Any Info I Would Appreciate Fa Meanea

[Wrangler]

Hey everyone,

I just purchased this saddle at an auction and the owner came up and mentioned that it used to be a RCMP, or maybe it was a NWMP saddle. It's been at his farm since he was a kid.

From what I could grab off it - the saddle bags and skirting has FA MEANEA Cheyenne stamped on the back, and the front of the skirting has 181 on it. Fairly large font.

On the back of the cantle there looks like a "HAIJ...." or something knifed in or burned into the back -I'm guessing the owners name. A heap of tooling and a nice saddle, despite the wear and tear and lack of care.

The front of the cantle has a stamp (which is supposed to be the RCMP stamp (or NWMP)).

Any help? I googled FA MEANEA and found a lot of nice rigs and leatherwork - not much else.

Thanks for any input.

[GAP]

Hey everyone,

I just purchased this saddle at an auction and the owner came up and mentioned that it used to be a RCMP, or maybe it was a NWMP saddle. It's been at his farm since he was a kid.

From what I could grab off it - the saddle bags and skirting has FA MEANEA Cheyenne stamped on the back, and the front of the skirting has 181 on it. Fairly large font.

On the back of the cantle there looks like a "HAIJ...." or something knifed in or burned into the back -I'm guessing the owners name. A heap of tooling and a nice saddle, despite the wear and tear and lack of care.

The front of the cantle has a stamp (which is supposed to be the RCMP stamp (or NWMP)).

Any help? I googled FA MEANEA and found a lot of nice rigs and leatherwork - not much else.

Thanks for any input.

You might see if you can find "They Saddled the West" by Lee Rice and Glenn Vernam. There is a chapter in it about Meanea saddles

[AndyKnight]

You might see if you can find "They Saddled the West" by Lee Rice and Glenn Vernam. There is a chapter in it about Meanea saddles

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Cool old saddle. As far as I know NWMP saddles were made in Canada. I am thinking by Great west saddlery.....

[Denise]

Could you post a picture of the RCMP stamp on the front of the cantle? It would be fun to see and then some of the people who know about these things might be able to tell if it is authentic or not.

[Saddlebag]

I do believe this to be a cowboy's working saddle. From my days at Glenbow in Calgary I don't recall ever seeing a saddle of this style used by either the NWMP or the RCMP. The first bunch of NWMP were a pretty straggly bunch using their own horses, saddles and clothing. Since the saddles were privately owned it's doubtful they'd bear the NWMP stamp.

[DaveT]

FA Meana was a saddle shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I'm on the road for the next month or so, but I have a book at home that tells a great deal about the FA Meana company, and the Cheyenne style of saddle in particular. Sorry, I don't remember the author, or the title other than ...Cheyenne Saddle... It's a pretty good book and has a lot of reproduction catalog pages and photos. Basically the Meana company made saddles and tack and sold them all over the west via saddle catalogs. I'm pretty sure they would have sent saddles into Canada if requested. The number 181 is probably the saddle model/style number. When I get home I'll try to dig out the book I have and post some more info on it.

Dave T.

[DaveT]

Finally made it through the house and was able to pick up my book. The title is: "The Cheyenne Saddle" by James R. Laird. Copyright 1982, published by The Cheyenne Corral, Westerners International. ISBN: 0-9609648-0-0 I found several copies available for sale through www.bookfinder.com.

Quick history: F.A. Meana bought out the E.L. Gallatin saddle shop in Cheyenne around the mid 1870s. The E.L. Gallatin name was retained until the early 1880s, when they began marketing under the F.A. Meana name. The F.A. Meana company pioneered the saddle catalog, a marketing technique picked up and used by just about everyone. BTW, did you know that Sears and Roebuck used to sell saddles in their famous catalogs?

Your saddle could be one of many models. It's a loop seat (You can see the stirrup leathers through the seat) and has basic bead border. It also appears to have some basket stamping on it. The skirts are missing or folded under, so I can't begin to guess the model. The model number is usually stamped on the front of the skirts, under the front jockey. From the angle of the photo I can't tell if the tree has swells or is a slick fork. Meana made both styles.

I doubt you could use this for anything other than display, but it might clean up nice enough for that. You'd have to clean it up pretty good, soak and flatten the skirts, and oil it liberally to bring it back some, but it might be worth the work for a nice conversation or collector piece. I have no idea if it has any value to a collector, and in the current condition it's pretty rough. Hope this helps.

Dave T.

[THein]

Wrangler,

Awhile back my wife was trying to find out more about an old saddle I've had for about 35 years and the fellow I got it from had it for25 or 30 years. She came across this article about Meanea.

http://lasvegasmuseum.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-07%3A00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=24

If anybody has a good photo of Menea's cartouche, I'd like to see it. This saddle's cartouche is pounded out pretty hard. It was put on centered on the seat just back of the swells. All you can make out is Cheyenne Wy and a couple of letters. Was it common for old makers to change location of their stamps?

thein

[Saddlebag]

I just realized that you folks probably aren't familiar with Glenbow. Glenbow is a huge modern museum located in downtown Calgary that specializes in Western Canadian history. The collection is world class. Glenbow's full title is Glenbow-Alberta Institute. I'm thinking the saddle dates back to about 1930.

Edited June 24, 2010 by Saddlebag

[Red Haskel]

You might try contacting Robert Nelson in Cheyenne, WY. He has a museum in downtown Cheyenne and might be able to help you. office@nelsonmuseum.com 307-635-7670

Back in the late 80s when I lived there the original Meanea Saddle Shop was still there and they had a lot of his work on display. They also had all of his old tools and patterns and were remaking some of his goods. I dont know if they are still there or not.

a little history:

Frank A. Meanea's Saddle Shop which was located at 218 W. 17th Street. Leatheritems such as chaps, saddles, holsters made by Meanea are highly collectableand valuable. Meanea (1849-1928) arrived in Cheyenne in 1867. For a period oftime Meanea worked for E. L. Gallatin who opened the shop in 1873. Meaneapurchased the shop from Gallatin in 1880 and continued to operate it until hisdeath in 1928. His motto was, "If it can be made in leather, we doit." Deputy United States Marshal, Joe LeFors, in his autobiography,indicated that he was first introduced to the infamous shootist Tom Horn byCheyenne Chief of Police Sandy McNeil in Meanea's Saddle Shop. Frank Meanea'sbrother, Theodore, operated a shop in Denver.