, and it is finished off behind with an "anchero" of 

the same material protecting the loins. The pommel is 

high, like the crutch of a woman's saddle, rendering 

impossible, under pain of barking the knuckles, that 

rule of good riding which directs the cavalier to keep 

his hands low. . . . 

The whole saddle is covered with a machila, here 

usually pronounced macheer, two pieces of thick leather 

handsomely and fancifully worked or stamped, joined 

by a running thong in the centre, and open to admit 

the pommel and cantle. If too long, it draws in the 

stirrup leathers, and cramps the ankles of any but a 

bowlegged man. The machila is sometimes garnished 

with pockets, always with straps behind to secure a 

valise, and a cloak can be fastened over the pommel, 

giving purchase and protection to the knees. . . . 

The advantages of this equipment are obvious; it is 

easier to horse and man probably than any yet invented. On the other hand, the quality of leather 

renders it expensive: without silver or other ornaments, 

the price would vary from $25 at San Francisco to $50 

at G[reat]. S[alt]. L[ake]. City, and the highly got-up 

rise to $250 = 50£. for a saddle! If the saddlecloth slips 

out, and this is an accident which frequently occurs, 

the animal's back will be galled. The stirrup-leathers 

cannot be shortened or lengthened without dismounting, 

and without leggings the board-like leather macheer 

soon makes the mollets [calves of the legs] innocent of 

skin. The pommel is absolutely dangerous: during my 

short stay in the country I heard of two accidents, one 

fatal, caused by the rider being thrown forward on 

his fork.... 

[The] stirrup is sensibly made of wood. In the Eastern states it is a lath bent somewhat in the shape of 

the dragoon form, and has too little weight: the Californian article is cut out of a solid block of wood, 

mountain mahogany being the best, then maple, and 

lastly the softer pine and cotton-wood. In some parts 

of the country it is made so narrow that only the toe 

fits in, and then the instep is liable to be bruised. For 

riding through bush and thorns, it is provided in front 

with zapateros [misnomer for tapaderos] or leathern 

curtains, secured to the straps above, and to the wood 

on both sides; they are curiously made, and the size, 

like that of the Turk's lantern,23 denotes the owner's 

fashionableness; dandies may be seen with the pointed 

angles of their stirrup-gfuards dangling almost to the 

ground. The article was borrowed from Mexico—the 

land of character dresses.24 

In 1856 the firm of Rice & Childress, then 

FIGURE 45.—The McClellan saddletree, regulation for 

United States horse soldiers from 1859 down to World 

War II, bore—apart from its lack of a horn—a decided 

resemblance to the western saddletree of the middle 

1800s. The example seen here (now lacking the standard 

rawhide cover) was made during the Civil War. (cf. 

the "Spanish" tree, Figure 24.) 

producing the Hope saddle at San Antonio, 

Texas, sought to have it tried by the Second 

United States Cavalry, which had recently 

taken station on the Texas frontier. In support 

of this effort there arrived at the War Department missives in which numerous Texans recited personal experiences with the Hope saddle. These documents, comprising an interesting chapter in the history of the western saddle, 

are quoted in the Appendix. 

The War Department, already considering 

the merits of several saddles proposed for cavalry use, purchased about 400 Hope saddles 

from Rice & Childress in 1857-1858. The Second Cavalry used them in hard field service, was 

delighted with them, and said so. For all that, 

it was not the Hope saddle that the War Department finally settled upon in 1859. 

The saddle adopted for United States cavalry 

in 1859 was one that a promising young captain, George B. McClellan, had submitted for 

trial. In 1855 the War Department had sent 

him overseas to observe the Crimean War and 

to ascertain the best features of European cavalry equipment. Back in America in 1856 McClellan obtained permission to have made, under his personal supervision, a new saddle, one 

which he claimed, and everyone expected, would 

embody the most advanced features of European design. Just how it came about remains 

obscure (McClellan was close-mouthed about it 

afterward) but the saddle that he produced. 
NUMBER 39 61 

FIGURE 46.—Like many Civil War cavalrymen, North and South, Private Luther H. 

North, of the Second Nebraska Volunteer Cavalry, here pictured on his horse Billy, 

used a western saddle. The photograph was made on 6 March 1863 (North's seventeenth birthday) at the Pawnee Indian reservation on the Loup River, Nebraska Territory. Late in life. North recalled that the saddle he used on this occasion was "probable borrowed, as I afterward used one of the heavier Mexican or California type." 

Note the anquerita, a diminutive form of the anquera. 
62 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

which the War Department went on to adopt, 

bore little direct resemblance to anything in use 

across the Atlantic. 

In the form of its tree (except for lack of a 

horn), its rigging, and its bent-wood stirrups 

complete with tapaderos, the army's new cavalry saddle bore to the western saddle a resemblance so striking that it can scarcely be 

ascribed to sheer coincidence. The McClellan 

saddle, as it has always been known, proved a 

tough, durable article, well suited to the rough 

and tumble of field service. Often the butt of 

grim humor (President Grover Cleveland is 

said to have opined—probably contemplating 

those abrupt seat lines—that it seemed to have 

been constructed especially for the enlargement 

of the pension list),^^ the saddle nevertheless 

served American soldiers well, enduring as the 

principal element of United States cavalry 

horse equipment from the Civil War down to 

World War II. 

In the Civil War the western saddle in various forms was used by numbers of cavalrymen, 

North and South, sometimes through necessity 

but more often through preference. At the outset of the war, when the McClellan saddle was 

not yet in full production, Union authorities 

grabbed for anything with which to outfit the 

hosts of volunteer cavalrymen coming into service. In the summer of 1861 a Union purchasing 

agent was glad to obtain from Betts, Nichols & 

Company several thousand western saddles such 

as that New York house had been producing for 

export to Texas. These, dubbed "ranger" saddles, were hurried to cavalry camps in the East 

and Midwest. They were only issued, however, 

as an emergency measure, and were generally 

replaced by the McClellan pattern at the first 

opportunity. 

Union volunteer cavalry units raised in California in 1861 scorned to use any kind of saddle 

but the California variety, to which they were 

accustomed. It was obtained for them, complete 

with mochila and anquera, from Main & Winchester and other firms in San Francisco. Many 

of the California troopers still bestrode the 

California saddle in 1865 despite the hard use 

to which they had put their equipment in Arizona and New Mexico since 1862 and although 

the McClellan saddle had come into increasing 

use among them as the war progressed. To men 

in need of leather the expansive mochila afforded temptation sometimes too much to resist. 

As an officer of the First California Cavalry 

complained from a remote New Mexico post in 

1864, "Private G. W. Wiley says he cut up his 

machere to make mocasins for his horse. . . . 

Private G. S. Parker says he lost his machere 

. . . alledges it was stolen." ^e 

In 1863 Lt. Col. Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle of the British army's Coldstream 

Guards crossed the Rio Grande into Texas for 

an unoffficial tour of the Confederate States. 

Finding a Texas cavalry regiment encamped 

by the border, he paused to look it over. To Fremantle the Texans' approach to soldiering was 

a source of astonishment. None of them, he discovered, could ride in an English saddle. 

Neither could any of them jump a fence, as 

their colonel had to confess, no doubt wondering 

to himself why anyone should ask such a question in unfenced Texas. Despite such shortcomings the Texans were, Fremantle had to concede, "in their peculiar fashion . . . beautiful 

riders." All of them used, he noted, saddles 

"nearly like the Mexican." ^^ 

Among Southern cavalry units raised west of 

the Mississippi, especially those formed in 

Texas, a great many of the men brought their 

own western saddles with them into the ranks. 

The Eighth Texas Cavalry, known generally as 

"Terry's Texas Rangers," and Lieutenant Colonel R. M. Gano's Battalion of Texas Cavalry, 

both of which served in eastern theaters almost 

throughout the war, used the western saddle in 

all their campaigns. Gano's Texans were 

merged into a Kentucky cavalry regiment in 

1862. Later on, when saddlery supplies were 

very scarce in the Confederacy, several of the 

Texan troopers who had been saddletree makers 

at home made many western saddles for use by 

their comrades, both Texans and Kentuckians. 

Shortly after the end of the Civil War, resourceful Texas ranchers began driving cattle 

out of their impoverished state toward markets 

in the North and the Rocky Mountain West. 

Along the flanks of the dusty columns of longhorns headed for the new railheads rode hardy 

young men, some still in tattered Confederate 

gray, sitting deep in their western trees, coiled 

lariats hung ready beside the fork. At hand 

was the day of the American cowboy, to last as 
NUMBER 39 63 

H AH at WIHCHSSTBX'S 8ASDLEBT AHS EABVSSS WASEHOITSB: 214 AHD 218 BATTEST BTBBET, SAS 7KAXCIBC0. 

FIGURE 47.—Charles Main and Ezra H. Winchester prospered from the time they went 

into business together as importers and manufacturers of saddlery and harness in 

San Francisco in 1849. This view of their establishment appeared in the California 

Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences of 12 September 1862. Before the picture could 

be published a fourth floor had been added to the brick and granite structure. Main 

& Winchester furnished many of the western saddles used by California volunteer 

troops on duty in the Southwest during the Civil War. 
64 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 48.—Mustered into Confederate service at Houston in the summer of 1861, the 

men of the Eighth Texas Cavalry (better known as "Terry's Texas Rangers") furnished their own arms and equipment. Their preference ran to the double-barreled 

shotgun, the Bowie knife, at least two six-shooters per man and, as seen here, the 

western saddle. In this oil, done about 1864, Carl G. von Iwonski (c. 1830-1922) chose 

to depict four of Terry's Rangers at a carefree canter. The central figure represents 

Ranger Samuel Maverick. Later, as a Texas rancher, he gave his name to maverick 

(unbranded) cattle. Perhaps the contents of the canteen Maverick holds on high have 

had a part in making this ride a joyful one. 

long as the vast ranges and the huge cattle 

herds of the West lasted. "Oh, a ten-dollar boss 

and a forty-dollar saddle, and I'm goin to 

punchin' Texas cattle," ran a stanza in one of 

his songs. To the American cowboy that western saddle was, indeed, both a vitally necessary 

work tool and a highly cherished possession. 

To many it will probably always be known as 

the "cowboy" saddle. By any ordinary standard 

that would seem to be distinction enough. In 

view of its history, however, it would seem to 

merit a title carrying a much broader meaning. 

As has been described, long years before a 

great range-cattle industry on the Plains was 

even dreamed of, this saddle was serving Americans well as they rode forth to fulfill a diversity of roles in the stupendous, untamed land 

that was the trans-Mississippi West. It can be 

called, with great justice, the western saddle, 

which is to say the saddle of western America. 
NUMBER 39 65 

Appendix 

Letter from Thornton Grimsley to Major 

Joshua B. Brant, Quartermaster, United States 

Army, proposing to furnish saddles for the First 

Regiment, United States Dragoons, 1833.^^ 

St. Louis 24th Apl 1833 

Dear Sir 

In obedience to your request of this morning I 

herewith enclose you a description of the saddle 

on which I proposed to mount the U S Dragoons 

ordered to be raised for the defence of our fronteere. 

The tree which may be termed the foundation is 

constructed of solid timber dressed to suitable thicknesses from the forks of treese selected for this purpose, and in shape is a complete moddle of the much 

admired spannish saddle, and is covered with raw 

hide which is put on them wet, and contracts by 

drying so as to confine every part of the tree compactly together, and renders it so strong that no 

horse or mule can when exerting his utmost strength 

brake them in any part. No difference is perceivable 

to those who are not practical mechanics at the 

saddling business between the shape of the saddle 

above mentioned and the real spannish saddle accept that those which I manufacture are longer and 

better proportioned for the Horses of the U S than 

those constructed in the spannish country would be: 

for the simple reason that in the latter case they 

are calculated for small horses and mules and are 

made very narrow which renders them unsafe and 

even useless for the horses in this country unless 

they are so low in flesh as not to be in a usable 

condition. 

The construction of the seete and pad of the 

sample which I have made is similar to the common 

american saddle though the seete combines advantages of ease to the rider and affords facilityes for 

repaires which the common ammerican saddle does 

not possess. A leather cover exactly on the spannish 

plan is thrown over the whole saddle which forms 

the scorts [skirts] and affords a complete protection to the under seete which is made of soft leather 

and linnen and is stuffed with wool, and it is on 

this [i.e., the cover] that the Holsters, and other 

apparatus necessary for the accommodation and 

convenience of the Dragoon is attached. This cover 

or schabbrack as it is called is made of thick heavy 

leather and protects the whole body of the saddle 

from the wet. The head [horn] and cantle of the 

tree passes through this cover and of course holds 

it snug in its place. On each side behind the holsters 

the stirrup leather passes through it; so that the 

rider has from the senter of the seete to the extream 

lower edge of the scort a perfect smooth surface of 

leather to ride upon. The saddle treese now proposed to be used vv^as first taken in to the trade to 

the mountains by Genl Ashley, and has since been 

continued by his successors: Smith Sublette and 

Jackson all of whom have tendered and would if I 

had deemed it necessary have given certificates of 

there great superiority over any other saddle Tree 

now in use for constant service. 

The greate advantage to be gained by the government in the adoption of the above mentioned saddle 

. . . is; first there durabillity and safety to the 

horses backs as they have in many instances been 

rode and packed to the mountains and back again 

without any pad but simply using a blanket or a 

bairskin under them.... 

I remain as every yours Truly 

T. GRIMSLEY 

Majr J. B. Brant 

Thornton Grimsley's contract to furnish saddles 

for the First Regiment, United States Dragoons, 1833.^'-> 

Articles of agreement made and concluded at 

Saint Louis, Mo, the twenty seventh day of June 

Eighteen hundred & thirty three, by & between 

Major J. B. Brant Q'-Master U.S. Army of the first 

part, and Thornton Grimsley of the said city of 

Saint Louis of the second part. 

—Witnesseth.— 

1^* . . . That the said Thornton Grimsly of the second part, for and in consideration of the covenants 

and agreements hereinafter stipulated, promises 

and agrees by these presents, to furnish and deliver 

at Saint Louis, Mo, Seven hundred and fifteen 

Saddles for the service of the U.S. Dragoons, to be 

made in a workmanlike manner and in strict confirmity to the one described in the annexed document dated 27 June 1833 and signed "Thornton 

Grimsley", said Saddles to be delivered as follows, 

viz: 200 on the 1«* of September next ensuing, 200 

on the IS*** of September next ensuing, 200 on the 

ISti' of October, 200 on the 15^^ of November and 

the remaining 115 on the 15*^ of December 1833;— 

the several parcels to be inspected by two disinter-
66 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

ested persons mutually chosen by the parties to the 

agreement, who shall certify whether the Saddles 

are conformable to the one described in the above 

mentioned document, and whether they are executed 

in a workmanlike manner. 

2"<i . . . And the said Major J. B. Brant of the first 

part, for and in behalf of the United States, promises and agrees to pay to the said Thornton Grimsley or his assigns, for each Saddle furnished and 

delivered as above, the Sum of Ten dollars, on his or 

their producing the Certificate of the Inspectors 

setting forth the due performance of the first article 

of the agreement. 

In testimony whereof the parties have hereunder affixed their hands & seals the day & 

years first above written. 

Witness 

John Haraty 

W. W. Worthington 

J. B. Brant 

T Grimsley 

[Seal] 

[Seal] 

—Copy— 

The above I believe to be a complete description 

of the saddles agreed for by yourself, and intended 

for the U.S. Dragoons, and I have no hesitation in 

saying that they are equal if not superior for the 

service for which they are intended to any Saddle 

now in use in any part of the world. For the information of the heads of the War Department, I will 

at an early date make a sample agreeably to your 

request which you can forward to Washington for 

their inspection. 

I remain very respectfully 

Your ob* Servt 

(Signed) Thornton Grimsley 

Major J. B. Brant ( 

QrMaster U.S.A. f 

A true Copy of the original on file in this office 

Q'Masters Office Saint Louis June 27.1833. 

J. B. Brant 

QrMr 

Saint Louis 27^^ June 1833 

Dear Sir, 

You here have a full description of the U.S. 

Dragoon Saddle as adopted by L* Col. Kearney and 

contracted for by yourself. The tree is composed 

of four pieces of timber put together, and in shape 

is an exact model of the much admired Spanish 

saddle tree. It is covered with untanned hide, which 

binds every part of it completely together & forms 

the high reputation which the Spanish saddle tree 

has for strength and durability. The tree is then 

skirted and padded, th« skirt protects the dragoon's 

legs from the horse, and the pad for the more 

effectual preservation of the horse's back. Two iron 

staples with loops in a triangular form is on each 

side & receive the stirrup leather. Three iron staples 

are put behind the saddle and clenched through the 

cantle of the tree for the crupper and coat pad. The 

coat pad is of the usual form with two straps & 

buckles by which the Dragoon attaches his coat or 

any other baggage which the nature of his service 

may require. A girth strap 1^4 inches wide is 

placed on each side of the tree resting on a small 

flap or skirt which is calculated to keep the buckle 

and girth from wearing on the lower edge of the 

pad. Two leather loops is placed in front of the tree 

on each side to receive the breast plate [band] & 

two small straps with buckles nearly in the same 

place by which the holster pipes are to be confined 

to the saddle. 

Know all men by these presents that we Thornton 

Grimsley, William Carr Lane and Bernard Pratte 

S'' are held and firmly bound unto the United States 

of America in the penal sum of Three thousand five 

hundred dollars, lawful money of the said United 

States, for which payment well and truly to be made, 

we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors & administrators firmly by these presents, sealed with our 

seals and dated this Twenty seventh day of June 

One thousand eight hundred and thirty three. 

The condition of the obligation is such, that 

whereas the above bounden Thornton Grimsley has 

this day entered into an agreement with Major 

J. B. Brant Q'' Master U.S. Army, to furnish and 

deliver Seven hundred and fifteen Saddles for the 

use of the U.S. Dragoons, now, if the said Thornton 

Grimsley shall furnish and deliver the said Saddles 

according to the true intent and meaning of said 

said agreement, then and in that case the obligation 

to be null and void, otherwise to remain in full 

force and virtue. 

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set 

our hands and seals the day & year above 

written. 

Signed, sealed & delivered \ 

in presence of (' 

W. W. Woodbridge as to 

T. Grimsley & W. C. Lane 

John Haraty as to B. Pratte 

Duplicate 

I T Grimsley 

' ~ ' W"> Carr Lane 

B. Pratte S^ 

[Seal] 

[Seal] 

[Seal] 
NUMBER 39 67 

Letters and statements from residents of Texas 

and others to the Secretary of War in recommendation of the Hope saddle, 1856.^^ 

San Antonio 

Nov 30th 1856 

Col Jeff Davis 

Dear Sir 

Messrs Rice & Childress of this place, having 

called upon me to express my opinion in regard to 

their new Cavalry equipments, I have no hesitation 

in stating, that I consider their saddle, bridle & bit 

in every way adapted to the cavalry service in this 

country and in all respects superior to the ones now 

in use by the United States troops. 

Very RepectfuUy 

Your obdt Servt 

GEO. T. HOWARD 

San Antonio, Texas 

November 13th, 1856 

Hon Jefferson Davis 

Secretary of War 

Dear Sir 

Messrs Rice & Childress of this City are proposing to furnish Saddles for the mounted troops 

on the western frontier. 

Since my removal from Panola Co. Miss, to this 

country I have used their make of Saddles exclusively, finding in a very short while, that the English and American Saddle would not do for this 

country: The Texas Saddle has no pads either for 

horse or rider, must be made of the best materials, 

as there is no place to work up, waste or refuse 

leather; they are made of strong wood and very 

firmly put together, and do not deface and spoil by 

use in the weather; their great excellency however 

is, they do not hurt the horse, or tire the rider, a 

good rider need never be thrown from one; The 

American Saddle is so hot & galling here, that I 

have never known a new Settler, to use one through 

the first Summer. 

I have known Mr. Childress for many Years, and 

Know him to be very responsible for any Contract 

he may make: by his great industry and energy, he 

has amassed an ample fortune here; 

With great Respect 

Your Friend 

R. W. BRAHAN 

San Antonio, Texas 

Novr. 27 1856 

TO the Honble. Jeffn. Davis 

Secretary of War 

Sir At the request of Mr. Childress, who will 

hand you this note, I solicit your attention to the 

specimens of "Hopes Saddletrees" which he desires 

to present for the examination of the Chief of Ordnance— He has been engaged some years in the 

manufacturing of this description of Saddle, known 

as "Hopes," and carried with him testimonials of 

their excellence; from my own knowledge of them I 

concur in the opinion that they are free from serious objections to other patterns— 

Mr. Childress is represented to me as a person 

of good character & standing in this community. 

With great respect 

Yr. obt. servt 

A. S. JOHNSTON 

[Colonel, Second Regiment, U. S. Cavalry] 

To all whom it may concern! 

Certificate 

of Citizens to 

Rice & Childers 

Saddlers 

San Antonio Texas 

We hereby certify that we are well acquainted with, 

& have used Hopes Saddle manufactured by Messrs 

Rice & Childers of this City and have no hesitation 

in recommending them as superior in every respect 

to all other Saddles now in use, in point of durability and ease to the Horse, as well as rider, in fact 

they are entirely adapted to all practical manner of 

Service. 

Vance & Bro Merchts. San Antonio Texas 

F. Guilbeau 

H. D. Norton & Bros. 

B. E. Edwards 

I have used the hope Saddle since 1844 in service of 

Texas and in the ware [sic] of Mexico and have 

found them superior to all other Saddles used in 

the servis 

Evans Muncey & Co. 

Merchants San Antonio 

RiCHD A. HOWARD 

JAS R. [illegible signature] 

C. L. PYRON 

I rode one of Hopes Saddles made by Rice & Childers 

from San Antonio to Shreveport and back by way of 

Indianola thence to Elpaso and back to San Antonio, 
68 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

a distance of twenty four hundred miles. I was hauling with the Large freight train that went up in 

1850 under the management of Lt Quinby of the 

Army, there was several other Hopes Saddles in 

Company and it was a subject of remark that none 

of them hurt either man or horse. My weight was 

then 265 pounds. 

J. H. LYONS 

I am running the Mail from San Antonio to Santa 

Fe a distance of over eleven hundred miles and have 

used the Hope saddle made by Messrs Rice & Childers in said mail service for over two years and 

can truly say they are the best saddle now in use for 

long journeys for ease both to man & horse. 

I also have been using the same make of saddle 

since 1844 and take pleasure in recommending them 

for general use throughout Texas and New Mexico. 

G H GiDDINGS 

From fifty to fifty two (1850 to 1852) being Dist. 

Atty upon the Rio Grande was often in the saddle.^—• 

have ridden from that place (|Fort Brown) to San 

Antonio 3 several times distance about 300 miles, 

can say that no saddle is equal to Hope's which 

Messrs Rice & Childers make well, have used them 

since 1849. 

RUSSELL HOWARD 

I have been in the Regular Army of the U.S. as a 

dragoon, and also imployed in other capacity in Government, as Wagon Master &c for the past fifteen 

years, during which time I have had occasion to test 

the various Saddles in use including the Dragoon 

Saddle and can testify that Hopes Saddle as Manufactured by Rice & Childress are the best saddles in 

use, and would cheerfully Recommend them as the 

most practable Saddle for the Regular Service. 

JONATHAN HACKETT 

I have used the Hope saddle since 1845 both as Pack 

saddles & Riding. In 1849 I rode one to California 

and I have no hesitation in Pronouncing them the 

most superior saddle ever made. I would Recommend them as manufactured by Messrs Rice & 

Childress for general use in Texas 

M. MAYS 

I have been acting in the capacity of Surveyor on 

the Frontier of Texas for twelve years and for the 

last three years bin a Deputy Surveyor under Col 

Jack Hays of California. I have had occasion to do a 

great deal of Riding and can testify tha t Hopes 

Saddle Trees Manufactured by Rice & Childers are 

Superior to any thing that I have ever seen and 

believe that their could be no Saddle tha t would 

compare with them for the Regular Service 

J. G. MCDONALD 

I have been living on the frontier for the last 

eighteen years, most of that time as a Ranger under 

Capt Jack Hays. I have known & used the Hope 

Tree as Made by Mess Rice & Childress nearly all 

that time & consider them much Superior to any 

other that I have ever seen or used. 

J M CAROLAN 

I have used Hope Saddle Tree since 1848 and rode 

on one from San Antonio to California. I concider 

them the best Trees now in use and would recommend those Manufactured by Rice & Childers in 

prefference to all others. 

WM G. M. SAMUEL 

I have used the Hope Saddle for many years, both 

as a Ranger in the service of the old Republic & 

since, and consider it the best for hard service & 

also for the protection of the Horse. I cheerfully 

give this certificate to Messrs Rice & Childers who 

are the Manufacturers of the same— 

GEO. D . MCGRATH 

Chief Justice 

B[exar]. C[ountyj. 

I have for several years used the "Hope Saddle" and 

can certify to its superiority over all others made or 

in use in Texas, Mississippi or Florida. 

THOS. J. DEVINE 

I have used no other than the Saddle known as the 

Hope Saddle for the last Eleven years and can 

testify that it is the best that I am acquainted with 

for a man travelling on the Frontiers—and incomparably superior to the saddle now in use in the 

Cavalry of the U.S. 

F. GIRAUD 

Dist[rict], Sur[veyor]. 

B[exar]. D[istrict]. 

I have used the Hope Saddle for several years, both 

as a Ranger in the Service of the old Republic, on 

surveying campaigns and crossing the plains to 
NUMBER 39 69 

California, and I take pleasure in certifying that I 

believe it superior to any other within my knowledge. 

San Antonio Oct 29th 1856 Jos. A. TiVY 

I do hereby certify that I have served in the U.S. 

Ranging service for several years both as a Private 

and Officer during which time the Hopes Saddle 

trees were in general use and I take pleasure in certifying that I believe them to be better adapted to 

frontier use than any other now in use. 

0 . H. MARONEY. 

I do hereby certify tha t I have served as a Ranger, 

and in most all kinds of service on the frontier, 

where Hopes Saddles were used and found them 

superior to any other Saddle, and cheerfully recommend them as best addapted to the U.S. Dragoon 

Service. 

W. R. HENRY 

Sheriff B[exar]. C[ounty]. 

I have used the Hope Saddle as manufactured by 

Messrs. Rice & Childress in this City for the last 8 

years. I have a Large stock of Cattle & Horses Requiring men constantly in the saddle and fine none 

Equal to them for man & beast and durability & 

believe them better adapted for Hard service than 

any saddle that I am acquainted with. 

JNO. S. M CLELLAN 

I have been keeping a Livery Stable in San Antonio 

for the last seven years, and have had an opportunity of testing the different manufacturies of 

saddles. I have no hesitation in saying, that the 

Hope Saddle manufactured by Rice & Childres of 

this City, is preferable for service and ease, both to 

horse and rider, to any within my knowledge and 

would recommend it as such. 

B R SAPPINGTON 

I have lived in the state of Texas twenty years & 

Probbably have been on Horse back as much as any 

person during that time Leading generally an active life in the saddle, my business being such as 

would naturally suit me to examine what kind of 

saddle would suit a majority of Horses back the 

Best, with Refference to Ease for the Rider and I 

have no Hesitation in Pronouncing the Hope Saddle 

as manufactured by Messrs Rice & Childress in this 

City superior to any within my Knowledge. 

ROBT S. NEIGHBORS 

Supervising agent 

Texas Indians 

Notes 

1. MERIWETHER LEWIS and WILLIAM CLARK, The 

Journals of Lewis and Clark, edited by Bernard DeVoto 

(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1953), page 210. 

2. ZEBULON M. PIKE, The Journals of Zebulon Montgomery Pike with Letters and Related Documents, 

edited by Donald Jackson (Norman: University of 

Oklahoma Press, 1966), volume 2, pages 86-87. 

3. JOSIAH GREGG, Commerce of the Prairies, edited 

by Max L. Moorhead (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1954), page 150. 

4. GEORGE C. SIBLEY, The Road to Santa Fe; The 

Journal and Diaries of George Champlin Sibley and 

Others Pertaining to the Surveying and Marking of a 

Road from the Missouri Frontier to the Settlements of 

New Mexico, 1825-1827, edited by Kate L. Gregg (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1952), 

page 147. 

5. Thornton Grimsley (1798-1861) was a manufacturer of saddlery and harness in Saint Louis from 1822 

almost continuously up to his death. A master saddler 

and harnessmaker in his own right, he is reported to 

have had from sixty to seventy hands in constant employment by 1848. During the 1830s and for many years 

afterward, a part of the time in partnership with John 

Young, his former apprentice, Grimsley managed, despite growing competition, to fill nearly all the wants 

of the American Fur Company's Western Department 

in the way of horse equipment, including many Spanish 

saddles. His clientele included many, such as Jim 

Bridger, William Bent, and Jedediah Smith, who figure 

large in the history of the American West. Grimsley 

was for long conspicuous in Saint Louis civic, political, 

and military affairs, holding the rank of colonel in the 

Missouri militia. 

6. NATHANIEL J. WYETH, The Correspondence and 

Journals of Captain Nathaniel J. Wyeth, 1831-6; A 

Record of Two Expeditions for the Occupation of the 

Oregon Country, edited by F. G. Young (Eugene, Oregon: University Press, 1899), page 95. 

7. Proceedings of the Military Board, 13 April 1833 

(Record Group 108, records of the Headquarters of the 

Army, National Archives and Records Service, Washington). 

8. JOHN JAMES AUDUBON, Audubon and His Journals, by Maria R. Audubon, with Zoological and Other 
70 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

Notes by Elliott Coues . . . (London: John C. Nimmo, 

1898), volume 1, page 479. 

9. SARAH J. CUMMINS , Autobiography and Reminiscences of Sarah J. Cummins (n. p., n. d.), page 43. 

10. FRANCIS PARKMAN, The Oregon Trail (New 

York: Doubleday & Company, 1948), page 10. 

11. Consolidated Correspondence File, 1794-1890 

(Record Group 92, Records of the Office of the Quartermaste r General, National Archives and Records Service, 

Washington). 

12. The saddle was specified to be "ironed in gullet 

[fork] with plate extending .. . to point of head back 

and front—cantle ironed with strap running from seat 

over the cantle and secured at back of bar. " The stirrup 

leathers were to "buckle a t the stirrup iron (Spanish 

fashion) " and the "surcingle" was to be "put on Spanish fashion.'' 

13. See note 11. 

14. Proceedings of the Military Board, 13 April 

1833 (Record Group 108, Records of the Headquarters 

of the Army, National Archives and Records Service, 

Washington). 

15. Lt. Col. Stephen W. Kearny to Maj. Gen. Alexander Macomb, 4 July 1833 (Record Group 94, Records 

of the Adjutant General's Office, Letters Received, 

National Archives and Records Service, Washingrton). 

16. Capt. David Hunte r to Brig. Gen. Roger Jones, 

20 November 1835 (Record Group 94, Records of the 

Adjutant General's Office, National Archives and Records Service, Washington). 

17. LEWI S H . GARRARD, Wah-to-Yah and the Taos 

Trail; or Prairie Travel and Scalp Dances, with a Look 

at Los Rancheros from Muleback and the Rocky Mountain Campfire (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 

1955), page 179. 

18. Edward L. Gallatin, who had learned the saddler's craft under Thornton Grimsley in Saint Louis, 

was, a t this time, manage r of a Denver saddle manufactory owned by John Landis, of Independence, Missouri. For this saddle Gallatin was paid $350, half of 

which went to cover the cost of the silver and gold 

ornamentation. Soon after this, for presentation to their 

colonel, John M. Chivington (later to become notorious 

for his role in the Sand Creek massacre), the officers 

of the First Colorado Volunteers had Gallatin produce 

a saddle tha t must have made Leavenworth's seem, in 

comparison, but a modest affair. The splendor of the 

saddle made for Chivington may be judged by its price, 

$550. Sad to say, it dropped from sight long ago. 

19. EDWARD L . GALLATIN, "TWO Famous Saddles" 

(manuscripts, VI, 117, The Stat e Historical Society of 

Colorado, Denver). 

20. SAMUEL WARD, Sam Ward in the Gold Rush, 

edited by Carvel Collins (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1949), page 66. 

21. WALTER PRESCOTT WEBB, The Texas Rangers: 

A Century of Frontier Defense (Boston, New York: 

Houghton Mifflin Company, 1935), page 82. 

22. FERDINAND ROEMER, Texas with Particular Reference to German Immigration and the Physical Appearance of the Country; Described through Personal 

Observation by Dr. Ferdinand Roemer, translated by 

Oswald Mueller (San Antonio: Standard Printing 

Company, 1935), page 56. 

23. Perhaps the "Turk's lantern " is the same as the 

"Turkish lantern" referred to by Burton's English contemporary, Lt. Col. A.J.L. Fremantle , in his diary of 

a three-month sojourn in the southern United States. 

He defiines it as " a lantern for a candle, made of white 

linen and wire, which collapses when not in use. They 

ar e always used in the streets of Constantinople." Fre -

mantle had one of these with him in San Antonio, 

where it was admired greatly. (ARTHU R JAME S LYON 

FREMANTLE, The Fremantle Diary: Being the Journal 

of Lieutenant Colonel . . . Fremantle, Coldstream 

Guards, on His Three Months in the Southern States, 

edited by Walte r Lord (New York: Capricorn Books, 

1960), page 26.) 

24. RICHARD F . BURTON, The City of the Saints and 

Across the Rocky Mountains to California (London: 

Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1861), pages 

31-33. 

25. As procured by agencies of the Wa r Department for issue to mounted troops, the McClellan saddle 

was, from beginning to end, without seat padding. During the Civil Wa r seat padding in various forms, sometimes elaborate, was present on McClellan saddles tha t 

private makers got up for sale to individual officers. 

26. Capt. Thomas A. Stombs to Commanding Officer, 

Fort Bowie, dated Camp Mimbres, 11 July 1864 (Record 

Group 98, Records of United States Army Commands, 

National Archives and Records Service, Washington). 

27. FREMANTLE, op. cit., pages 9, 19 (see note 23). 

28. Record Group 92 (Records of the Office of the 

Quartermaste r General), National Archives and Records Service, Washington. 

29. Ibid. 

30. Record Group 156 (Records of the Office of the 

Chief of Ordnance, United States Army), National 

Archives and Records Service, Washing^ton. 

Selected References 

AHLBORN, RICHARD E . "European Dress in Texas, 

1830: As Rendered by Lino Sanchez y Tapia. " American Scene, volume 13, number 4 (1972), pages 1-20. 

AMERICAN FU R COMPANY, WESTERN DEPARTMENT, papers. Missouri Historical Society, Saint Louis. 

ASHLEY, WILLIAM H . The West of William H. Ashley; 

The Internal Struggle for the Fur Trade of the 

Missouri, the Rocky Mountains and the Columbia, 

with Explorations Beyond the Continental Divide, 

Recorded in the Diaries and Letters of William H. 
NUMBER 39 71 

Ashley and His Contemporaries. Edited by Dale L. 

Morgan. Denver: Old West Publishing Company, 

1964. 

AUDUBON, JOHN WOODHOUSE. The Drawings of John 

Woodhouse Audubon, Illustrating His Adventures 

through Mexico and California, 18^9-1850. Edited 

by Carl S. Dentzel. San Francisco: Book Club of 

California, 1957. 

FREMONT, JOHN C. The Expeditions of John Charles 

Fremont. Volume 1. Edited by Donald Jackson and 

Mary Lee Spence. Urbana: University of Illinois 

Press, 1970. 

GRUBAR, FRANCIS S. William Ranney, Painter of the 

Ea/rly West. Washington: The Corcoran Gallery of 

Art, 1962. 

HALEY, J. EVETTS. "Texian Saddles." The Cattleman 

(June 1938), pages 13-14, 16-18. 

HUTCHINS, JAMES S. "The United States Cavalry Saddle, McClellan Pattern, Model 1857, in T0jhusmuseet, 

Copenhagen." Vaabenhistoriske Aarb0ger (Copenhagen), volume 16 (1970), pages 145-162. 

JOHNSON, ADAM R. The Partisan Rangers of the Confederate States Army. Edited by William J. Davis. 

Louisville: G. G. Fetter Company, 1904. 

KURZ, RUDOLPH FRIEDRICH. "Journal of Rudolph Friedrich Kurz: An Account of His Experiences among 

Fur Traders and American Indians on the Mississippi 

and the Upper Missouri Rivers during the Years 1846 

to 1852." Translated by Myrtis Jarrell. Edited by 

J.N.B. Hewitt. (Bureau of American Ethnology 

Bulletin, 115.) Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 

1937. 

MCMECHEN, EDGAR C. "The Gallatin Saddle." The 

Colorado Magazine, volume 21, number 2 (March 

1944), pages 56-58. 

MILLER, ALFRED JACOB. The West of Alfred Jacob 

Miller (1837) from the Notes and Water Colors in 

the Walters Art Gallery, with an Account of the 

Artist by Marvin C. Ross. Norman: University of 

Oklahoma Press, 1951. 

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ORDNANCE, records. Record 

Group 156, National Archives and Records Service, 

Washington. 

WOODWARD, ARTHUR. "La Mochila, A Saddle Trapping 

of the Old West." Los Angeles County Museum Quarterly, volume 7, number 4 (autumn 1949), pages 1-17. 

. "The Evolution of the Cowboy's Chaps." 

Los Angeles County Museum Quarterly, volume 8, 

numbers 3-4 (spring 1951), pages 9-17. 

'Saddles in the New World." Los Angeles 

County Museum Quarterly, volume 10, number 2 

(summer 1955), pages 1-5. 
Saddles of the Plains Indians 

John C. Ewers 

Cavalry officers who served in the American 

West during the mid-nineteenth century praised 

the Plains Indians as "the most expert horsemen" and "the best light cavalry in the w^orld." 

Such judgments seem the more remarkable 

when we consider that these Indians, who lived 

in the open grasslands between the Mississippi 

River and the Rocky Mountains, had no long 

tradition of horsemanship. None of their ancestors had seen a man on horseback before Coronado's conquistadors explored the vast interior 

grasslands in 1541. These Spaniards observed 

that the nomadic Indians hunted the huge wild 

cattle (buffalo) on foot and moved their tipis 

and meagre personal possessions with only dogs 

to help bear their burdens. 

A century passed before any of the more than 

thirty tribes we know as Plains Indians began 

to acquire horses. Throughout the remainder of 

the colonial period horses were diffused northward from tribe to tribe from the Spanish 

Southwest, primarily through intertribal trade. 

The Sioux were known to French fur traders 

and missionaries as pedestrian warriors during 

the 1680s; more than a half century elapsed 

before this tribe obtained horses. The Cree and 

Assiniboine on the northeastern plains did not 

acquire horses much before 1750. 

Yet by 1803, when the United States purchased Louisiana—that vast region between the 

Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains— 

all of the plains tribes were horsemen. They 

hunted buffalo and rode to war astride welltrained mounts; they used less valuable horses 

for pack animals. Nineteenth-century white observers marveled at their skill in killing buffalo 

John C. Ewers, Department of Anthropology, National 

Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 

Washington, D.C. 20560. 

from horseback with bows and arrows, and at 

their will-of-the-wisp mobility as mounted warriors (Figure 49). Horses were individually 

owned property among these Indians. Men 

counted their wealth in horses, some owning 

several hundred head. They increased their 

holdings by breeding, trading, and raiding the 

herds of enemy tribes. Wealthy Indians, among 

them many chiefs, enhanced their social and 

political prestige by loaning or giving horses 

to the poor. Horses became standards of value, 

and Indians became expert judges of horses. 

They were, in fact, horse traders, with all of 

the keen bargaining abilities that term implies. 

If any horse under 14.2 hands high at the 

withers is a pony, then the typical Indian's 

horse of nineteenth-century buffalo days was a 

pony. Capt. W. P. Clark, a cavalry officer stationed at various posts of the western frontier, 

was of the opinion that through hard usage, 

close inbreeding, and change in climate the Indian pony had become somewhat reduced in size 

from that of its Barb ancestors in North 

Africa.^ These animals exhibited a wide range 

of solid and mixed colors. They were not beautiful, but they were tough, sturdy, long-winded 

horses, possessing great powers of endurance. 

Colonel de Trobriand, in 1867, was impressed 

by the superiority of the grass-fed Indian pony 

over the horses used by the United States Army 

on the Great Plains. He found that "the movement of Indian horsemen is lighter, swifter and 

longer range than that of our cavalry, which 

means that they always get away from us." ^ 

Even though their horses were of Spanish 

origin, the Indians were not content merely to 

adapt Spanish equestrian usages to their own 

needs. Although some of the commands they 

used in starting and stopping their mounts may 

72 
FIGURE 49.—"The Buffalo Hunt," by Charles F. Wimar. In this lively painting of the 

dramatic action in a buffalo chase, the bowman in the left foreground is pictured 

astride a pad saddle decorated with quilled rosettes. Although the German-American 

artist executed this scene in 1860, it appears to have been based upon field observations 

and sketches made during his travels up the Missouri River during the preceding 

decade. 

have been of Spanish origin, the Indians 

mounted their horses from the off (right) side, 

which seemed most natural to them, and Indian 

women always rode astride. The Indians also 

showed their ingenuity in making three distinct 

types of saddles from materials readily available to them in their own territory: animal 

hides, hair, wood, and antler. All types could be 

constructed without the use of metal or adhesives. 

Indians could and did ride bareback, but it is 

doubtful if many of them did so for long distances if they owned saddles. Some of the elderly Blackfoot veterans of intertribal horse raiding told me of the painful chafing and discomfort they had experienced while riding captured 

horses rapidly over rough ground while making 

hasty get-aways from enemy camps. They said 

that some raiders minimized this discomfort by 

throwing over the horse's back a single thickness of buffalo hide, hair side down, which was 

held in place by skin straps pendant from each 

side and tied under the horse's belly. Even this 

makeshift substitute for a saddle was better 

than none at all. 

Saddlemaking was women's work, although 

not all women made saddles. Some older women 

who were skilled at this craft made saddles for 

trade or gifts to other Indians as well as for use 

by members of their own families. They preferred to make frame saddles in warmer weather because of the inconvenience of working wet 

rawhide in the cold. To an extent, saddles were 

tailor-made—larger for persons of heavy build, 

and smaller than average for children. Because 

saddles were valuable property they were kept 

inside the owner's lodge when not in use. If a 

man had several wives, it was the duty of one 

of them to look after the family's horse gear. 

Probably the oldest of the three major types 

of Plains Indian saddles was a soft skin pillow, 

stuffed with animal hair. This "pad saddle," as 
FIGURE 50.—Rudolph Friederich Kurz, a Swiss artist, drew this pen-and-ink sketch 

of a saddled Blackfoot Indian pony at or near the trading post of Fort Union at the 

mouth of the Yellowstone River during the winter of 1851-1852. A hide saddle cloth 

underlines the pad saddle, which is decorated with small rosettes and a transverse 

piece of hide or cloth. The stirrup straps are adjustable in length. The two-reined 

bridle is a single length of rawhide looped about the pony's jaw. 

the Indians knew it, may have been adapted 

from the Spanish pack saddle, such as was described by a contemporary observer in Sonora 

during the mid-eighteenth century as two 

cushions of tanned cowhide, four cornered and 

stuffed with hay, and attached to one another 

in the middle. [Here "Spanish packsaddle" refers to the padded leather device used on the 

northern border of Mexico, where it is still 

known as el cojinillo, rather than to the more 

familiar double-saltire form. R.E.A.] Clark 

Wissler has suggested that the pad saddle may 

have been diffused northward among the Indians along with the horse.^ A Hudson's Bay 

Company trader may have had it in mind when 

he wrote laconically of the riding gear used by 

Indian buffalo hunters in the Saskatchewan 

Valley in 1754: 'They have . . . Buffalo skin 

pads, and stirrups of the same." ^ Certainly it 

was well described by a trader who saw it in 

use among the Blackfoot, Assiniboine, and Cree 

north of the 49th parallel prior to 1809.^ Many 

examples of Indian pad saddles are preserved 

in museums in this country and abroad, but it 

is doubtful if any antedate the period 1800-

1830. 

To make a pad saddle (Figures 71, 72), two 

pieces of soft-tanned buffalo, deer, elk, or antelope skin were cut with a knife to the same size 

in a roughly hourglass shape. A man might cut 

the pattern, but he turned the skins over to a 

woman to assemble into the saddle. After placing one skin on top of the other so that their 

edges were in contact, she sewed the skins together with soft skin or rawhide cord in two 

nearly parallel lines extending lengthwise of 

the center. She then began to sew the edges of 

the top and bottom skins together with sinew 

thread, leaving sufficient openings at each side 

for stuffing the saddle before completely closing 

the edges. Buffalo or deer hair was preferred 

for stuffing material, although some women 

used grass. 

The girth—most commonly a rawhide strap 

two to four fingers wide (Indians employed the 

finger width as a common unit of measure-
FIGURE 51.—^"Sioux Warrior Charging," by Peter Rindisbacher. A lithographic reproduction of this watercolor by a young Swiss artist appeared in The American Turf 

Register and Sporting Magazine for October 1829. It may be the earliest portrayal of 

a pad saddle ridden by an Indian warrior. The pad is decorated with a large rosette 

of porcupine quills. A saddle cloth, probably of buffalo hide with the hair side out, 

underlies the pad, which is held in place by a leather girth and fringed crupper. The 

warrior rides with his feet in stirrups, and is armed with a lance, bow and arrow, 

and a knife. 

ment)—was suspended from U-shaped tabs 

sewn to the center of each side of the saddle. 

This strap was doubled over the tab on the left 

side and sewn with sinew, passed under the 

barrel of the horse, and secured to the tab on 

the right side of the saddle with a rawhide 

latigo strap. Horses were customarily saddled 

as well as mounted from the right side by the 

Plains Indians. 

Many pad saddles were furnished with a 

rectangular piece of rawhide four or more 

inches wide, transverse across the top of the 

center of the saddle and sewn to the skin base. 

This piece hung down at the sides and concealed 

the girth tabs. In some cases the stirrups were 

hung from holes near the ends of these rawhide 

pieces. In other cases an additional pair of tabs 

were sewn to the saddle forward of the center 

for hanging the rawhide stirrup straps and 

stirrups of bent wood. 

Fully rigged, with girth and stirrups, the pad 

saddle might weigh no more than three pounds. 

It provided a light, resilient seat for an active 

young man to use in hunting buffalo, riding to 

war, or racing horses. A number of white artists 

who had opportunities to observe the Plains 

Indians in their own country before the end of 

buffalo days pictured men riding pad saddles. 

Peter Rindisbacher's "Sioux Warrior Charging," published as early as 1829 (Figure 51), 

may be the earliest depiction of this saddle in 

use. Probably the best portrayal of the use of 

the pad saddle by a mounted buffalo hunter 

appears in Charles Wimar's painting (Figure 
76 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 52.—Construction of a woman's saddle: a, the wooden pommel and cantle are 

fastened to the cottonwood sideboards by rawhide cords passed through holes burned 

in all three pieces with a hot iron rod; 6, the entire saddle is then covered with wet 

rawhide, which is fitted, cut, and sewn in place; as the rawhide dries it shrinks and 

helps to hold the saddle firmly together. 

49) in the collections of Washington University 

in Saint Louis. The forms and decorations of 

these saddles and the way they looked upon a 

riderless horse were clearly pictured in 1851 

by the Swiss artist Rudolph Freiderich Kurz, 

who carefully sketched Crow and Blackfoot 

horses while he was at Fort Union, near the 

mouth of the Yellowstone River (Figure 50). 

Many of the pad saddles of the tribes from 

the northern plains collected before 1860 are 

handsomely decorated with rosettes and other 

geometric designs in porcupine quillwork near 

the four corners of the pads. Later examples of 

pad saddles are decorated with beadwork, some 

of them in intricate floral designs. 

My elderly Blackfoot informants told me that 

during their young manhood they preferred 

using pad saddles to riding bareback while 

chasing buffalo. With their feet in stirrups they 

could move their bodies more freely and securely than they could when riding without 

saddles. A white missionary who accompanied 

one of the last large Sioux buffalo-hunting parties in 1881 noted that many of the Indian 

hunters rode pad saddles.^ But after the buffalo 

were gone the white men's heavier stock saddles rapidly replaced the pad saddles among the 

Indians. 

The typical woman's saddle among the Plains 

Indians, the second major type evidenced by 

them, was composed of a wooden frame covered 

with rawhide (Figures 73, 74). It was known 

to the Blackfoot simply as "wood saddle." Alexander Henry saw this saddle among the tribes 

of the Saskatchewan Valley prior to 1809. He 

described it as "made of wood well joined, and 

covered with rawhide, which in drying binds 

every part tight. This frame rises about ten 

inches before and behind; the tops are bent 

over horizontally and spread out, forming a flat 

piece about six inches in diameter." "^ 

To make one of these saddles a woman split 

a green cottonwood log and trimmed to equal 

length two pieces about one-half inch thick, 16 

to 20 inches long, and three or four inches wide. 

These pieces formed the sideboards. Two forks 

of green cottonwood were carefully selected for 

pommel and cantle. Care was taken that they 

should be nearly the same size and that both 

prongs of each fork should be of equal thickness. The top of each fork was bent and 

trimmed with a knife to a flat disk-shaped ex-
NUMBER 39 77 

FIGURE 53.—The Swiss artist Rudolph Friederich Kurz had a penchant for juxtaposing idealized female nudes with precise drawings of the details of Indian-made 

objects. The young woman in this 1850 sketch may have been the Iowa girl who 

became his wife. The clearly defined saddle on the horse behind her rests upon a hairy 

animal hide and is held in place by rawhide girthing and a strong, hide crupper tied 

to the cantle and passing under the horse's tail. The high pommel of the saddle is 

bent forward and flattened at the top and is fitted with a wooden pin. 
78 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

tension almost at a right angle to the prongs, 

which were rounded at the ends. With a red-hot 

iron rod, a small hole was burned in the front 

of the piece that was to form the pommel just 

above the junction of the prongs. A straight 

wooden spike was then tightly fitted into the 

hole. Two holes were burned in the lower portions of each prong to match holes burned near 

the ends of the sideboards. The pommel and 

cantle were tied to the sideboards by buckskin 

thongs passed through the holes. This completed construction of the saddle frame. 

Buffalo rawhide used for covering this frame 

was first soaked in a pond or stream for several 

days until it became green and foul smelling. 

Then it was stretched on the ground hair side 

up, boiling water was thrown upon it, and the 

hair was taken off with a rock. The maker then 

turned the hide over and scraped the flesh from 

the underside of the hide with a metal-bladed 

tool such as she used in dressing buffalo hides 

for other uses. The hair side was not scraped, 

as that would make the hide too thin. After 

being stretched tightly over the saddle frame, 

the hide was fitted, cut, and finally sewn with 

a rawhide cord. The stitches were made on the 

underside of the sideboards where they would 

not be seen when the saddle was in use. 

Great care had to be taken that the saddle 

did not warp as the tough rawhide cover dried 

and shrunk. Some saddlemakers pegged the 

saddles to the ground during the drying process. 

Others tied a newly sewn saddle over a log 

about the size of a horse's back until the raw 

hide dried. Still others rolled an old tipi cover 

tightly and forced it between the sideboards, 

then bound saddle and lodge cover together 

tightly with a cord, leaving this cord secured 

until the rawhide saddle covering dried thoroughly. 

After the saddle cover dried, two more holes 

were burned near each end of both sideboards 

for tying on grass-stuffed skin pads, which ran 

parallel to and underneath the sideboards, and 

the rawhide rigging straps, which were attached to the outside of the sideboards. The 

rigging straps on the left side led to and looped 

around the cinch ring. This ring was originally 

of rawhide; however, Indians preferred metal 

rings when they could get them. The cinch band 

was about four fingers wide or wider. One end 

FIGURE 54.—Detail from "Indian Warrior and His 

Squaw," by Alfred Jacob Miller. The Baltimore artist 

based this watercolor upon his field observations in the 

Wyoming country in 1837. It portrays the elaborate 

horse trappings of the wife of a wealthy Crow or 

Shoshoni leader. Doubtless Miller has exaggerated the 

height of the horns of her woman's saddle, which is 

held in place by long-fringed crupper and breast band, 

as well as by its girth. The red trade blanket around 

her waist provides an additional cushion for the rider. 

was doubled and tied around the cinch ring on 

the left side. On the right side a rawhide latigo 

strap was attached to the ring suspended from 

the rigging straps. The horse was saddled from 

the right side, the cinch being fastened to the 

latigo strap, usually by tying. 

Some women's saddles also were furnished 

with a rawhide strip that served as a seat. One 

end had a hole punched in it that was passed 

over the pin at the front of the pommel; the 

other end was attached at the back of the cantle 

by a wooden pin passed through a loop in the 

rawhide strip. Some women's saddles, however, 

lacked these suspended seats. They were not 
NUMBER 39 79 

FIGURE 55.—A tipi transported by horse power: the 

skin cover of the lodge is carefully folded and tied on 

top of the saddle; the foundation poles are divided into 

two groups of equal weight and securely tied, one on 

each side of the horse, by passing a rawhide line 

through holes bored in each pole near its top end, 

around the group of poles, under the belly of the horse, 

and over the top of the center of the load. As depicted 

here, a woman's saddle sometimes was used for this 

purpose instead of a packsaddle. 

considered essential because women commonly 

placed a folded buffalo robe over the saddle and 

rode upon it. 

There were regional variations in the forms 

of the pommels and cantles of women's saddles. 

The large disk-shaped projections were most 

characteristic of the women's saddles of the 

northern plains and of the horse-wealthy tribes 

of the (Columbia Valley, such as the Cayuse and 

Nez Perce. Women's saddles among the Comanche and Kiowa of the southern plains, however, had pommels and cantles that simply 

curved outward near the tops and were concave 

in section. 

Women loved to decorate their saddles. Some 

were painted and ornamented with rows of 

round-headed brass tacks. Many women's saddles from the northern tribes had long triangular flaps pendant from the disks of both 

pommel and cantle, which were colorfully decorated in geometric designs in beadwork (Figure 73). Many of the most elaborate saddles 

were made by the Crow Indians of the Yellowstone Valley, a tribe rich in horses, whose women were skilled craftworkers. Some saddles 

were equipped with long wooden stirrups in 

which the entire ball of the foot rested. The 

stirrups were covered with trade cloth and 

decorated with beadwork. The more common 

Plains Indian stirrup was but a narrow strip 

of green cottonwood or poplar bent to shape 

and covered with buffalo rawhide or the scrotum of the buffalo bull. 

Saddle blankets were placed under all types 

of saddles to prevent the saddles from chafing 

the horses' backs. These blankets were originally of buffalo hide and were probably undecorated. But during the latter half of the nineteenth century canvas blankets richly bordered 

in beadwork were occasionally made, especially 

by the Crow and Sioux. Breast bands and cruppers had both practical and ostentatious value 

for Indian women. They kept saddles from 

sliding forward or backward and furnished 

additional surfaces for decoration. During the 

late nineteenth century, beaded cloth cruppers 

replaced painted rawhide ones. Crow women 

made an elaborately beaded breast band. It 

must have been a striking sight to see a party 

of wealthy Crow Indians on a visit to a trading 

post or to a neighboring tribe with their horses 

gayly bedecked with brightly colored trappings. 

The high horns of women's saddles made it 

impossible for them to mount their horses by 

swinging one leg over the cantle. A woman 

placed one foot in a stirrup and thrust the 

other leg through the opening between the 

horns. This, in turn, influenced clothing design, 

for to mount and to ride astride a woman needed a dress that was very full in the skirt. Pregnant riders wore adjustable belts as supports 

for the abdomen. 

Women's saddles sometimes were used instead of a packsaddle for transporting a tipi. 

These saddles served another purpose in teaching children to ride at a tender age (Figure 56). 

Securely tied between the horns of a woman's 

saddle on a gentle horse, the small child received his or her first lessons in riding alone 

while being led around camp by an adult astride 

another horse. By the time children were six 

or seven years old they were good riders— 

bareback or in saddles. A small boy might tie 

a short rawhide rope to his horse's mane to aid 

him in climbing onto his horse's back. Girls and 
80 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 56.—This drawing by a Blackfoot Indian artist shows how the people of his 

tribe gave their first instruction to a small child learning to ride alone some 100 or 

more years ago. The child is tied into a high-horned woman's saddle on a gentle horse, 

and can hold on to the pommel to steady himself. The horse is led slowly around the 

camp by a man on another horse. 

women, like boys and men, became expert in 

riding and managing horses. White artists who 

knew Plains Indians at first hand before 1850 

pictured women chasing buffalo, lassoing wild 

horses, and even charging the enemy on horseback. There are accounts of several women who 

were active participants in, even leaders of, 

war parties. 

Some artists exaggerated the height and 

curves of the horns of women's saddles, as did 

Alfred Jacob Miller, who saw Crow and Shoshoni women at and near the annual rendevouz 

of the mountain trappers in present-day Wyoming during the summer of 1837. Even later 

artists did not always seem to understand that 

the high-horned wood saddle was a woman's 

saddle among the Plains Indians. Such famous 

pictorial interpreters of earlier Indian life as 

Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell 

sometimes pictured male warriers using women's saddles. Doubtless they had examples of 

women's saddles in their studio collections, and 

thought of them as the Indian type of saddle. 

William R. Leigh's dramatic painting of the 

Custer battle (Figure 58) is flawed by the 

rendering of feathered and breechclouted warriors astride and falling from high-homed 

women's saddles.* 

A third type of Indian saddle employed by 

Indians of the plains appears to have been a 

modification of the woman's saddle. It may not 

have come into common use until the middle 

decades of the nineteenth century. George Bird 

Grinnell, famed writer on the Cheyenne Indians, considered the framed saddle with lowarched horn, pommel and cantle a comparatively 
NUMBER 39 81 

FIGURE 57.—"The Smoke Signal," by Frederic Remington. In this 1905 oil painting, 

by the renowned western artist, a woman's saddle is shown on a riderless horse presumably the mount of one of the two men on the ground. This was a not uncommon 

error in the works of some very able painters of the western scene who sought to 

picture Indian life in an indefinite but presumably earlier past than the period of 

their own first-hand observation. 

modern invention of the Kiowa.^ If so, the type 

appears to have spread rapidly to other plains 

tribes. Its sideboards and girthing were like 

those of the woman's saddle. The Blackfoot 

referred to this type as a "prairie chicken snare 

saddle." 

In making this saddle (Figures 76, 77) a 

woman softened two sections of antler from 

fresh-killed elk or blacktail deer in warm water 

to rend them pliable. The sections were then 

bent and cut to the desired shape, one for the 

pommel and the other for the cantle. Some 

women burned holes near each end of the section of antler for tying it to the wooden sideboards; others made two horizontal grooves 

and passed the tie strings through these grooves 

and holes burned in the sideboards. The saddle 

was then covered with green rawhide and protected from warping while the rawhide was 

drying by the same methods used in making 

all-wood saddles. 

This type served both as a riding and a pack 

saddle. It was the nearest approach to an 

Indian-made all-purpose saddle known to the 

plains tribes. After a buffalo hunt, butchered 

animals were packed on it. It served as a pack 

animal's saddle in moving camp. Some people 

sewed D-shaped rawhide flaps to the centers of 

the pommel and cantle. They punched holes in 

these flaps, and after the load was in place, 

passed a rawhide line back and forth over the 

pack and through these holes, then tied it to 

keep the load securely in place. Older men, children, and some women used this type as a 
FIGURE 58.—"Custer's Last Fight," by William R. Leigh. In this lively painting, an 

interesting reconstruction of the historic 1876 conflict by a twentieth-century artist, 

the Indian warriors are shown riding women's saddles, and the saddle on the riderless 

horse at the right is depicted as being fitted with a pommel pin at the rear of the 

cantle as well. 

riding saddle. Young men preferred it for long 

journeys. It could be made more quickly than 

either the pad or wood saddle and it was less 

expensive in trade. These factors encouraged 

its wide use in the waning decades of buffalo 

days among the horse-using tribes of the Great 

Plains and Rockies. 

Women were skilled workers in rawhide, and 

consequently made the majority of bridles as 

well as the saddles used by the plains tribes in 

buffalo days. Some were a single length of rawhide, others braided of three strands. The single, continuous piece of rawhide was cut from 

a buffalo hide. Simply looped about the horse's 

lower jaw in two half hitches, it provided a 

two-reined bridle for the control of the horse. 

Horse raiders carried one or more of these 

bridles in their packs when they journeyed on 

foot to capture horses from enemy camps. 

Ingenious as were the Plains Indians in making saddles from materials available to them 

in their homeland, they recognized that white 

men's saddles were superior to their own: 

stronger, better fitted to the backs of horses, 

and more comfortable seats for riding. A few 

Spanish saddles reached the tribes of the northern plains even before 1800.^" In nineteenthcentury buffalo days Indians obtained more 

white men's saddles through capture, trade, and 

FIGURE 59.—"Comanche Chief," by Theodore Gentilz. 

In this oil painting, executed in Texas about 1850, a 

chief of the large, most aggressive Indian tribe of the 

southern plains is pictured riding a horned saddle, 

which more closely resembles those used by Spanish 

and Mexicans in Texas than the saddles ridden by 

Indians of tribes farther north at that time. 
NUMBER 39 83 
84 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

as part of their annuity payments after they 

made treaties with the United States. In 1856 

the trader Edwin T. Denig at Fort Union wrote, 

"the Blackfoot and Crow . . . will pay well for 

a good saddle." ^^ Two years later the Blackfoot 

requested strong saddles (at least enough for 

their chiefs) to be included in the annuities due 

them in their first treaty with the United States 

in 1855.12 In 1877 Lt. Hugh L. Scott observed 

that some of the Crow Indians on the Yellowstone were riding saddles made by Main & 

Winchester of California.^^ 

After the buffalo were exterminated and the 

Indians settled upon reservations, Indian saddlemaking tended to become a lost art. Indians 

rode commercial stock saddles; they even 

mounted them from the left side, as did whites. 

Even so some Indians preserved the picturesque 

high-horned women's saddles as family heirlooms. Women rode them in Fourth of July 

parades, during Indian fairs, and in Indian 

portions of such large expositions as the Calgary Stampede. On these occasions buckskinclad Indian women and their feather-bonneted 

menfolk sought to recreate the romance and the 

color of the Old West. 

Notes 

1. WILLIAM PHIL O CLARK, The Indian Sign Language (Philadelphia, 1885), page 306. 

2. PHILIPP E REGIS DE TROBRIAND, Military Life in 

Dakota (St. Paul, 1951), page 64. 

3. CLARK WISSLER, "Riding Gear of the North 

American Indians " (American Museum of Natural 

History, Anthropological Papers, volume 17, part 1, 

New York, 1915), page 36. 

4. ANTHON Y HENDRY, "York Factory to the Blackfeet Country: The Journa l of Anthony Hendry, 1754-

55," edited by Lawrence J. Burpee (Transactions of 

the Royal Society of Canada, series 3, volume 1, section 

2, Toronto, 1907), page 338. 

5. ALEXANDER HENRY and DAVID THOMPSON, New 

Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest, 

edited by Elliott Coues (New York, 1897), volume 2, 

pages 526-527. 

6. THOMAS L . RIGGS, "Sunset to Sunset " (South 

Dakota Historical Collections, volume 29, 1958), page 

233. 

7. HENRY and THOMPSON, op. cit., page 527. 

8. The judgments of misrepresentation detailed in 

this paragrap h ar e based on documented artifacts in 

museum collections, on the oral testimony of old Indian 

informants, and sketches made in the field by serious 

observers. 

9. GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL, The Cheyenne Indians 

(New Haven, 1923), volume 1, page 207. 

10. DAVID THOMPSON, "David Thompson's Narra -

tive of his Explorations in Western America, 1784-

1812," edited by J, B. Tyrrell (Champlain Society 

Publication, number 12, Toronto, 1916), page 371. 

11. EDWI N T , DENIG, Five Indian Tribes of the 

Upper Missouri, edited by John C. Ewers (Norman, 

Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961), page 

95. 

12. COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, Annual Report, 1858, page 438. 

13. HUG H LENNOX SCOTT, Some Memories of a 

Soldier (New York, 1928), page 57. 
Description of Saddlery 

in the Renv\^ick Exhibition 

Ann Nelson 

Terminology used herein in descriptions of 

saddle parts has been standardized, with full 

recognition that the saddles represent three 

vast and non-exclusive cultural complexes: the 

Hispano-American, the Anglo-American, and 

the American Indian. Figures 83 and 84 present 

pictorial identification of these terms and the 

glossary defines them. In this catalogue the 

term "rosette" denotes a circular device with 

or without ties; when the rosette is a metal 

piece, the term "concha" is used. "Metallicthread embroidery" refers to the employment 

of a thin tape or wire of silver or other metal 

alloy wrapped around silk thread. When referring to saddles of the Plains Indians the terms 

"left" and "right" are used in place of "on-side" 

and "off-side," the designations employed with 

all other described saddles. This is occasioned 

by the fact that Plains Indians customarily 

mounted from the horse's right side. Measurements (expressed to the nearest 0.5 cm) have 

been defined as follows: 

length (L) : from the foremost point of the pommel to 

the top of the arc of the cantle 

width (W) : the cantle at its widest point 

depth (D): from the highest point of the pommel, often 

the horn, to the base of the skirts, or if skirts are 

lacking, to the base of the tree 

horn height (HH) : the distance from the top front of 

the pommel to the highest point of the horn 

Two Smithsonian laboratories prepared reports on the artifacts in the Renwick exhibition. 

The six Indian saddles and associated horse 

gear, all from the Department of Anthropology 

Ann Nelson, Utah Museum of Natural History, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112. 

in the National Museum of Natural History 

(NMNH), were successfully treated by Bethune M. Gibson, supervisor of the Anthropology 

Conservation Laboratory (ACL). The ACL reports on all of these items are identified by the 

artifact's NMNH catalogue number, given here 

with the item's description, and are preserved 

by the Department of Anthropology. 

The 11 remaining saddles, Mexican and western in origin, were referred to the Smithsonian's Conservation Analytical Laboratory 

(CAL). Seven of these saddles were borrowed 

from outside the Institution and four from 

divisions in the National Museum of History 

and Technology (NMHT). Each saddle was 

subjected to laboratory procedures. It was carefully studied and its condition recorded. Basic 

cleaning and preservation was then carried out 

and recorded. The reports generated by these 

procedures were given CAL report numbers, 

which appear here with the saddle descriptions. 

It should be noted that the cleaning and preservation treatment applied to individual artifacts was the result of first-hand study and 

professional judgment; there is no "formula" 

treatment for saddles in general. The Institution cannot be held liable for the results of any 

application by other parties of the procedures 

and materials described in the laboratory reports. Some procedures extend into scientific 

processes not previously reported for the examination of saddles. Radiograms and stereo-xrays of the saddle from Toluca, Mexico, suggest 

the usefulness of those procedures in structural 

analysis. The joining of parts and the placement of nails reveal not only the craftsmanship 

of the individual saddler but also his attitude 

85 
86 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

toward "hidden" construction versus surface 

finish. 

LIST OF DESCRIPTIONS : 

1. Mexican Saddle (owned by Barbabosa family) 

2. California Saddle (made for Forster) 

3. Mexican Saddle (awarded to Harney) 

4. Mexican Presentation Saddle (for Sheridan) 

5. Charro Saddle (by Rodriguez) 

6. Charro Saddletree (by Gonzales) 

7. Vaquero Saddle (acquired by Bourke) 

8. Hybrid Saddle (from Missouri River region) 

9. Stock Saddle (by Meanea) 

10. Anglo Presentation Saddle (by Gallatin) 

11. Western Sidesaddle 

12. Sioux Pad Saddle for a Man 

13. Sioux Pad Saddle for a Boy 

14. Crow Saddle for a Woman 

15. Cheyenne Saddle for a Child 

16. Indian Presentation Saddle (for Whipple) 

17. Sioux Packsaddle 

18. Cheyenne Saddle Forks 

19. Sioux Stirrup 

20. Crow Stirrups 

21. Crow Crupper 

22. Cheyenne Rope 

23. Sioux Quirt 

1. Mexican Saddle 

FIGURES 18, 60 

DATE.—Tree, about 1800(?) ; housing, about 

1825 to 1850. 

ORIGIN.—Mexico. 

MAKER.—Unidentified. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

copper and silver alloys, iron, animal hair, natural fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 47 cm (I8I/2") ; W, 36 cm 

(14") ; D, 52 cm (201/2") ; HH, 12 cm (4%"). 

LENDER.—El Museo de la Charreria, Toluca, 

Estado de Mexico, Mexico. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS.—Renwick Loan, TL. 

20.1974.22; CAL Reports, 1789, 2562. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is partially 

covered with stitched rawhide, the horned pommel with stitched fine-grained black leather, 

and the cantle with coarse-grained black leather. The pommel is covered with a black leather 

piece adorned with embroidered silver florets 

and stamped grid design that functions as part 

of the forward rigging (las reatas). The upper 

housing consists of three pieces stitched together: a quilted seat-cover of black leather 

with forward extensions shaped to close around 

the base of the horn; and two rear pieces (each 

with a small jockey) joined behind the cantle. 

Silver-thread embroidery runs behind the cantle, across the forward extensions of the seat 

cover, and around the jockeys. The square 

skirts are carved and embroidered in floral 

patterns, lined with fine-grained black leather, 

and laced together behind the cantle. Two rosettes with ties flank each jockey and two appear on each side behind the cantle (on-side 

ones missing). Two rosettes and ties are indicated for each pommel shoulder (some are missing). 

The single forward rigging consists of replacement latigos (pierced for cinch buckles) 

and leather-covered latigo rings that hang from 

wide rigging straps, which are adorned with 

silver- and brass-thread embroidery and are 

attached to the pommel cover and behind the 

cantle by a strap (la contrareata). The cinch is 

missing. 

Replacement stirrup straps are threaded 

through rectangular cuts in the tree under the 

jockeys and buckled (Figure 60/). Stirrup 

leather buckles have a ferrous body plated with 

nickel. Holding the top of each fender to a loop 

through which the replaced stirrup strap 

passes are two-pronged fasteners of the same 

metals (Figure 60/). The carved black leather 

fenders, embroidered with silver thread, are 

attached at the bottom to the straps by replaced 

loops (Figure 60h). The wooden stirrups, 

covered with fine-grained red leather, hang by 

round wooden bars. Stamped and carved black 

leather stirrup covers are bordered with silverthread embroidery in the same floral design used 

on the fenders (Figure 60a,h,i). Replacement 

rosettes on the stirrup covers anchor hide ties. 

The animal fur (goat?) ornament is lined 

with suede and textile. On the upper side it 

FIGURE 60.—Mexican saddle owned by Barbabosa family: a, on-side; b, top view; c, d. X-rays of pommel and 

cantle construction; e, pommel, off-side; /, off-side stirr up leather passing through sideboard of saddletree; 

g, underside of hair ornament (vaquerillo), see Figure 18 for upper side, h, on-side stirrup cover (tapadera); i, rea r of off-side stirrup ; j , underside. 
NUMBER 39 87 

NUMBER 39 89 

^ 

f 

'*fh^-^ 

H 

««i*» 

•JA; 
90 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

; 

bears a leather border on the rear edge and is 

topped with a leather panel, both of which 

leather trims are solidly embroidered with silver thread in floral designs (Figures 18, 60g). 

HISTORY.—The animal fur piece (el vaquerillo) served multiple purposes: to be ornamental, 

to protect the horse's flanks from brush and 

goring, and, when pockets were present on the 

underside, to provide storage. In this case there 

are no pockets. 

This saddle was originally owned by the Barbabosa family of central Mexico. Their family 

tradition holds that portions of the saddle date 

back to colonial times. It was donated by the 

Barbabosa family to the Museo de la Charreria. 

Although showing several repairs and replacements, this saddle displays the traditional 

design, fine craftsmanship, and tasteful ornamentation typical of equestrian equipment used 

over the years by the well-to-do rancheros of 

Mexico. Two radio-graphs (Figures 60c,d) 

taken from directly above the pommel and the 

cantle reveal the exact location of the saddletree, the metallic braid and hand-forged nails, 

documenting an attitude toward craftsmanship 

that ranged from casual to careful. 

2. California Saddle 

FIGURE 61 

DATE.—About 1830 to 1860. 

ORIGIN.—Southern California? 

MAKER.—Unidentified. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

silver and copper alloys, iron, natural fibers, 

textile. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 49.5 cm (I91/2"); W, 33 

cm (13"); D, 60 cm (231/2"); HH, 9 cm 

(131/2"). 

LENDER.—Jerome Forster, lone, California. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS.—Renwick Loan, TL. 

20.1974.4; CAL Reports, 1713, 2582. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is covered 

with stitched rawhide. Engraved and chased 

silver trim is screwed to cap of horn and rim 

of cantle; stem of horn and faces of cantle are 

covered with tanned black leather; silver garland ornament and two plain conchas are 

screwed to back of cantle. The stuffed and quilted removable seat pad of tanned maroon leather 

and mattress ticking is tied to the rear rigging 

straps. 

The tanned black leather mochila (Figure 
NUMBER 39 91 

Qlc,d) is made from two separate pieces, now 

secured by replacement lacing, adorned with 

stitched, stamped and carved leaf and flower 

designs, and lined with fine-grained maroon 

leather; a center suede piece that crosses the 

seat flares at the base of the cantle. Silverthread embroidery in leaf and flower designs 

appears in front and rear scalloped reserves. 

Twenty-six small silver buttons, of two different styles, are attached to the mochila's edge by 

FIGURE 61.—California saddle made for John Forster: a, on-side, with mochila; b, onside, without mochila; c, mochila, top; d, mochila, underside; e, off-side view of rigging, 

stirrup strap (rear strap is incorrectly hung behind the rigging straps), and fender 

on saddletree; /, underside; g, off-side stirrup from rear; h, off-side stirrup cover 

(tapadero). 
92 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 
NUMBE

R 39 

93 
94 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

.&l/!^^ltLl-&W.^i 
NUMBER 39 95 

means of a single hide lacing (Figure 61rf); 

two plain conchas (larger than the buttons) 

with leather ties occur over each pommel shoulder and behind the cantle; each corner bears a 

large scalloped and chased silver medallion, the 

front ones being of one design and the rear ones 

of another. The corners are terminated by balltipped silver corner plates. 

The components of the three-quarter single 

rigging are as follows: a forward strap that 

crosses the pommel just in front of the base 

of the horn and is nailed in place; a rear strap 

that passes over the sideboards behind the cantle and is nailed to the rear of each side board; 

a metal latigo ring on each side through which 

the rigging straps are threaded and then secured with metal fasteners. The latigos and 

cinch are missing. 

The carved and stamped tanned-leather fenders, lined with fine-grained maroon tanned 

leather, are attached to the stirrup leathers at 

the top with metal fasteners and at the bottom 

with leather loops; the stirrup leathers pass 

around the side boards of the tree and are 

secured with laces (Figure 61e). Single-piece 

taps (tapaderos) of tanned leather are decorated with carved leafy designs, silver corner 

trim, and two conchas with leather ties (Figure 

61g,h). Pear- or lyre-shaped bent-wood stirrups 

employ round wooden suspension bars (Figure 

eifir). 

HISTORY.—This saddle was made (in California?) for John (Don Juan) Forster, an early 

settler in the Capistrano Valley and has been 

in the continuous possession of the Forster 

family since the time of its manufacture. It 

shows ample evidence of wear but its mochila 

marks it as primarily an ornamental rather 

than a working saddle. 

The saddle shares characteristics of those 

used by other prosperous hacendados in the 

horse-oriented culture of Hispanic California, 

including the removable mochila, the slender 

horn, and the use of finely crafted leather carving and silver trim and embroidery. Meticulous 

workmanship, artistry, and pride in the manufacture of equestrian equipment was a Hispanic 

tradition in California that influenced incoming 

Anglo saddlemakers. 

3. Mexican Saddle 

FIGURE 62 

DATE.—About 1835 to 1845. 

ORIGIN.—Mexico. 

MAKER.—Unidentified. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

silver and copper alloys, gold, iron, natural 

fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 47 cm (I8I/2"); W, 35.5 

cm (14") ; D, 48 cm (19") ; HH, 7 cm (234"). 

LENDER. — Division of Military History, 

NMHT. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMHT Catalogue 

and Accession, 5,664 and 22,920; Renwick Loan, 

TL.20.1974.19; CAL Report, 1745. 

DETAILS.—The saddletree is wood, covered 

with stitched rawhide. Chased yellow metal 

coverings are screwed to the narrow-horned 

pommel and cantle rim. Cantle surfaces are covered with black leather. Two white metal (silver 

alloy) medallions are screwed to the base of the 

cantle and two to its outer plane, where screw 

holes in the metal trim of the rim indicate a 

missing ornament or name plate. There are 

short, stamped leather skirts; the sideboards 

are covered by tanned and padded leather. 

The boldly carved, tanned black mochila (Figure 62b), which laces behind the horn is made 

up of a padded seat panel stitched onto a larger, 

embroidered under-panel. The seat panel is 

decorated with stitchery of florals; the national 

emblem of Mexico (eagle holding serpent, 

perched on cactus), a Liberty cap, bow, arrow, 

and drum. Metallic-thread embroidery appears 

in leaf designs behind the cantle, and in a national emblem on the shoulders of the pommel. 

Outlining trim of metallic thread ends at the 

front in laurel sprays. There is piercing over 

the pommel for strings to attach the missing 

pistol holsters. 

Single forward rigging is used. Rigging 

straps bearing an oval metal latigo ring hang 

from the forward fork; a rigging strap is 

nailed to each sideboard behind the cantle. 

Leather tabs on the ends of the cinch hold the 

buckles and are adorned with metallic thread 

embroidery resembling work on the Barbabosa 

saddle (Figure 60). 
96 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 62.—Mexican saddle awarded to Brig. Gen. W. S. Harney: a, on-side; b, top 

view; c, off-side rigging seen with mochila raised; note untied mochila thongs run 

through padded "underseat" that covers the Mexican tree (not visible); d, cinch; 

e, rear. 
NUMBER 39 97 
98 SMITHSONIA

N STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

Tanned black leather stirrup straps thread 

through black leather tabs on the sideboards. 

Pear-shaped stirrups of embossed metal employ 

metal suspension bars and stamped leather foot 

pads. 

Yellow metals on stirrups, horn, cantle, and 

embroidery threads are gold-plated copper 

alloys. 

HISTORY.—This type of militarized stock sad-

dle was used in the mid-nineteenth century by 

Mexican officers. Documents accompanying this 

saddle indicate that it was a battlefield presen-

tation. Col. William Selby Harney was brevet-

ted Brigadier General in 1846 for his actions at 

the battle of Cerro Gordo, the battleground on 

which he acquired this saddle. It was donated 

to the Smithsonian Institution by Mrs. Mary 

Harney in 1890. 

4. Mexican Presentation Saddle 

FIGURE 63 

DATE.—About 1865. 

ORIGIN.—Mexico City 

MAKER.—"Fusteria de Felipe del Aguila[r], 

Calle de la Buena Muerte, . . . ra D. Mexico" 

(inscription stamped in ink on front of cantle). 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

silver and copper alloys, iron, natural fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 52 cm (201/2"); W, 35 cm 

(133^") ; D, 30 cm (12") ; HH, 20 cm (8"). 

LENDER. — Division of Military History, 

NMHT. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMHT Catalogue 

and Accession, 35,293 and 89,849; Renwick 

Loan, TL.20.1974.18; CAL Report, 1674. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is covered 

with stitched rawhide. A chased and embossed 

silver cap in floral and geometric designs is 

nailed to the "dinner-plate" horn. The center of 

the cap is engraved: "L. Galvan to Maj. Gen. 

P. H. Sheridan / Feb. 20th, 1866." 

Grooved and embossed floral designs in silver 

trim are nailed to the cantle rim and screwed 

to the gullet rim. Embossed silver medallions in 

floral design are mounted on leather discs on 

the pommel shoulders. Incised, tanned leather 

with metallic thread embroidery covers the 

sideboards just in front of the cantle. Tanned 

leather pads are nailed to the underside of the 
NUMBE

R 39 

99 

sideboards. Two plain silver conchas with raw-

hide ties are aflfixed to each sideboard behind 

the cantle; an embossed silver concha mounted 

on a leather disc with rawhide ties is attached 

to the front edge of each pommel shoulder. 

Single forward rigging is used. Stamped 

leather rigging straps bearing floral silver-

thread embroidery hang from the pommel and 

carry incised metal latigo rings with decorative 

silver plating. The tanned-leather latigos are 

pierced for a buckled cinch. The tanned-leather 

breast band stuffed with horsehair is attached 

to the latigo rings. 

Incised and embroidered tanned stirrup leath-

ers run over the side bars, through the open 

seat, and are laced together. Metallic embroi-

dery appears in a medallion design above each 

stirrup. The box-shaped stirrups with round 

wooden suspension bars have metal plates with 

embossed floral design screwed to the outside 

FIGURE 63.—Mexican presentation saddle for Maj. Gen. 

P. H. Sheridan: a, on-side; 6, top view showing ele-

ments of silver bridle below saddle; c, underside. 
100 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

of their surface; their stamped-leather foot 

pads end in metallic-embroidered, lunetteshaped flaps. 

The metallic tape wrappings of the silk 

thread used for embroidery on this saddle are 

"almost pure silver with traces of copper, zinc, 

gold and lead detected" (CAL Report 1674). 

The silver-thread embroidery is often raised 

into relief, similar to stump work. 

HISTORY.—This saddle has many components 

duplicated in the richly adorned saddles used 

by gentlemen riders of Mexico after 1850. The 

exaggerated shape of the horn; exposed frame; 

single forward rigging, stirrup leathers of wide, 

decorated bands; and metal covered box-shaped 

stirrups with leather foot pads are elements 

frequently repeated in written descriptions and 

artistic renderings of the late 1800s. Characteristic of that era is the assemblage of the splendid efforts of the woodworker, silversmith, and 

leather carver in the construction of Mexican 

equestrian equipment demonstrated by this 

saddle. 

According to an entry in the Army and Navy 

Journal, 24 March 1866, this saddle, "valued 

between two and three thousand dollars," was 

presented to Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan by a 

friend in Mexico—a wealthy gentleman who 

was a great admirer of General Sheridan. 

Sheridan commanded a military division along 

the Texas coast of the Gulf of Mexico between 

1865 and 1867. During this unsettled period 

in Mexico's history, liberals were engaged in 

struggles with the troops of the French-imposed 

emperor, Maxmillian, and occasionally received 

support from United States troops. 

The saddle was donated to the Smithsonian 

Institution by Mrs. Philip H. Sheridan in 1926. 

5. Charro Saddle 

FIGURE 64 

DATE.—About 1905 to 1935. 

ORIGIN.—Mexico City. 

MAKER.—". . . [Fustes?] de Dionysio Rodriguez . . . Calle del Topacio, 3 . . . Mexico" 
NUMBER 39 lOI 

a 

FIGURE 64.—Charro saddle by Rodriguez: a, on-side; b, mark of maker Dionysio Rodriguez on cantle face; c, silver-horn cap; d, stirrup turned back in leather strapping; 

e, underside. 
102 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 
NUMBER 39 103 

(from the inscription stamped in ink on the 

front of the cantle; see Figure 64b). 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

copper and silver alloys, sheep's wool, natural 

fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 53.5 cm (21"); W, 33 cm 

(13") ; D, 53.5 cm (21") ; HH, 15.5 cm (6"). 

LENDER.—^Los Angeles County Museum of 

Natural History, Los Angeles. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — Los Angeles Museum, A.5933.50-74; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974. 

1; CAL Reports, 1747, 2564. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is covered 

with parchment-like rawhide. Domed horn, 

pommel shoulders, gullet, and grooved cantle 

rim are trimmed with silver-alloy plates embossed in floral designs and screwed to the tree. 

Square, tanned-leather skirts are lined with 

sheepskin and fitted with borders of twiningrose designs embroidered with silver thread on 

stamped and scallopped leather panels; the 

same motif of embroidered panels is repeated 

on the pocket flaps of the tanned-leather saddle 

bags. Four silver-alloy conchas of chased spiral 

design are attached with suede ties to the saddle bags immediately behind the cantle. A larger spiral concha with suede ties appears on 

each flap. On each side of the saddle a concha 

of the smaller size appears (with ties) at the 

front of the pommel and two others of the same 

size are employed in the fastening of the reatas. 

On the off-side, the pommel concha and the lower concha behind the cantle, hold a leather tab 

and loop for accoutrements such as a sword, 

quirt, or rope. 

The components of the single forward rigging are: embroidered tanned-leather rigging 

straps (las reatas) hanging from the pommel; 

blued-iron latigo rings with silver inlay, each 

with a dee loop (welded to the upper rear of 

the latigo ring), which secures the embroidered 

rear rigging straps (las contrareatas); and 

tanned-leather latigos, pierced for the cinch 

buckles. The cinch is missing. 

Tanned and embroidered stirrup leathers run 

over each sideboard, and are stitched together 

with rawhide lacing. Box-shaped, iron stirrups 

employ a round, wooden suspension bar and an 

inner facing of leather; embossed lyre and 

rosette elements are rivetted to the outer surfaces (Figure 64d). 

HISTORY.—In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, skilled, well-to-do Mexican 

horsemen (charros) banded together in organizations with the purpose of preserving traditional Mexican riding practices and equipment. 

This saddle incorporates most elements of charro saddles made from 1870 to 1920. These elements include the squat, domed horn; flattened 

cantle; exposed, single, forward rigging; open 

seat boxlike stirrups; squared rear saddle bags 

(cantinas); and eleborate silver ornamentation. 

The maker's stamp on the cantle of this saddle gives notice that the saddle shop of Dionysio 

Rodriguez won prizes at Milan in 1884-5, Paris 

in 1889, and St. Louis in 1904. This saddle has 

been in the collection of the Los Angeles County 

Museum of Natural History since 1937. 
104 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 65.—Charro saddletree by Gonzales: a, on-side; 

b, on-side from rear; c, underside. 

6. Charro Saddletree 

FIGURE 65 

DATE.—About 1950. 

ORIGIN.—Jalapa, Mexico. 

MAKER.—Manuel Gonzales. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, animal glue. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 49 cm (191/2"); W, 30.5 

cm (12"); D, 23.5 cm (9^4"); HH, 14 cm 

(51/2"). 

LENDER.—Los Angeles County Museum of 

Natural History, Los Angeles. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS.—Los Angeles Museum, L.2100.53-197; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974. 

3; CAL Reports, 1714, 2583. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is made of 

carved and fitted parts, dowelled and glued 

together. The circular, flattened horn with a 

bevelled perimeter and swelled shoulder are 

shaped from a single piece of wood. Separate 

pieces form the front of the pommel and bracings down to the side bars. The sideboards are 

notched for stirrup leathers. Surface sheen is 

created by glue sizing. 

HISTORY.—This saddletree was purchased in 

Zapotlanejo, a village east of Guadalajara, 

Mexico, in 1950 for the Los Angeles County 

Museum. Its cost was 25 pesos, slightly less 

than three dollars at that time. 

The tree incorporates most of the charro 

chacteristics of the late-nineteenth century, 

demonstrating the enduring popularity of the 

type. The use of a single piece of wood for the 

horn and forks displays awareness of the strain 

put on the tree by the single forward rigging. 

The availability of this unrigged tree emphasizes the fact that saddles are composed of distinct parts. Each element is manufactured separately, and may be assembled to conform to 

individual taste within a single regional tradition. 

7. Vaquero Saddle 

FIGURE 66 

DATE.—About 1860 to 1890. 

ORIGIN.—Northern Mexico. 

MAKER.—Unidentified. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

copper alloys, iron, natural fibers. 
NUMBER 39 105 

FIGURE 66.—Vaquero saddle acquired by Bourke; 

from front. 

a, on-side; 6, top view; c, on-side 
106 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 51 cm (20"); W, 35 cm 

(133^") ; D, 48.5 cm (19") ; HH, 17 cm (63/4"). 

LENDER.—Department of Cultural History, 

NMHT. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMHT Catalogue 

and Accession, 165,092 and 26,024; Renwick 

Loan, TL.20.1974.20; CAL Report, 1673. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is covered 

with stitched rawhide. The wide, flat horn sits 

on a short, narrow stem; there is no swell to 

the pommel shoulders. The low cantle displays 

a grooved rim. The rectangular, tanned-leather 

"jockeys" are attached to the pommel with 

rosettes, and laced together behind the cantle. 

Two leather rosettes are affixed to the "jockeys" 
NUMBER 39 107 

on each side behind the cantle. There are two 

rectangular leather pieces that serve the functions of a skirt and of a pad (el basto) under 

the tree. These leather pieces are lined with 

canvas and appear to have been stuffed originally; each rear corner is fitted with nickelplated brass trim decorated by chased edging 

and an embossed star (off-side corner trim 

missing). A separate tanned-leather piece that 

covers most of the seat opening in the tree is 

nailed to the sideboards. 

Double rigging features front rigging straps, 

one passing over the front of the pommel, the 

other wrapped around the horn, both nailed in 

place and running beneath the jockey to the 

forward, leather-covered latigo ring. A similar 

rear latigo ring, attached to the rear jockey, is 

joined to the forward ring by another strap. 

The tanned-leather forward latigo is pierced 

for a tongued buckle. The off-side latigo, both 

rear latigos, and the cinches are missing. 

Tanned-leather fenders and stirrup leathers 

are threaded through a slot in each sideboard. 

Iron stirrups employ a round wooden suspension bar. Snouted tapaderas are stamped with 

spiraling border designs and are adorned with 

embossed brass medallions on the sides and 

leather rosettes in front (some of the rosettes 

missing). 

HISTORY.—In its combination of elements, 

this vaquero saddle is an excellent example of 

the anglicized Mexican saddle used on both 

sides of the Rio Grande in the later part of the 

nineteenth century. The exposed tree fitted out 

in leather parts that are easily added or removed, the wide "dinner-plate" and the tapaderas are typically Mexican in character. Double rigging and leather pieces serving the 

function of jockeys have been identified as 

Anglo-American in origin. This saddle displays 

in its present form an ingenious innovation in 

the leather component that combines the functions of jockeys and rear rigging suspension. 

Originally the saddle may have been without 

this feature, depending solely on single forward rigging. It may also have sported Mexican-type silver trim. 

Bvt. Maj. John G. Bourke of the Third United 

States Cavalry Regiment commanded the cavalry post at Fort Ringgold, Texas, between 1891 

and 1893. During this period, Bourke was engaged in punitive operations against Mexican 

bandidos led by Alberto Garza, from whom he 

took this saddle. Its anglicized elements probably appeared after this change in ownership. 

By 1896, Bourke, himself a pioneer ethnologist 

in the Southwest, donated this vaquero saddle 

to the Smithsonian Institution. 

8. Hybrid Saddle 

FIGURES 42, 67 

DATE.—About 1840 to 1860. 

ORIGIN.—Probably in the Lower Missouri 

River Region. 

MAKER.—Unidentified. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

copper alloys, iron, animal hair, natural fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 46 cm (18"); W, 31 cm 

(12l^"); D, 75 cm (291/2"); HH, 6.5 cm 

(21/2"). 

LENDER. — Southwestern History Museum, 

Arizona Historical Society, Tucson. 

REFERENCE NUMBER. — Arizona Historical 

Society, ST 1120/7879; Renwick Loan, TL.20. 

1974.23; CAL Reports, 1763, 2565. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is covered 

with sized fabric. The upright, horned pommel 

and deep, squared cantle and seat are covered 

with fine-grained, tanned black leather. The 

seat is quilted in star and spiral designs, stuffed 

with cotton and attached to the saddletree with 

copper-alloy and iron tacks in the following 

places: around the perimeter of the cantle; two 

tacks on the horn; and seven at the front base 

of the horn stem. The round-cornered rear inner skirts are of blue fabric, woolen weft-faced 

with cotton warp. They are edged with red 

leather piping and trimmed with dark brown 

tanned leather behind the cantle. Two leather 

tabs appear on the leather trim behind the 

cantle. Beneath the tree is a saddle pad of 

leather lined with fabric and stuffed with Rocky 

Mountain mule deer fur. Outer skirts of coarsegrained, dark brown tanned leather are screwed 

and tacked to the upper surface of the sideboards beneath the edge of the quilted seat 

(Figure 61b). 
108 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 67.—Hybrid saddle from Missouri River region: a 

tachment of on-side stirrup leather; c, back of stirrup ; d, 

rear. 

on-side from front; b, atunderside; e, off-side from 
NUMBE

R 39 109 
110 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

Single center rigging employs a tanned 

leather cinch strap attached to the off-side sideboard beneath the outer skirt. On the on-side, 

it is secured by a square buckle suspended from 

a leather loop attached to the sideboard beneath 

the outer skirt. A rectangular leather flap attached to the sideboard lies just beneath this 

loop and buckle. 

Stirrup leathers hang from a sleeve on a triangular iron ring (dee) secured beneath the 

quilted seat by an eye screw^ed into the tree 

(Figure 676). These straps are adjusted above 

the stirrups by cast brass buckles. Mediumgrained, tanned black leather tapaderas are 

tacked to the pear-shaped bent-wood stirrups 

(Figure 67c). 

HISTORY.—This east-west hybrid is representative of work by some mid-nineteenth century 

saddlemakers, perhaps in the lower Missouri 

River region. Inventories and letters of the 

period indicate that these manufacturers sold 

"Spanish saddles" to a variety of westwardbound individuals. The cities of Saint Louis, 

Saint Joseph, and Independence, serving as 

supply depots and trail heads for the western 

territories, apparently produced horse gear 

combining popular traits from two geographical areas of the United States—east and southwest. 

This saddle combines elements found on the 

western saddle—^the horned pommel and deep 

cantle—with those frequently associated with 

the equestrian equipment of English origin— 

the flap-like outer skirts, padded inner skirts, 

and girthing arrangement. 

The saddle was acquired by the Arizona Historical Society in 1971. 

9. Stock Saddle 

FIGURE 68 

DATE.—About 1875 to 1900. 

ORIGIN.—Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. 

MAKER.—Frank Meanea. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

copper alloys, iron, sheep's wool, plant fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 54 cm (2114,") ; W, 34 cm 

(I31/2") ; D, 50 cm (193^") ; HH, 10 cm (4"). 

LENDER.—Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department, Cheyenne. 

REFERENCE NUMBER.—Wyoming State Museum, 69.180.00; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.2; 

CAL Reports, 1744, 2584. 

DETAILS.—The saddletree of wood is covered 

with stitched rawhide. Tanned leather covers 

the horned pommel, cantle, and seat; the 

jockeys, fenders, saddle bags, and stirrup leathers are also of tanned brown leather. The pommel displays a high, slick fork with a prominent 

gullet. The high, upright horn stem is wrapped 

with a buckled leather strap. The high arched 

cantle is dished. The leather covered seat, slit 

for stirrup leathers, terminates in oval jockeys. 

Light border stamping of parallel lines and 

florets appears on the edge of sheepskin-lined 

skirts and on the fenders. Rounded saddlebags, 

each with a double leather rosette with leather 

ties, are affixed to the flank skirts by means of 

hide lacing. A double rosette with ties occurs at 

the bases of the pommel and the cantle. Detachable leather bucking rolls, stuffed with sheep's 

wool, are fitted across the rear base of the pommel and are attached by two double rosettes 

(Figure 68c). Copper rivets are used on these 

rolls and in the rigging leathers. 

Double rigging (Figure 68e) features leathercovered forward and rear latigo rings and a 

latigo pierced for a tongued cinch-buckle (the 

cinches and three latigos are missing). The attachment of front and rear rigging straps is 

covered by the jockeys. Fenders are incorporated in the stirrup leathers, which are crossstitched together with hide lacing and pass beneath the seat jockeys and around the sideboards. There are narrow, curved, pierced-iron 

stirrups with iron suspension bars (Figure 

6Sd). A maker's mark is stamped into the lower 

rear corners of the skirts, beneath each saddle 

bag and on the seat. 

HISTORY.—The maker of this saddle, Frank 

A. Meanea of Cheyenne, was one of a group of 

saddlemakers working in Colorado, Wyoming, 

Montana, and Utah in the latter part of the 

nineteenth century. These men formed an extended family, with ties of blood or apprenticeship, including Theodore Meanea, John S. Collins, John Francis and S. C. Gallup, John 

Landis, R. T. Frazier, and Edward L. Gallatin. 

Their innovations and adjustments made their 

wares particularly popular with horsemen in 

the northern plains and mountain states. 
NUMBER 39 111 

FIGURE 68.—Stock saddle by Meanea: a, on-side; b, front view; c, back of pommel with 

bucking rolls; d, front of stirrup; e, on-side riggring for cinches. 
112 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 
NUMBER 39 113 

The invention of detachable bucking rolls, devices designed to hold the rider firmly in his 

seat, is often credited to Frank Meanea. The 

function of these rolls paralleled that of swelled 

pommel shoulders. Other innovations, sometimes patented, such as rolled cantle handholds, 

deeply dished upright cantles, and the use of 

metal in saddletrees, changed the look of the 

western stock saddle in the late nineteenth 

century.^ 

This saddle, which shows evidence of long 

use, was purchased by stockman John Shephard 

Day in the late 1880s in Wyoming Territory. 

It was donated to the Wyoming State Museum 

in 1959 by the heirs of Mr. Day. 

10. Anglo Presentation Saddle 

FIGURES 43, 69 

DATE.—1862. 

ORIGIN.—Denver, Colorado. 

MAKER.—Edward L. Gallatin. 

MATERIALS.—^Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

silver and copper alloys, iron, natural fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 52 cm (201/2"); W, 30 cm 

(12") ; D, 75 cm (291/2") ; HH, 10.5 cm (4"). 

LENDER.—State Historical Society of Colorado, Denver, Colorado. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS.—Colorado State Museum, CH 546; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.5; 

CAL Reports, 1269, 2577, 2578. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is covered 

with stitched rawhide. Chased silver trim fits 

on the rim of the cantle, and a circular silver 

horn cap bears thirteen raised, gold-colored 

stars, an eagle, and the inscription: "Col. J. H. 

Leavenworth / 2nd Regt. Col. Volunteers / Presented by his / Officers and friends at Denver 

City / 1862." Thirty-two similar stars encircle 

the rim of the horn. The cantle and pommel are 

covered with stamped and carved tanned black 

leather; the housing (mochila), seat, jockeys, 

basto, crupper, valise, holsters, fenders, cinch 

fittings, and stirrup covers are of similar 

leather, many lined with fine-grained tanned 

red leather. 

The mochila (Figure 69/) consists of two 

pieces of leather that are joined together in 

front of the horn and behind the cantle (each of 

these joinings covered by a leather tab) and 

they are laced together across the seat with hide 

cord that runs through metal eyelets. It is 

carved and stamped with floral and leaf designs, 

a scalloped border trim, and a portrait of 

George Washington surmounted by an eagle. 

The border braid is made of gold-plated copper 

wire wrapped around cotton thread. The rear 

corners are trimmed with red leather under 

silver alloy plates engraved with vines and 

pierced with a design of bars and stars. A silver, interwoven "2R" monogram appears above 

this corner trim (Figure 69^). 

The front and side jockeys and the seat are 

made from a single leather piece carved in 

floral design that is laced together down the 

length of the seat with hide cord run through 

metal eyelets. The rear jockey is nailed to the 

sideboard of the tree in front of the cantle 

(Figure 69e). The skirt is squared at the rear 

corners and rounded at the front. Two silver 

conchas with rawhide ties occur on each of the 

front and rear jockeys. 

The metal-tipped leather pistol holsters are 

sewn to leather pockets that are covered with 

leather shield-shaped flaps, bordered with gilded 

copper-on-cotton braid (Figure 69/). These 

pockets are laced together in such a way that 

the pair may be slipped over the horn. [Figure 

69a shows these holsters incorrectly pointing 

backward. R.E.A.] A cylindrical valise intended to be fastened on behind the cantle is 

carved with the motto "E Pluribus Unum" and 

an eagle on the lid. The valise and the padded 

leather crupper are secured by two metal tipped 

buckled straps that pass through metal staples 

on the rear of the cantle (Figure 6^e,g). 

Single center rigging is employed. The forward rigging strap is wrapped once around the 

stem of the horn (the off-side end passing 

through a slit in the strap centered over the 

forward base of the horn) and nailed to the 

base of the fork; the rear rigging strap is an 

extension of the rear jockey (Figure 69c). The 

leather covered latigo ring and the unpierced 

latigo hang beneath the fender. The buckled 

stirrup leather and carved fender are of one 

piece. An extension of the lower end of the 

fender passes under the suspension bar of the 

stirrup and is terminated with a buckle. The 

upper end of the fender passes under the seat, 

over the sideboard of the tree, and through a 
114 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 69.—Anglo presentation saddle by Gallatin: a, on-side with mochila; b, on-side 

from front without mochila; c, detail of on-side of seat; d, front of cantle; e, on-side 

rigging, fender folded back at top, stirrup strap folded back at left; /, mochila; 

g, valise and crupper; h, rear, off-side corner of mochila; i, English lock on valise; 

j , holsters with one flap removed for back view, double straps pierced for buckles of 

martingale projecting from under each holster; k, front of on-side stirrup; I, rear of 

on-side stirrup; m, outer side of cinch; n, underside of cinch; o, underside; p, martingale; q, detail of bit; r, bridle and reins. 
NUMBER 39 116 
116 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

/ 
NUMBER 39 117 
118 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 
NUMBER 39 119 
120 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

slit in the skirt. Narrowed to normal stirrup 

strap width, it emerges from under the basto 

and is pierced to receive the buckle just above 

the stirrup (Figures 43, 696,e,o). Leather stirrup covers or tapaderas are adorned with silver 

star and shield medallions; the leather covered, 

pear-shaped wooden stirrups employ a wooden 

suspension bar. The cinch is made of a woven 

band of twisted horse hair terminating in 

carved leather tabs; these tabs are joined on 

the outer side of the cinch by a buckled strap; 

and the leather covered cinch rings are mounted 

on the outer side of the tabs (Figure 69 m, n). 

The carved leather straps of the martingale 

are fitted with ivory rein rings, and are joined 

in a shield of red leather under a silver plate 

pierced with a pattern of stars and bars (Figure 69^). Finally, the bridle has silver fittings 

of "2R," square slides, and rounded tips, all 

chased, bossed, and set with stars and shields. 

The plated branches of the arched bit, imported 

from England, are decorated with boar's heads 

(Figure 69q [cheek plate hook should not catch 

curb, R.E.A.]). 

HISTORY.—It was not uncommon for United 

States cavalry officers in the West to use the 

western stock saddle, militarized to a greater or 

lesser degree. This type of saddle frame was referred to by Gallatin as a "California tree," a 

form that enjoyed great popularity with western horsemen in the mid-nineteenth century. 

The heavy mochila, a device of Mexican origin, 

displays the sophisticated shape of European 

and American dragoon saddle skirts. The cylindrical valise represents another European military convention in America. In civilian life, saddlebags would have fulfilled the same purpose. 

The saddlemaker worked with great effectiveness in combining Mexican stock and Anglo 

military elements in this massive and decorative 

presentation piece. 

This saddle was commissioned by members 

of the Second Regiment of Colorado Volunteers 

for their colonel, Jesse A. Leavenworth. It was 

purchased from Edward L. Gallatin, a noted 

Denver saddlemaker, for $350. The Leavenworth presentation saddle was donated to the 

State Historical Society of Colorado in 1942 by 

Mrs. J. H. Leavenworth. 

11. Western Sidesaddle 

FIGURE 70 

DATE.—About 1860 to 1890. 

ORIGIN.—Western United States. 

MAKER.—Unidentified. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

copper alloys, natural fibers, textiles. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 54 cm (2114.") ; W, 30 cm 

(II3/4"); D, 68 cm (2634"). 

LENDER.—Department of Cultural History, 

National Museum of History and Technology. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMHT Catalogue 

and Accession, 6,554 and 65,484; Renwick Loan, 

TL. 20.1974.21. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is covered 

with stitched rawhide. It is probably a typical 

Mexican tree from which the horn was removed 

to permit the modifications necessary for a sidesaddle. The interior of the horns and seat are 

finished with green fabric while tanned leather, 

carved and stamped in floral design, is nailed to 

the interior of the cantle and underside of the 

horns. The on-side leather skirt is carved and 

stamped with floral, butterfly, and bird motifs. 

The floral design is repeated on both kidneyshaped side jockeys, affixed to the tree with 

brass-headed nails, and on the rear jockey, 

which appears only on the on-side. The on-side 

skirt of sheep skin is lined with fabric and 

continues across in front of the pommel to conclude in a flap secured below the off-side horn. 

The deep, curved off-side skirt is stamped and 

carved with a scene of a woman riding sidesaddle beneath trees with birds. Two conchas 

are set at the base of each horn, one (on-side) 

with ties. 

Single center rigging is employed: forward 

and rear rigging straps are nailed to the side 

boards; the round latigo rings hold unpierced 

latigos. The cinch is missing. A buckled stirrup 

leather hangs from a hole cut in the lower edge 

of the on-side sideboard, and passes out through 

a slit in the skirt and beneath the jockey. There 

is a slipper stirrup of fine-grained red moroccan 

leather. 

HISTORY.—Fabric seats are frequently seen 

on ladies' western-style sidesaddles of the late 
NUMBER 39 121 

nineteenth century; carpet seats were a feature 

of mail-order sidesaddles available in that era. 

The slipper stirrup was probably obtained from 

an eastern United States source; it is not 

unique. The double horns, elaborately and individually carved skirts, and an absence of silver 

trim characterize this and other women's saddles manufactured in the western United States 

during the nineteenth century.^ 

Apparently, this saddle was manufactured in 

the West, as it bears an ink inscription: "Laramie, Wyo. [or Takoma, Wash.J . . . T. H. Witters [or Walters] Agent." Despite this uncertain reading, the character of the saddletree 

and the carving of the housing support the assumption of the sidesaddle's western origin. It 

was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by 

Miss Forrest M. Grosthwaite in 1920. 

12. Sioux Pad Saddle for a Man 

FIGURE 71 

DATE.—About 1840 to 1860. 

ORIGIN.—Northern Great Plains region. 

MAKER.—Sioux Indian. 

MATERIALS.—Rawhide, tanned leather, sinew, 

metal, glass, textile, natural fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 55 cm (213^4"); W, 34 cm 

(13iA");D,3cm(li4"). 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

1,942; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.6; ACL Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS. — Two hourglass-shaped pieces of 

tanned hide are stitched together at the center 

with sinew in two parallel lines, joined around 

the perimeter with woolen stitching, and stuffed 

with animal hair. Glass trade beads in red, 

yellow, blue, white, green, and pink are worked 

into floral, leaf, and lozenge patterns at each 

corner. Hanging from the sides near the comers 

are designs each composed of two tapering, 

rawhide strips with alternating bands of green 

and white bead work, separated by thongs with 

larger blue and green beads. 

Crossing over the pad is a stiff, rectangular 

piece of hide painted red and green to which 

are attached cinch straps of commercially 

tanned leather, pierced to receive the metal 

buckles of the cinch. The cinch is of commercial 

cotton webbing. Triangular holes in the painted 

hide piece indicate the previous attachment of 

stirrup leathers. 

HISTORY.—The pad saddle is one of the oldest 

forms of equestrian equipment found among 

the Plains Indians, possibly developed prior to 

1800. Despite individual variations in girthing 

and ornamentation. Plains Indian pad saddles 

display considerable uniformity of size and construction. 

This saddle was collected by Lt. Gouverneur 

Kemble Warren, the author of the first comprehensive outline map of the trans-Mississippi 

West. It has been in the Smithsonian Institution 

since 1866 and thus is one of the earliest documented Plains Indian saddles in the collections.^ 

13. Sioux Pad Saddle for a Boy 

FIGURE 72 

DATE.—About 1840 to 1860. 

ORIGIN.—Northern Great Plains region. 

MAKER.—Sioux Indian. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

sinew, metal, glass, textile natural fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 45.2 cm (1734"); W, 30 cm 

(ll3/4");D,3cm(llA"). 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

72,580; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.12; ACL 

Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS.—The hourglass-shaped pad is composed of a piece of tanned hide on top and one 

of natural-colored fabric below; it is stuffed 

with animal hair. The top and bottom pieces are 

stitched together in two parallel lines along the 

center with sinew and are joined around the 

perimeter with woolen stitching. 

Glass trade beads in red, yellow, blue, green, 

pink, clear, and brown are worked into floral, 

leaf, and geometric patterns at each corner 
122 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

a 

FIGURE 70.—Western sidesaddle: a, on-side; b, off-side. 
NUMBER 39 123 
124 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 71.—Sioux pad saddle for a man, right side. 
NUMBER 39 125 

""^vk 

FIGURE 72.—Sioux pad saddle for a boy, left side. 
126 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

(cf. Figure 71). Hanging from the sides near 

the corners are U-shaped blue felt tabs, each 

ornamented with a commercial, domed brass 

button in a four-pointed star and wavy line 

worked in cotton thread; the edge is bound 

with commercially woven cloth. Running across 

the pad is a rectangular piece of blue felt terminating in a double scallop; there is the same 

wavy line and trim along the bound edge as that 

found on the tabs. 

Stitched beneath the pad is a stiff, rectangular piece of rawhide, which is triangularly 

pierced for the stirrup leathers to pass through 

and to which one end of the staff, rawhide cinch 

is stitched. On the opposite (right) side the 

leather and fabric facings are stitched together 

and extended to form a tab from which an oval 

metal latigo ring is suspended. The cinch is 

fastened to the ring with rawhide lacing. Each 

stirrup leather is a single rawhide strip 

threaded through the open stirrup and stitched 

together at the ends with rawhide lacing. Arching, bent-wood stirrups are covered with rawhide, which is stitched together with sinew beneath the base and under the arch. 

HISTORY. — Although primarily used, and 

sometimes designed, by men and boys, pad saddles were usually constructed by women. They 

were made from tanned buffalo, deer, or elk 

hide; sinew; and buffalo or deer hair or, less 

frequently, grass. Other hide objects might be 

cut and adapted for saddle construction. Trade 

goods, particularly glass beads, cloth, leather 

straps, brads, and metal latigo rings and 

buckles, were often sought by Indian artisans. 

Porcupine quill work, more frequently beadwork, decoration was common. Pad saddles 

were almost always ridden with stirrups of 

bent-wood, but metal stirrups were also used. 

This saddle was collected by R. H. Pratt, 

founder of the famed Carlisle Indian School in 

Pennsylvania; it has been in the Smithsonian 

Institution since the late-nineteenth century. 

14. Crow Saddle for a Woman 

FIGURE 73 

DATE.—About 1870 to 1890. 

ORIGIN .—Montana. 

MAKER.—Crow Indian woman. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

sinew, copper alloys, glass, textile natural fibers. 

DiMESiONS.—L, 60 cm (231/2"); W, 25 cm 

(10") ; D, 45 cm (173^") ; forward HH, 13.5 cm 

(51/4"). 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

154,368; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.9; ACL Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is covered 

with stitched rawhide that is painted red. The 

pommel and "cantle" (the latter is actually a 

rear fork) are covered with soft, pale tanned 

hide and terminate in large, flat discs. Hanging 

from each disc is hide fringe, and a triangular 

flap of red and blue fabric, backed with hide 

and worked with glass beads in red, yellow, 

blue, white, green, and pink geometric designs. 

A hide-covered wooden peg projects up from 

the forward fork. A rectangular piece of fabric 

is stitched on to cover the seat. A rawhide piece 

is tied under each sideboard with hide lacing 

that runs through holes burned near each end 

of the sideboard. Stirrup leathers and stirrups 

are missing. 

Single center rigging features rigging straps 

of stiff rawhide tied with hide lacing through 

holes burned near the end of each sideboard. 

Tied to the rigging straps is a cinch of Levi 

denim fabric adorned with characteristic machine-stamped metal buttons. 

HISTORY.—The form and construction of this 

splendid saddle is typical of those manufactured and used by Plains Indian women of the 

Crow tribe. The saddletree was constructed of 

naturally forked wood covered with rawhide 

stitched over it. The sideboards were pierced by 

burning to allow for the attachment of rawhide 

flaps and rigging flaps. The large elevated discs 

provide a striking design characteristic and 

identify this type of saddle as a valued and 

significant possession. Whenever possible, commercially-produced metal, leather, fabric, and 

glass elements were used in decoration and construction, the latter especially in the cinching. 

This saddle was purchased from Dr. W. J. 

Hoffman in 1892 by the Smithsonian Institution's former Bureau of American Ethnology.* 
NUMBER 39 127 

FIGURE 73.—Crow saddle for a woman, left side. 
128 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

15. Cheyenne Saddle for a Child 

FIGURE 74 

DATE.—About 1870 to 1890. 

ORIGIN.—Southern Great Plains region. 

MAKER.—Cheyenne Indian. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

sinew, copper alloys, textile, natural fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 28.5 cm (II14"); W, 22 cm 

(183^");D, 28.5 cm (III4"). 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

165,906; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.14; ACL 

Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is covered 

with rawhide, stitched together with sinew on 

the underside of the sideboards and forks. The 

forks terminate in outwardly curved, flared 

ends, painted red; they are adorned with brassheaded tacks and a fringe of twisted fabric. A 

rawhide-covered wooden peg projects from the 

forward fork. Over this peg is incorrectly 

knotted a crupper of rawhide with a padded 

center section. Commercially tanned leather 

pads are secured on the underside of the tree 

with rawhide lacing through holes in the sideboards. 

Single center rigging is employed. Front and 

rear rigging straps are affixed to the tree by 

hide ties that run through holes in the ends of 

the sideboards; the left side rigging straps are 

knotted together; the narrow rawhide cinch is 

knotted directly to the right side rigging straps, 

and tied to the left side rigging straps in what 

may not be the original arrangement for the 

Indian habit of cinching and mounting from the 

horse's right side. [The crupper appears to be 

incorrectly attached to the peg projecting from 

the front bow. R.E.A.] 

HISTORY.—Children often learned to ride by 

being tied in their mother's saddles (Figure 

56). This small saddle, however, was designed 

specifically to be used by a child. Children became expert riders at an early age in the horseoriented Plains Indian culture. 

This saddle was collected by the Reverend 

H. R. Voth, a Moravian missionary to the 

Southern Cheyenne Indians in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). It has been in the Smithsonian Institution since 1893. 

16. Indian Presentation Saddle 

FIGURE 75 

DATE.—About 1888. 

ORIGIN.—Minnesota. 

MAKER.—Sioux (or Menominee)^ Indian. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, 

sinew, copper alloys, iron, natural fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 77 cm (301/2") ; W, 23.5 cm 

(19i4");D,83cm (3234"). 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

415,511; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.17; ACL 

Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS.—The wooden saddletree is covered 

with stitched rawhide. Tanned black leather 

covers the pommel, cantle, and side bars, and 

comprises a seat (center missing), skirts, and 

rigging straps. The horn is carved as a horse's 

head (ears missing) with brass-tack eyes. A 

wooden peg (broken) projects from the forward fork. The cantle curves out and narrows 

to a blunt end. Brass-headed tacks outline the 

cantle and pommel, various red-painted design 

motifs and the remnants of the slung seat. Rectangular holes in the skirts expose the iron dees 

suspended by leather loops that are nailed to 

each sideboard with iron tunnel rivets. Curved, 

tanned leather pieces are nailed to the underside of each sideboard. Rigging straps are 

nailed to the outer face of the sideboards and 

support cinch rings. [Large, tanned leather 

coverings that came with the saddle are not 

shown as their use is undocumented. It is supposed that the left side originally had an outer 

skirt like that on the right side and that this 

was subsequently cut away. R.E.A.J 

Single center rigging is employed. Front and 

rear rigging straps are nailed to the saddletree 

at the base of the fork and in front of the cantle 

and support a narrow iron latigo ring. A tanned 

leather latigo is pierced to receive the cinch 

buckle. The cinch is leather. The stirrup leathers (originally hung from the dee rings) and 

stirrups are missing. 

HISTORY.—The saddle displays a combination 

of widely disparate elements. The saddletree recalls a Mexican type, but obvious Indian construction methods may be hidden under the 

leather covering; certainly the carrying peg is 

an Indian innovation. The tanned leather skirt 
NUMBER 39 

129 

FIGURE 74.—Cheyenne saddle for a child, right side. 
130 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 75.—Indian presentation saddle for Whipple: a, left side; 6, right side. 
NUMBER 39 131 

resembles those on the hybrid saddle (Figures 

42, 67), probably made in the Missouri region; 

also, the iron dees, latigo ring, and cinch buckle 

are all non-Indian products. But the use of trade 

goods—^brass-headed tacks and commercial red 

paint—combined in decorative designs is characteristic of many Plains Indian saddles and the 

anthropomorphic carving—^here, a horse's head 

—^are well within the traditional skills of Plains 

Indian culture. 

This saddle was presented in 1888 by Santee 

Sioux Chief Cut Nose to Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple, a man regarded by the Indians as 

a friend. Its unusually large size and somewhat 

fragile decoration suggest that it was primarily 

a symbolic gift rather than a functional form. 

Mrs. Margaret J. Gilpin donated this saddle 

to the Smithsonian Institution in 1972. 
132 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

17. Sioux Packsaddle 

FIGURE 76 

DATE.—About 1875 to 1885. 

ORIGIN.—Northern Great Plains region. 

MAKER.—Sioux Indian. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, sinew, bone. 

DIMENSIONS.—L, 38 cm (15") ; W, 28 cm 

(11") ;D, 20 cm (8"). 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

76,883; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.7; ACL Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS.—Bone forks and wooden sideboards 

are covered with rawhide which is stitched on 

the underside of the sideboards and forks; bone 

"pegs" project from the apex of forks. A pair 

of holes are pierced through the extreme end of 

each sideboard. The presumed single center 

rigging and side flaps are missing. 

HISTORY.—Saddles of this design were not 

widely used among the Plains Indians until 

after 1850. This type of unadorned saddle is 

sometimes called a "prairie chicken snare." It 

would have been used primarily as a packsaddle, possibly in conjunction with a travois. The 

double holes pierced in the ends of each sideboard served for tying on leather rigging 

FIGURE 76.—Sioux packsaddle, right side. 

FIGURE 77.—Cheyenne saddle forks. 

straps, and perhaps protective side flaps. 

This saddle was obtained by the Smithsonian 

Institution in 1886. 

18. Cheyenne Saddle Forks 

FIGURE 77 

DATE.—About 1870 to 1890. 

ORIGIN.—Southern Great Plains region. 

MAKER.—Cheyenne Indian. 

MATERIALS.—Antler of North American elk. 

DIMENSIONS.—Right fork: vertical, 28 cm 

(8") ; horizontal, 21 cm (8l^") ; thickness, 2 cm 

(3/y") ; left fork slightly smaller. 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

166,000; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.16; ACL 

Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS.—Forks are carved from the end and 

next-to-last branching of antlers. Double parallel grooves encircle the lower arms, the heads 

are flared. 

HISTORY.—The making of a saddletree with 

bone forks v/as a Plains Indian tradition by the 

1880s. Natural forks of elk or deer antler were 

selected with care and cut to shape. Grooves 

were incised in the lower ends of the forks to 

correspond to holes burnt through the ends of 

the wooden side bars. Moistened rawhide thongs 

were threaded through the holes and around the 

grooves. When the thongs dried, the saddletree 

was covered with moistened rawhide, stitched 
NUMBER 39 133 

FIGURE 78.—Sioux stirrup. 

HISTORY.—This bent-wood construction represents the underlying structure of a distinct 

type of Plains Indian stirrup, as shown in the 

description for item 20. In that example, the 

finished stirrup is covered with leather and 

decorated with paint and bead work. 

Collected at Fort Rice, North Dakota, the 

stirrup has been in the Smithsonian Institution 

since 1873. 

20. Crow Stirrups 

FIGURE 79 

DATE.—About 1870 to 1890. 

ORIGIN.—Northern Great Plains region. 

MAKER.—Crow Indian. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, sinew, metal, 

glass, natural fibers. 

DIMENSIONS.—Width, 20 cm (8") ; depth, 13 

cm (5") ; height, 12 cm (43^"). 

together with sinew, and allowed to dry into a 

taut, binding covering. 

These bone forks—collected by the Reverend 

H. R. Voth, a Moravian missionary to the 

Southern Cheyenne Indians—have been in the 

Smithsonian Institution since 1893. 

19. Sioux Stirrup 

FIGURE 78 

DATE.—About 1870. 

ORIGIN.—Northern Great Plains region. 

MAKER.—Sioux Indian. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, plant fiber. 

DIMENSIONS.—Width, 14.5 cm (534"); depth, 

9 cm (31/2"); height, 10 cm (4"). 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

12,567; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.8; ACL Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS.—The wooden stirrup has a rectangular platform and slightly tapered sides which 

are sharply curved in at the top to form an 

arched suspension bar of overlapping tongues. 

This arch is reinforced with a bent twig, secured by a wrapping of plant fiber. FIGURE 79.—Crow stirrups. 
134 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIGURE 80.—Crow crupper. 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

154,368; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.11; ACL 

Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS.—A pair of wooden stirrups each 

displaying a rectangular platform, concave 

sides, and arched suspension bar. The exterior 

of the platform, sides, and arch is covered with 

painted rawhide, which is stitched with sinew 

to the wooden frame. The outer sides display 

four triangular cutouts, with brass tacks in the 

lower two. Raised cords of white beads outline 

the outer sides, and mark a center line. Double 

hide ties are stitched to the outside corners and 

the center of the outside edge of the base. 

HISTORY.—These ornamental stirrups represent one of the few stirrup forms manufactured 

by the Plains Indians. Apparently a single thin 

panel has been skillfully bent to form the base 

and sides; the arched top may be reinforced by 

a twig (see description for item 19). Rawhide 

has been moistened and stretched over the 

wooden elements, then sewn with sinew, and let 

dry; it was then painted a dark gray. On the 

outer sides, triangular areas were cut out of the 

hide, exposing a commercial red woolen fabric. 

Finally, bead work was sewn on. 

These stirrups were collected by Dr. W. J. 

Hoffman on the Crow Indian Reservation, Montana, for the Smithsonian Institution in 1892. 

21. Crow Crupper 

FIGURE 80 

DATE.—About 1870 to 1890. 

ORIGIN.—Northern Great Plains region. 

MAKER.—Crow Indian. 

MATERIALS.—Rawhide, sinew, tanned leather, 

paint, natural fibers, and glass beads. 

DIMENSIONS.—Length, 84 cm (33") without 

ties; width, 34.3 cm (131/2") • 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

154,378; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.10; ACL 

Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS.—The slit rawhide is painted in 

multicolor geometric designs, decorated with 

beaded panels, and terminates in a stuffed pad 

ornamented with trade cloth and glass trade 

beads. The other end is repaired with a rawhide 

piece attached with rawhide thongs; a thin rawhide strap is tied through the hole in the end, 

and used to lash the crupper to the lower ends 

of either bow, depending on the length of the 

crupper. 

HISTORY.—A crupper kept the saddle from 

shifting forward. It also served as an additional 

area for decoration, especially in the hands of 

Crow Indian artisans. 

This crupper was obtained from Dr. W. J. 

Hoffman and has been in the Smithsonian Institution since 1892. 
NUMBER 39 135 

FIGURE 81.—Cheyenne rope. 

22. Cheyenne Rope 

FIGURE 81 

DATE.—About 1880 to 1890. 

ORIGIN.—Southern Great Plains region. 

MAKER.—Cheyenne Indian. 

MATERIALS.—Buffalo hair, textile. 

DIMENSIONS.—Length, 4.61 m (184"). 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

165,866; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.15; ACL 

Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS.—Buff alo hair twisted (S twist) into 

four strands that are braided together, the ends 

knotted and tied with fabric. 

HISTORY.—Buffalo hair was one of several 

materials used by the Plains Indians to braid 

ropes. It is lighter in weight than rawhide, and 

was usually used in the manufacture of bridles. 

Braided rawhide was used in lariats and travois 

ropes. 

This rope was collected by the Reverend H. R. 

Voth, a Moravian missionary to the Southern 

Cheyenne Indians. It has been in the Smithsonian Institution since 1893. 
136 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

23. Sioux Quirt 

FIGURE 82 

DATE.—About 1870 to 1890. 

ORIGIN.—Northern Great Plains region. 

MAKER.—Sioux Indian. 

MATERIALS.—Wood, rawhide, metal, glass. 

DIMENSIONS.—Handle length, 41 cm (15"); 

lash length, 45 cm (18"). 

LENDER.—Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. 

REFERENCE NUMBERS. — NMNH Catalogue, 

360,317; Renwick Loan, TL.20.1974.13; ACL 

Report, by catalogue number. 

DETAILS.—The wooden quirt is carved and 

painted in the form of a man's head and uniformed torso. It is pierced through the head for 

a knotted rawhide wrist loop, through the base 

for a lash of tanned leather. 

HISTORY.—A variety of quirts were used in 

place of spurs by most Plains Indian riders. 

The wooden handle of this quirt has been 

fashioned to represent a "buffalo soldier," a 

common term for a black cavalry man. In the 

1880s, black troops were stationed at posts near 

the Sioux Indians. Indian representations of the 

Negro, however, are extremely scarce. 

This quirt, collected by Victor Justice Evans, 

has been in the Smithsonian Institution since 

1931. FIGURE 82.—Sioux quirt. 

Notes 

1. A typical turn-of-the-century stock saddle from 

Smithsonian collections (Division of Extractive Industries, NMHT, catalogue number E 2302) is the stock 

type made in California by R. Sears, displayed in the 

Smithsonian Institution's bicentennial exhibition "A 

Nation of Nations." 

2. For comparison, there is a sidesaddle in the 

Smithsonian collections (Division of Extractive Industries, NMHT, catalogue number A-3916) made by William D. Craig in New Lisbon, Ohio, about 1835. 

3. A Plains Indian saddle but in poor condition, 

collected by the western artist George Catlin in the 

early 1830s, is also preserved at the Smithsonian. A 

later example, Anthropology catalogue number 8415, in 

excellent condition, is displayed in the exhibition "A 

Nation of Nations." 

4. A similar woman's saddle. Anthropology catalogue number 361,488, is displayed in the exhibition "A 

Nation of Nations.'' 

5. [The only other Indian-made saddles with horse 

head pommels I know of are from the Menominee, 

neighbors of the Eastern Sioux, J.C.E.] 
Glossary 

Richard E. Ahlborn 

The purpose of this glossary is to define English 

and Spanish equestrian terms, largely dealing 

with saddlery, used in this study. The glossary 

is also intended to serve as an independent reference tool for students of early saddles in 

western North America. We recognize that 

there are variations in the use of some terms 

between articles in the study; additionally, in 

both English and Spanish, some definitions vary 

with accepted regional usage. As both literary 

and visual evidence for terms in this study are 

cited in the glossary, the reader is enabled to 

locate exact points for comparison of usages 

and representations. 

The arrangement of the glossary is alphabetical. Articles are given for Spanish nouns, 

but the noun itself provides the indexing letter; 

thereafter alphabetizing is letter-by-letter (not 

counting any subsequent articles in Spanish) 

to the first mark of punctuation. English compound terms often are entered only under the 

noun component. Equivalents in other languages and information on word derivation are 

enclosed in brackets; even if not used in the 

study, Spanish equivalents are given if known. 

Definitions are usually given under the English 

expression; where a definition is not given, the 

entry for that definition is indicated in parentheses following the main entry. Numbers representing page or figure references (the latter 

italicized) apply to the main entry. 

Although terms have been defined within the 

context of this study, standard references in 

English and Spanish have also been consulted: 

Webster's Third New International Dictionary 

(1971), Appleton's Revised Cuyas Spanish 

Dictionary (1953), Diccionario de la lengua 

espanola (1941), and Santamaria's Diccionario 

de Mejicanismos (1974). Final responsibility 

for each definition rests, however, with the 

volume editor. 

la acion, las a^iones (stirrup leathers) : 83 

la adarga (shield, oval) : 16 lower 

los aderezos (trappings) : 11 

la albarda (packsaddle) : 35 

amulets [las higas, los coscojos"]—metal nodules 

used to decorate border of horse's rump cover 

\la anquera']: 37 

anchero (rump cover) : 60 

la anquera (rump cover) : 9, 37, 39; 23, 37 

la anquerita (rump cover) : 9, 14; 4-b, 6b, 7b 

apishamore, apishemeau [from Ojibwa apishamon] 

—a saddle blanket, sometimes a saddle cover: 

50 

drabe (Arabic) : 11 

Arabic [drabe, adj.]—designation of an object, such 

as a stirrup, that displays Arabic or Moorish 

design: 11 

la arcion, las arciones (stirrup leathers) : 34, 35 

la argolla (cinch ring, right; latigo ring; rigging 

ring) : 34, 25; 21 

las armas [lit., arms] (armor of horse; saddletree 

covers) : 9, 10, 16, 18, 37, 39 

las armitas (armor of horse) : 14 

armor of horse [las armas, las armitas, la barda]— 

protective leather coverings of varying sizes for 

a combat horse; later, heavy waterproof leather 

pieces hung across rider's legs [las armas defensas, las armas de agua]: 11 

Attakapas tree [from Choctaw hataka^apa referring 

to native group in southwest Louisiana; other 

variants are attacapas or atakapan tree]—a 

saddletree from the southern Louisiana-Texas 

region: 47 

137 
138 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

EL FUSTE 

(saddletree) 

LA CABEZA 

(horn) 

LA CAMPANA 

(pommel) 

LAS REATAS 

(front rigging straps) 

LA CONCHA 

(rosette) 

LA ARGOLLA 

(ring for rigging straps) 

EL BASTO 

(inner skirt or padding) 

EL CONTRALATIGO 

(off-side cinch strap) 

LA ARGOLLA 

(ring for the cinch) 

EL HEBILLON 

(cinch ring buckle) 

EL PRETAL 

(breast strap) 

LA CINCHA 

(cinch) 

LAS TABLAS 

(sideboards) 

LA TEJA 

(cantle) 

LAS CANTINAS 

(saddlebags) 

LAS CONTRAREATAS 

(rear rigging straps) 

LOS FALDONES 

(skirts) 

EL LATIGO 

(on-side cinch strap) 

LAS ACIONES 

(stirrup leathers) 

EL ESTRIBO 

(stirrup) 

LA TAPADERA 

(stirrup cover) 

LOS TIENTOS 

(ties) 

FIGURE 83.—Parts of a Mexican stock saddle, about 1930, built on a Chihuahua tree. 

(Drawn by Paul A. Rossi.) 
NUMBER 39 139 

SADDLETREE 

HORN CAP 

HORN _ 

POMMEL or FORK 

GULLET 

SWELLS 

LATIGO CARRIER 

FRONT JOCKEY 

SIDE JOCKEY 

SKIRT 

UTIGO or BILLET : 

HALF-BREED BUCKLE 

FRONT CINCH 

CANTLE 

CANTLE ROLL 

REAR JOCKEY 

ROSETTES or CONCHAS 

SKIRT 

RIGGING DEE or RING 

FENDER or SWEAT LEATHER 

STIRRUP LEATHER or STRAP 

SADDLE STRINGS or TIES 

FLANK CINCH LATIGO 

FLANK or JERK CINCH 

STIRRUP 

STIRRUP TREAD 

FIGURE 84.—Parts of a western U.S. stock saddle, about 1930, built on a Nelson tree. 

(Drawn by Paul A. Rossi.) 
140 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

la barda (armor of horse; riding styles; saddletree 

covers; saddle types) : 8, 28 

la barriguera (cinch) : 35 

la bastarda [lit., bastard] (riding styles) : 28 

el baste, el basto (saddle pad) : 19, 37, 107, 60e, 

6Ae, 83 

billet [el Idtigo, la abrazadera]—the pierced end of 

a strap tha t fits into a buckle; or loop for holddown the end of a strap: 84-

bit [el brocado del freno]—metal mouthpiece on a 

bridle: 5, 120, 15, 69q,r 

Ins bolsas (saddle bags) : 37 

border [el ruedo]—ornamented edging such as that 

on a rump cover [la anquera]: 37 

la bota (lower leg guard) : 12 

bow [el arzon de silla, el fuste de silla]—either of 

the two arching pieces that connect the sideboards in a saddletree: 5, 14 

breast band; breast strap [la antepecho, la pechera, 

el pretal, el petrol]—leather strap or poitrel, 

sometimes decorated, that passes around the 

animal's chest and is attached to the front sides 

of the saddle: 26, 37, 79, 99; 83a 

la brida (bridle; riding styles) : 26, 27, 37 

bridle [la brida, el freno]—the head harness for a 

horse, basically consisting of the headstall, bit 

and reins, but at times including also a brow 

band, nose strap, and throat latch: 12, 37, 82, 

120; 69q,r 

bridle types 

el freno de la brida or bridona—heavier bridles 

used with longer, looser reins: 12 

el freno jineta—lighter bridles used with shorter, 

lighter reins: 12 

bucking rolls—a pair of small, stuffed ovoid cushions 

attached behind a "slick" pommel to help hold 

the rider in place: 110,113; 68a-c 

el cabestro (halter) : 12 

la cabeza [lit., head] (horn) : 34; 83 

la campana (pommel) : 34; 83 

la cantina, las cantinas [lit., canteen, saloon] (saddle bags) : 37, 55, 103; 64, 83 

cantle [el arzon trasero de la silla; la teja (Mex.)]— 

arched, often dished portion of saddletree connecting rear of sideboards: 34, 40 76; 84 

cantle roll—rounded or curved outer edge of the 

cantle: 84 

center fired, center rigged (girthing types) : 14, 18 

las chaparreras (chaps) : 9, 10, 14 

el chapeton (concha) : 35 

chaps [las chaparreras, los chaparejos]—long, loose 

leather pieces belted together and attached 

around the legs of a cowboy: 9 

charro saddle (la silla charra) : 19, 20, 33 

cinch [la cincha] (also: girthing types)—a leather 

or fabric band (or girth) tha t is the portion 

of the girthing system that passes under the 

horse's body; usually it is fastened to leather 

straps (latigos) that hang from the rigging on 

each side of the saddle; if the saddle is double 

rigged there is both a front (or forward) 

cinch [la cincha] and a rear (flank or jerk) 

cinch [la barriguera]: 34; 5^ 

la cincha (cinch) : 34; 83 

cinch buckle [el hebijon, el hebillon] (also: halfbreed buckle)—tongued ring on the near or 

on-side end of cinch: 35, 86 

cinch ring, right [la argolla]—metal ring on offside (right or far) end of cinch, opposite cinch 

buckle: 35 

cinch tie—a strap connecting the forward and rear 

cinches on a double rigged saddle: 84 

coat pad [la grupera]—a leather piece, also called 

"coat pillion," with buckled straps on some 

cruppers, to hold a coat or other garment: 66 

el cojin, el cojinillo [cushion] (saddle pad) : 12, 14, 

74; 7 

concha [la concha, el chapetdn]—a metal disk, often 

of silver, set on a leather rosette that secures 

saddle thongs [los tientos]: 85; 84 

la concha [lit., shell] (concha) : 35 ; 83 

el contraenreatado (latigos) : 35 

el contraldtigo (latigos) : 35 

las contrareatas (rigging straps) : 35, 103; 60f 

la coraza (saddletree covers) : 9, 10, 39 

los coscojos [lit., Kermes berries] (amulets) : 37 

croata (riding styles) : 26 

cross-form stirrup [el estribo de cruz]—an iron 

Mexican type with wide flanges and long, pendant plates, often ornamented: 13, 14; 6, 7 

lower 

crupper [la ataharre, la baticola, la sotacola]—broad 

leather strap that runs under the horse's tail 

and over the rump to the back of the saddle 

to prevent its sliding forward; sometimes featuring a pad [la grupera] for the attachment of 

a coat or other bundle: 11, 66, 79, 113, 134; 

69g, 80 

el cuello (neck) : 34 

dee—a metal D-form ring from which stirrup 

leathers or other straps are often hung : 110, 

128; 84 

dinner-plate horn—a horn terminating in a wide, 

circular flat projection, found on many Mexicantype saddles: 34, 107 

double rigged or rigging (girthing types) : 33, 35, 

107; 20 
NUMBER 39 141 

dust guard [guardapolvo]—leather piece, such as a 

lower leg guard [la bota] tied to riding boot, 

or a larger piece covering part of the rider or 

saddle: 12 

los enreatados (rigging straps) : 35 

epishemore (apishamore) : 50 

la espuela bridona [bridona-type spur]—heavy, metal 

spur used in bridona riding style (q.v.) : 12 

la espuela bridona [bridona-type spur]—heavy, metal 

cavalry spur used in jineta riding style (q.v.) : 

12 

la estradiota (riding styles; la silla estradiota) : 8, 

12, 26,; 11 upper, 14 left 

el estribo (stirrup) : 34, 35, 42; 21 

el estribo de cruz (cross-form stirrup) : 14 

el estribo de lomo (wooden stirrup) : 19 

las faldas (skirts) : 9 

las faldones (skirts): 34; 83 

fender [el alero, la defensa, la orej(et)a, la ala]— 

leather piece projecting back from stirrup 

leather to protect the rider's legs from the 

animal's sweat and dirt: 18, 37, 86, 95, 107; 84 

el fierro (iron) : 22 

flank cinch, [la barriguera] (cinch) : 84 

flank cinch latigo (cinch; latigos) : 84 

foot pads (stirrup tread) : 100 

fork (bow) : 14, 34, 40, 47, 60, 70, 132; 84 

forward rigged (girthing types) : 14 86 

forward rigging straps [los enreatados, las reatas] 

(rigging straps) : 35 

el freno de la brida or bridona (bridle types) : 12 

el freno jineta, (bridle types): 12 

front cinch (cinch; girthing types): 84 

front-fired cinch (girthing types) : 18 

el fuste [saddletree, bows of saddletree] (saddletree) ; 12, 14, 34; 83 

la gineta (la jineta) : 19 

girth, girthing, girth strap [la cincha] (cinch; 

girthing types) : 8, 11, 66 74 

girthing types 

double rigged—two cinches, one forward and one 

behind the seat: 8, 35, 107, 110 

single rigged—one cinch 

center fired, center rigged—cinch suspended 

under the center of the seat: 8, 14, 18, 35, 

110 

forward rigged—cinch suspended from any 

point forward from the center of the seat: 

8, 14, 35, 86 

front fired, full forward rigged—cinch suspended beneath the pommel: 8, 18 

three-quarter rigged—cinch suspended from 

a point between the pommel and the 

center of the seat: 8, 95 

Graham tree—saddletrees made by the Graham firm 

of Santa Clara, California: 59 

el gremio (guild) : 26 

guild [el gremio]—an organization of artisans 

created to promote, protect and regulate their 

craft, such as the guild of saddlemakers [el 

gremio de silleros or de talabarteros]: 26 

la gualdrapa (trappings; housing): 9 

el guardapolvo (dust guard) : 12 

gullet [el interior del arzon]—inside of the pommel 

or the front edge of the forward arch (bow) of 

the saddle: 70, 98; 84 

half-breed buckle [el hebijon, el hebillon] (also: 

cinch buckle)—a type of tongued cinch ring 

used on many western saddles: 84 

half martingale [la media gamarra]—strap from 

breast band to bridle, to keep horse's head 

down: 37 

halter [el cabestro]—rope or strap, usually with a 

headstall [la jdquima], for holding an animal: 

5, 12 

headstall [la jdquima]—a band or rope that fits 

behind the horse's ears, as part of a bridle or 

halter: 12 

el hebijdnCM.ex.), el hebillon (Sp.) (cinch buckle; 

half-breed buckle) : S5; 83 

las higas (amulets) : 37 

holster [la funda]—a case, usually of leather, to 

carry a pistol or a rifle, on a person or saddle: 

113; 69a,j 

los hombros (shoulders) : 34 

Hope (saddle types, western U.S.) : 59, 67 

horn [la cabeza] (also: dinner-plate horn; pearshaped horn)—the projection, often bent forward, above the pommel: 35, 41, 79; 84 

horn cap—a small leather or metal cover, on western 

saddle horns: 84 

housing [las armas, la barda, la coraza, las faldas, 

los faldones, la gualdrapa, la mochila]—ornamental and protective leather pieces attached 

to the saddle or coverings laid on it; in the 

plural, it also means trappings (q.v.) : 10, 113 

iron [el fierro]—device heated to burn or brand 

owner's mark onto animal's hide: 22 

la jdquima (headstall) : 12 

jerk cinch [la barriguera] (cinch) : 84 

la jineta (riding styles; la silla jineta): 27; 11 

upper, 14 right, 17 

jockeys—separate leather pieces, front and rear, 

that lie over the larger skirts of western U.S. 

saddles; attached to the saddletree, side jockeys 

cover the upper stirrup leather, but other arrangements are known: 84 
142 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

lariat [el lazo]—a long rope (also called "lasso" or 

"riata"), of braided rawhide or hemp, with a 

loop [la gaza; el nudo (Mex.)] in one end 

through which the other runs; distinct from a 

"macardy" [el mecate], a rope of braided horsehair: 12, 35, 41 

el Idtigo (latigos) : 34, 35; 83 

latigo carrier—leather piece with slit, attached by 

rosette to front of pommel, to hold end of 

latigo billet: 84 

latigo ring [la argolla]—metal ring suspended from 

rigging strap(s) from which a latigo is hung; 

also known as a "rigging ring" : 86, 95 

latigos [el contraenreatado]—leather straps to which 

the cinch is secured, each suspended from a 

latigo ring (or rigging ring), one on the near 

or on-side [el Idtigo] and one on the off-side 

[el contraldtigo] of a single rigged saddle; on 

a double-rigged saddle there are also flank cinch 

q.v.) latigos: 75, 86; 84 

el lazo (lariat) : 35 

leggings—protective covering worn over the rider's 

legs: 60; 8 

loggerhead—term used in nineteenth-century California for the front fork or pommel of a saddle; 

it may reflect New England usage of the term 

for the upright post on a whaleboat used to 

slow the run of the line: 59 

lower leg guard [la bota]—in Mexico, a protective, 

often decorative, piece of tanned leather tied 

beneath the knee of the rider and falling to the 

instep: 12 

machere, machila (mochila) : 60, 62 

la maleta (valise): 12 

martingale [la gammara]—strap from the (front) 

cinch to the bridle, or ending in two rings 

through which the reins pass, to keep the horse 

from throwing the head: 120; ^4^, 69p 

la media gamarra (half martingale) : 37 

mexicana riding style (riding styles) : 31, 34 

mochila [la mochila, el telliz]—a loose, tanned 

leather covering for the saddletree, with openings for the pommel and cantle; in the American west, often equipped with pouches: 9, 37, 

39, 50, 90, 95; 23, 40, 61a,c,d 

Mother Hubbard—a large, square leather covering 

attached to some saddletrees, as distinct from 

the separate mochila, based on the loose fitting 

clothing of a character in an 1805 nursery 

rhyme by English writer, Sarah C. Martin: 9 

neck [el cuello]—^post between head of saddle horn 

and pommel: 34 

el nudo de puerco (pig knot): 35 

opishomo (apishamore) : 50 

packsaddle [la albarda]—simple wooden framework 

with crossed ends placed on animal's back to 

carry loads: 12, 35, 74, 132 

las pajuelas (sideboard extensions) : 34 

pear-shaped horn [la perilla]—saddle horn shaped 

like a pear, used on some Mexican saddles: 33 

la perilla (pear-shaped horn, pommel) : 33 

Persian saddle—early, light-weight cavalry saddle 

used in Persia, whose form suggests western 

stock saddles: 14 

pig knot [el nudo de puerco]—knots shaped like a 

pig's head, often used in Mexico to tie strands 

of cinch band to cinch rings: 35 

pig-snout (stirrup cover): 14; 66 

poitrel (breast band) : 11 

pommel [la campana, perilla de arzon, fuste delantero de la silla]—forward, arched portion of 

saddletree linking the sideboards: 10, 34, 40, 

78; 84 

el pretal (breast band) : 37 

quirt [la cuarta (Mex.)]—short, leather strap(s), 

often attached to a handle, to whip the horse 

for speed: 136; 82 

rear cinch [la barriguera] (cinch; girthing systems) : 35 

rear rigging straps [las contrareatas] (rigging 

straps) : 35 

ios reatas (riggings straps) : 34, 35, 103; 83 

rein [la rienda]—strap or cord (in pairs) tha t runs 

from the bridle bit around the horse's neck, 

held by the rider: 13 

riding styles (also: saddle types) : 26 

barda—used for travel in sixteenth-century Spain: 

28 

bastarda—popular in Spain and France ; used by 

Spanish Riding School in Vienna: 28 

brida—of Italian derivation, favored by working 

horsemen and by society riders for display, 

also called de rua: 26 

croata (riding styles, estradiota) : 26 

estradiota—ancient, straight-legged style appropriate to European forms of warfare, jousting, and gentlemanly display: 26 

jineta, gineta—^bent-knee style suited to speed and 

close-quarter maneuverability, introduced by 

Arabs into Turkey and Spain: 8, 27 

mexicana [Mexican]—informal, non-academic 

style adapted to range use in Mexico: 31, 34 

rigging (also: girthing system)—arrangement of 

leather straps that secure the rigging (latigo) 

ring (q.v.) ; location of these rings determines 
NUMBER 39 143 

type of girthing system (e.g. forward rigged, 

double rigged) : 86 

rigging dee (dee): 5^ 

rigging ring [la argolla] (latigo ring) : S5; 84 

rigging straps—the leathers attached to the saddletree that support the latigo rings; forward ones 

[las reatas, los enreatados] are usually wrapped 

around the pommel in Mexican saddles; rear 

ones [las contrareatas] pass behind the cantle: 

35, 90; 60f 

la rodela (shield, round) : 16; 8 

rosette [la roseta]—a circular design; on western 

stock saddles, a small leather disk with two 

slits for thongs or ties (q.v.) to pass through, 

securing skirts to saddletree: 35, 76, 85; 84 

rowel [la rodaja, la estrella]—the pointed disk or 

star set in the end of the spur's shaft or post 

[la espiga], which turns as the rider's heel 

rakes the horse's flank: 5, 8; 14 left 

el ruedo (border) : 37 

rump cover [la anquera, "anchero"]—fitted leather 

covering, protecting and decorating the horse's 

rear quarters; used also in an abbreviated form 

[la anquerita] : 10 

saddle [la silla]—seat type device set on an animal 

to facilitate riding it: passim 

saddle bags [las bolsas, las cantinas]—large leather 

piece with attached pockets, placed over the 

rear extensions [las pajuelas] of the saddletree: 37, 103, 110; 64a 

saddle cloth (also: saddle pad)—heavy, blanket-like 

piece placed under the saddle: 60 

saddle pad [el cojin, el baste, el basto, el sudadero] 

—flat cushion, usually separate, under the saddle, to protect it from dirt and to fit it to the 

animal's back: 12, 107 

saddle strings [los tientos]—narrow strips of tanned 

leather, usually in pairs, that lace through the 

saddletree or coverings, and are held on surface 

by rosettes; the long ends are decorative and 

also serve to tie on ropes, and other pieces of 

equipment: 84 

saddle ties (saddle strings) : 34; 84 

saddletree [el fuste de silla, el asiento de barras, el 

arzon]—framework, often of wood covered with 

rawhide, consisting of two side-boards connected by two forks for the pommel and cantle; 

the conformation of these parts gives the saddle 

its characteristic shape and name: 5, 12, 19, 

34, 39; 84 

saddletree covers [la coraza, la mochila, la barda, 

las armas, el telliz]—loose leather pieces of 

various sizes and locations: 10 

saddle types, Mexican or Spanish (la silla . . . ; also 

riding styles) 

saddle types, western U.S. 

American (saddle types, EngHsh) : 41, 65, 67 

California—a single-rigged saddle, often with 

long stirrup covers, curved skirts, wrapped horn 

and carved leather, all in contrast to a doublerigged Texas type: 62 

dragoon—the 1833 Grimsley design for the U.S. 

cavalry based on the skeletal Mexican ("Spanish") saddletree, equipped with skirts and 

padding; or refers to later military, types: 66, 

68, 120 

English [la silla inglesa]—light, low-profile hunting or racing type introduced to America in 

colonial times from England: 41, 48, 62, 67 

Hope—a San Antonio, Texas, tree, very popular 

in Texas, furnished briefly (1857-1858) to the 

U.S. military: 60, 67 

Indian—any non-western or non-English type 

thought to be used by native Americans: 45 

McClellan—a design, largely derived from Mexican and western saddles, adopted by the U.S. 

cavalry in the late 1850s; it had no horn, but 

retained forward rigging and bent-wood stirrups 

with leather covers: 62 

Mexican (la silla vaquera) : 34, 59 

pad—an early. Plains Indian, treeless type, appearing by 1830: 73, 74, 75 

prairie chicken snare—the Blackfoot name for a 

packsaddle modification of the Plains Indian 

woman's saddle: 81, 132 

ranger—a New York-made type produced for use 

in Texas; also used by the Union Army in 1861 

until McClellans were available: 62 

Spanish—the skeletal tree imported into the U.S. 

from Mexico, and probably made here by the 

1830's; served as the foundation of many early 

western stock saddles: 39, 43, 45, 46, 65 

Texas (Hope): 67 

wagon—a heavy, military type, built on a "Spanish" tree after 1845, used by teamsters; it had 

a tall, slender horn and a high, steep cantle: 47 

wood—^the Blackfoot name for the Plains Indian 

woman's light, open saddle framework covered 

with rawhide, the slender ends rising high and 

spreading into large, horizontal disks: 76 

schab(b)rack (also: mochila)—a removable covering proposed for the dragoon saddle by Grimsley: 65 

shield, oval [la adarga]—Spanish type with indented 

top and bottom: 16 lower 

shield, round [la rodela]—Spanish type also used 

in America: 16; S 

shoulders [los hombros]—outer edge of pommel, 
144 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

ranging from flat ("slick") to rounded 

("swelled") form: 34, 104 

sideboards [las tablas]—two horizontal pieces, also 

called "side bars," under and joining the two 

forks to form the saddletree [el fuste]: 34, 40, 

50, 76; 83 

sideboard extensions [las pajuelas]—ends of saddletree projecting behind the cantle: 34 

sidesaddle [la silla de senora, el sillon]—a device 

for women to ride with both legs on one side, 

based on English saddle type (q.v.) : 9, 12, 120; 

70 

la silla [lit, seat] (saddle; la silla . . .) : passim 

la silla de andar [riding saddle]—any non-specialuse riding saddle: 12 

la silla de armas [saddle with armor]—a combat 

saddle with high pommel and protective leather 

housing: 11 

la silla barda—successor to la silla jineta in Spain, 

longer stirrup leathers than la jineta: 28 

la silla bridona (la silla de armas) : 11 

la silla de campo [country saddle]—non-specific term 

for any saddle used for working on the open 

range : 20 

la silla charra [charro saddle]—a type of Mexican 

cowboy saddle [la silla vaquera] with a full 

forward cinch, often double rigged, developed 

by gentlemen riders [charros] into a display 

saddle with a large horn and decorations of 

chased silver and carved leather: 33 

la silla de esqueleto [skeleton saddle]—a light Mexican saddle with open seat, short skirts, and 

stirrup fenders: 37 

la silla estradiota (also: riding styles, estradiota) — 

the heavily armored, medieval European saddle: 

1 1 : 26 

la silla jineta (also: riding styles, jineta)—a light 

cavalry saddle introduced by Moors to Spain 

and carried to America: 11 ; 2c 

la silla de montar [mounting saddle]—any riding 

saddle: 12, 35 

la silla vaquera [Mexican cowboy saddle]—a class 

of early Mexican range or stock-working saddles, relatively rough, with simple stirrup 

leathers and no covers; later developed into the 

charro and western U.S. saddles: 13, 33 

el sillon (sidesaddle) : 9 

single center rigged (girthing types) : 18 

skirts [las faldas, los faldones]—large leather 

panels attached to the saddletree, under the 

jockeys on western U.S. saddles, to protect the 

rigging and give form to the saddle: 9, 34, 35, 

65,103; 54 

slipper stirrup—type with enclosed toe and flat sole, 

used on sidesaddles: 120; 70 right 

la sotacola (crupper) : 11 

Spanish tree (saddle types, western U.S.) : 18, 46, 66 

spike or prick spur—a medieval type with a rowelless post [la espiga]: 5, S; 11 upper, 14 left, 16 

spur [la espuela] (also: la espuela bridona; la 

espuela jineta; rowel; spike spur)—U-shaped 

device attached to rider's heel to goad the animal to greater speed, or to make a horse buck: 

11 

staples—U-shaped metal pins that attach rings for 

the stirrup leathers to the saddletree, or provide attachment points on the back of the cantle 

for extra equipment: 66, 113 

stirrup [el estribo] (also: cross-form stirrup; slipper stirrup; wooden stirrup)—a device hung 

from each side of a saddle to receive the rider's 

foot: 5, 8, 34, 35, 41, 42, 50, 60, 79, 99, 120, 133, 

134; 22, 84 

stirrup cover [la tapadera]—leather piece fitted over 

the front of the stirrup; in western U.S., the 

long, loose, pointed type is called "tapadero," 

the blunt, up-turned type, "pig-snout," but all 

are "taps" : 60h,i, 61g,h, 66 

stirrup leathers [el acion, los aciones (Sp.) ; el 

arcion, los arciones (Mex.) ] — adjustable straps 

that suspend the stirrups from the saddletree: 

34; 83 

stirrup straps (stirrup leathers) : 86 

stirrup tread [la pisa]—inner face where the foot 

rests, often protected by a leather piece: 84 

el sudadero [sweat pad]—a heavy piece of leather 

or fabric, often lined, placed under the saddle: 

37 

surcingle [el sobrecincho]—a kind of girth or cinch 

fastened over the saddle: 49, 70 

sweat-leather—the fender (q.v.) on the stirrup 

leather; or a padded piece (sweat pad, el sudadero) placed under the saddle: 60; 84 

swells—bulging of the shoulders of the pommel: 84 

las tablas (sideboards): 34; 83 

el talabartero [saddler, harness maker]—Mexican 

craftsman trained in making saddles: 26 

el talle [sic], el telliz—any covering or appurtenance 

for a saddle: 9 

la tapadera (stirrup cover) : 18, 35, 42, 107, 110, 

120; 83 

tapadero (stirrup cover) : 62, 95; 37, 39 

taps (stirrup cover) : 95 

la teja (cantle) : 34; 83 

Texas saddle (saddle types, western U.S.) : 33 

Texas tree (saddle types, western U.S.) : 59 

thongs (saddle strings) : 35 
NUMBER 39 145 

three-quarter rigged (girthing types) : 8, 95 

los tientos (saddle strings) : 34, 35; 83 

ties (saddle strings) : 34 

trappings [los arreos, los aderezos, los jaeces]—all 

the equipment that is normally associated with 

a saddle, including housings [las faldas, los 

faldones, la gualdrapa] and armor or coverings 

[las armas, la barda, la coraza, la mochila]: 11 

tree [el fuste] (saddletree; bow) : 14, 18, 42, 65 

valise [la maleta]—a container secured behind the 

cantle: 12, 60, 120; 69a,g,i 

el vaquerillo—a protective and decorative appurtenance usually made of goat skin, with the 

hair remaining on the outside and with pockets 

added on the under side; placed behind the 

cantle on some Mexican-type saddles: 37, 90; 18 

vaquero saddle [la silla vaquera]: 14, 18, 33 

wooden stirrup—either the eastern U.S. bent-wood 

type, or the Mexican and southwest U.S. type 

carved from a block: 92; 14 

Zaldivar tree—popular type of charro tree named 

for the noted Mexican gentleman-rider, Don 

Juan Zaldivar: 34 
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS 

(If an illustration is a reproduction of a photograph made by the Smithsonian Institution, the negative number appears in parentheses) 

Frontispiece. See information given below for Figure s 

60, 66, 72, and 68; no color negatives available. 

1. NCFA. 

2. a. From Tamar a Talbot Rice, The Scythians (London, 1957), plate 30, reproduced through the courtesy of the Hermitage, Leningrad; b, from Albert 

F. Calvert, Spanish Art and Armour (London, 

1907), page 172; c, courtesy of Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, catalogue number HMD 

L605; d, courtesy of the Los Angeles County Natura l History Museum, accession number L.2100-

A.457.65-0. 

3. From Alfredo Chavero, editor, "Lienzo de Tlaxcalla,'' Antigiiedades Mexicanas (Mexico City: 

Oficina Tipografica de la Secretaria de Fomento, 

1892), plate 80. 

4. From C. Weiditz, Das Trachtenbuch . . . von seinen 

Reisen nach Spayiien, 1529, reprint edition edited 

by Theodor Hampe (Berlin, 1927). 

5. From Chavero, "Baranda, " Antiqiiedades, plate 3a 

[see credit for Figur e 3]. 

6. NMHT : upper, catalogue number 258,879 (78-

10029) ; lower, catalogue number 35,395 (78 -

10026). 

7. From Ignacio Tirsch, The Drawings of Ignacio 

Tirsch, a Jesuit Missionary in Baja California, 

translated and edited by Elsbeth Schulz-Bischof 

(Los Angeles, 1972) ; reproduced with the permission of the publisher, Dawson's Book Shop; originals in the State Library of Czechoslovakia, 

Prague , catalogue number XVI B 18. 

8. From J. Hefter, "Cronica del traj e militar en 

Mexico . . .," Artes de Mexico (Mexico City), number 102 (1968), page 51 ; original in the Archives 

of the Indies, Seville. 

9. From Donald C. Cutter, Malaspina in California 

(San Francisco, 1960), opposite page 34; reproduced with the permission of the author; original 

in El Museo Naval, Madrid, catalogue number A 

XXIV. 

10. From Weiditz, Das Trachtenbuch [see credit for 

Figur e 4]. 

11. From Chavero, "Tlaxcalla, " Antiqiiedades, plates 

74, 59 [see credit for Figur e 3]. 

12. From Jose Alvarez del Villar, Historia de la 

Charreria (Mexico City, 1941), pages 26, 33. 

13. From Chavero, "Tlaxcala, " Antiqiiedades, plate 13 

[see credit for Figur e 3]. 

14. From Antonio Galvao Andrade , Arte de cavallaria 

de gineta e estardiota (Lisbon: Joa n de Costa, 

1678). 

15. From Galvao, Arte de cavallaria [see credit for 

Figur e 14]. 

16. From Chavero, "Tlaxcala, " Antiqiiedades, plates 75, 

60 [see credit for Figur e 3]. 

17. Courtesy of David de la B. Argiiedas, photographer. 

18. Courtesy of El Museo de la Charreria , El Departa -

mento de Museos y Monumentos del Gobierno del 

Estado de Mexico, and La Oficina del Turismo del 

Estado de Mexico, all in Toluca, Mexico (76-12845). 

19. Courtesy of Argueda s [see credit for Figur e 17]. 

20. Courtesy of Argueda s [see credit for Figur e 17]. 

21. Courtesy of Argiiedas [see credit for Figur e 17]. 

22. Courtesy of Argiiedas [see credit for Figur e 17]. 

23. Courtesy of the Thomas Gil crease Institut e of 

American History and Art, Tulsa. 

24. From Jea n Roemer, Cavalry: Its History, Management, and Uses in War (New York: D. Va n Nostrand, 1863), page 494. 

25. From A System of Tactics . . . for the Cavalry and 

Light Infantry and Riflemen of the United States; 

By Authority of the Department of War (Washington: Francis Preston Blair, 1834), plat e 2. 

26. Courtesy of the Northern Natura l Gas Company 

Collection, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha. 

27. From Richard Edward s and Menr a Hopewell, Edward's Great West and . . . History of St. Louis . . . 

(Saint Louis: Published a t the office of "Edwards's 

Monthly," 1860), page 107. 

28. Courtesy of the Joslyn Art Museum [see credit for 

Figur e 26]. 

29. NMN H (2856-33). 

30. National Archives, Washington. 

31. National Archives, Washington: U.S. Signal Corps 

photo 11 l-B-42 7 (Brady Collection). 

32. Landis and Sickles ads courtesy of the Missouri 

Historical Society, Saint Louis; Thoma s & Miller 

ad courtesy of Saint Louis Mercantile Librar y Association. 

33. From William E. Connelley, Doniphan's Expedition 

and the Conquest of New Mexico and California 

(Topeka: Published by the author, 1907), page 471. 

34. Courtesy of the U.S. Army Quartermaste r Museum, 

Fort Lee, Virginia. 

35. Courtesy of the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond. 

36. Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society, Saint 

Louis. 

146 
NUMBER 39 147 

37. 

38. 

39. 

40. 

41. 

42. 

43. 

44. 

45. 

46. 

47. 

48. 

49. 

50. 

51. 

52. 

53. 

54. 

55. 

56. 

57. 

From Randolph B. Marcy, The Prairie Traveler 

. . . Published by Authority of the War Department 

(New York: Harpe r & Brothers, 1859), pages 118 

(quoted material), 119 (illustration). 

Courtesy of the Collection of Carl Dentzel, Southwest Museum, Los Angeles. 

Courtesy of the History Division, Los Angeles 

County Museum of Natura l History, Los Angeles. 

Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society, Saint 

Louis. 

Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of 

California, Berkeley. 

Courtesy of the Southwestern History Museum, 

Arizona Historical Society, Tucson. 

Courtesy of the State Historical Society of Colorado, Denver (74-3663). 

Courtesy of the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond. 

Courtesy of the Southwestern History Museum 

[see credit for Figur e 42]. 

Courtesy of the Nebraska State Historical Society, 

Lincoln; quoted material from Robert Bruce, The 

Fighting Norths and Pawnee Scouts; Narratives 

and Reminiscences of Military Service on the Old 

Frontier . . . Mainly from Extensive Correspondence with Capt. L. H. North, 1929-32 . . . Published 

with the Cooperation and Approval of the Nebraska 

State Historical Society . . . (New York: Brooklyn 

Eagle Press, 1932), page 16. 

Courtesy of the Henry E. Huntington Library and 

A rt Gallery, San Marino. 

Courtesy of the Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio Museum Association, San Antonio. 

Courtesy of the Washington University Gallery of 

Art, Saint Louis. 

Courtesy of Bernisches Historisches Museum, 

Berne. 

Courtesy of the West Point Museum Collections, 

West Point, New York. 

From John C. Ewers, "The Horse in Blackfoot Indian Culture . . ." (Bureau of American Ethnology 

Bulletin, 159, Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 

1955), page 80. 

Courtesy of Bernisches Historisches Museum, 

Berne. 

Courtesy of the Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa. 

From Ewers, "The Horse in Blackfoot Indian Cultur e . . .," page 107 [see credit for Figur e 52]. 

From Ewers, "The Horse in Blackfoot Indian Cultur e . . .," page 66 [see credit for Figur e 52]. 

Courtesy of the Amon Carte r Museum, Fort Worth. 

58. Coui*tesy of the Woolaroc Museum, Bartlesville, 

Oklahoma. 

59. Courtesy of the Collection of the San Antonio Museum Association, San Antonio. 

60. Courtesy of El Museo de la Charreri a [see credit 

for Figur e 18]: a (76-12848); b (76-12849); c 

(79-754) ;d (79-755) ; e (76-12851) ; / (76-12852) ; 

g (76-12856); h (76-12853); i (76-12854); ; (76 -

12850). 

61. Courtesy of Jerome Forster, lone, California: 

a (76-14357) ; b (76-14597) ; c (76-14369) ; d (76 -

14368) ; e (76-14367) ; / (76-14364) ; g (76-14366); 

h (76-14365). 

62. NMHT : a (77-5563); b (77-3789); c (78-19150); 

d (negative not available) ; e (77-3785). 

63. NMHT : a (77-5564); b (58894-B; c (77-3791). 

64. Courtesy of the Los Angeles County Museum of 

Natura l History, Los Angeles: a (77-5565) ; b (76 -

12859); c (76-12864); d (76-12863); e (76-12865). 

65. Courtesy of the Los Angeles County Museum of 

Natura l History, Los Angeles: a (77-5566); 

6 (76-8772); c (76-8774). 

66. NMHT : a (77-5567); b (77-3784); c (77-3783). 

67. Courtesy of the Southwestern History Museum [see 

credit for Figur e 42] : a (76-12980) ; 6 (76-12984) ; 

c (76-12985); d (76-12988); e (76-12978). 

68. Courtesy of the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department, Cheyenne: a (77-5569) ; b (76-

13566) ; c (76-13568); d (76-13570); e (76-13569). 

69. Courtesy of the State Historical Society, Denver: 

a (76-15651) ; b (76-15642) ; c (76-15645) ; d (76-

15647) ; e (76-15648) ; / (76-15661) ; g (76-15655) ; 

h (76-15660) ; i (76-15659) ; j (76-15654) ; k (76 -

15650); I (76-15649) ; m A77-3794) ; n (77-3795) ; 

o (76-15662) ; p (77-3796) ; q (76-15657) ; r (76 -

15656). 

70. NMHT : a (77-5570) ; b (77-5571). 

71. NMN H (77-5572). 

72. NMN H (77-5573). 

73. NMN H (77-5574). 

74. NMN H (77-5575). 

75. NMNH : a (77-5577) ; b (77-5578). 

76. NMN H (77-5576). 

77. NMN H (77-5582). 

78. NMN H (77-5583). 

79. NMN H (77-5579). 

80. NMN H (77-4711). 

81. NMN H (77-5580). 

82. NMN H (77-5581). 

83. Drawn by Paul A. Rossi, Tucson. 

84. Drawn by Rossi. 

<rU.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE . 1980 0 293-752 



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