Rowell And Thomas Saddles

[Mechanical Cowgirl]

I recently picked up a couple project saddles and was wanting to find out some information about them before I tore into them too much. One is an A-fork Rowell Saddle Co. from Harward CA with a 15" seat, the other is from Thomas Saddlery in Preston ID with a 14.5" seat. I have found a little on the Rowell saddles but nothing on the Thomas and any inforamtion on either would be great, ages, values, historical info on their style ect. The Rowell could use new strings, has one set of rosettes missing and both back D's ripped out, I was going to do strings, rosettes and conchos on the Thomas. Should I put the original slotted star conchos back on or would some more 'modern' ones be okay?

Thanks!

(The Rowell is the darker saddle and the Thomas is the lighter with the HUGE horn...)

[bison]

Well, I'm not going to be of any help, but you're doing something I've been thinking about...re-working old saddles. I'll be very interested in seeing how it goes. Keep posting pictures if you can and good luck!

Dave

[Mechanical Cowgirl]

Dave, I'll try to remember to snap photos, I always get going and forget about the documentation part. I'm no pro by any means, I just find fixing up a saddle to be very rewarding and a good hobby for cold/wet/snowy winter months. If you start with one in pretty decent condition that just needs minor things (strings, stirrup leathers, re-stitching stuff) it's hard to mess it up and a good starting point. Ask around your area or even put an add in the classifieds looking for a project saddle, you should be able to get something for pretty cheap or even free, but make sure it is worth fixing. Most of the time I don't like to mess with repairing front rigging I don't feel 'qualified' I'm very concerned about not getting each side exactly the same and creating an uneven pull on the horse, the other thing I don't touch are broken trees - just a thought. I was fourtunate enough to have outfitter friends that always needed something fixed (stuff that was already fixed before, or not so pretty anyway) so perfection wasn't an issue and excellent prectice.

Good luck!

[bison]

I'm fortunate in that there are always rodeos going on here in Oklahoma and there's plenty of saddles to be had. It's just a matter of getting the gumption to go from sitting on one to working on one! Good advise on the tree and starting with what I'm comfortable with. I sort of figured it's be pretty rewarding...glad to have that confirmed. With winter coming on, I just might have to get started. Thanks for the encouragement.

Dave

[Saddlebag]

I'd stay with the star conchos if you can find replacements like the originals. Instead of going with the new ones I'd use leather conchos until you can find what you want. The newer conchos are thin and too shiney to suit this saddle.

[Mechanical Cowgirl]

Well, I'm not going to be of any help, but you're doing something I've been thinking about...re-working old saddles. I'll be very interested in seeing how it goes. Keep posting pictures if you can and good luck!

Dave

Alright Dave, I remembered to take a few pics, one 'in-progress' of re-stitching the horn and a few final photos.

[Mechanical Cowgirl]

Well, I'm not going to be of any help, but you're doing something I've been thinking about...re-working old saddles. I'll be very interested in seeing how it goes. Keep posting pictures if you can and good luck!

Dave

Here is the Rowell saddle pretty much done, just have two more strings to do.

[spur2009]

Can give you some history on the Rowell but came up blank on the Thomas. Harry Rowell was born in Peterborough, England. He joined th British Navy

and after discharge went to Canada and then to Calif in 1912. He was a rancher and promoted rodes and in 1940 went into saddlemaking with

Victor Alexander. In 1942 Alexander left the firm and the named chaged to Rowell Saddle Co. and he remained in the business untill 1961 with

several shops in various Calif locations. Hope this info will be of some help to you.

[Mechanical Cowgirl]

Spur2009,

Thanks for the info on that saddle! I wasn't real sure as to the age of the Rowell as it doesn't have any 'dating' characteristics that I recognise. It's a style that my dad, an outfitter, would use in the mountains and you can find similar saddles new. It does have that half horn cover deal with the screw on the top of the horn, which isn't common anymore (I think...).

I also have come up with absolutely nothing yet on the Thomas, maybe it was a part-time saddle maker? But the maker stamp isn't hand done, it's with a single stamp, if that makes sense, so I'm guessing that they must have been fairly serious about the business. It is a well made saddle, not a cheaply made saddle by any means.

Any thoughts on what they are worth? I'm getting ready to put them up for sale, they are going to fund converting a stall in my barn to my new leather shop! I'm currently using 2 rooms in my 900 ft^2 house, makes things really cramped for living...

MC

[dRTrailinStar]

I apologize for digging up such an old post, but I came across it in a Google search, and thought I'd offer some thoughts. I really enjoyed these pictures of the Thomas saddle you reworked. You may have had your questions about it answered by now, but if not, I hope this bit of info will be helpful.

My great great-grandpa, Moroni Thomas, began building saddles in the late 1800's. What I have been told is that he went to a saddlery school in Ogden, UT. He lived in various places in northern Utah, before moving to Swan Lake, ID to run the Thomas Mercantile with his brothers (the business is still there, today). One of his sons, Nathan Thomas, (my great-grandpa), took over the business and built saddles out of his shop (Thomas Saddlery), in Preston, ID until he passed away in the early 1970's.

Moroni won a few awards for his saddles, including first place at the Portland, Oregon World's Fair. I'm not sure if grandpa Nate ever entered his saddles in competitions, but I do know that people came from miles around to get 'em. Thomas saddles are pretty hard to come by, because most people that have them hang onto them forever, so I am always excited when pictures of them surface on the web.

Over the last few years, I have begun to build saddles and tack, and as far as I know, I'm the only one in the family since, that has taken an interest to leather work. Since grandpa died long before I was born, the only resources I have had as far as learning his style, is pictures. That being said, I would be very interested know if you have come across any Thomas Saddles, since? If so, I would love to see some pics!

[oltoot]

As would be expected for the time (has an early 50's look) , it's pretty narrow and steep angled in front. It is in great shape though and a good cleaning with a glycerine based cleaner would have been time well spent. It's a little too new to be a "restoration" so for someone looking for a well made kid's saddle for use on smaller horses with angular conformation it should bring somewhere +/- $300. I'm not at all familiar with your market but I would be a little picky about who I sold it to. A heavy user on big horses could end up with a bad experience and tell all their friends about it. As for the other one it may be a little older but not much. Good brass hardware like the EZ rig front dees was just about impossible to find until after WWII and high priced until after the Korean conflict, too high priced for use in a low end shop made saddle like that one. If its narrow like the other one you would probably be in the same pricing boat as with the other one maybe worse because of the bigger seat.

[Saddlebag]

I'm thinking the stirrups on both saddles are not originals. Considering the excellent quality of both saddles they'd have had leather bound stirrups. The laced rawhide are a style that came later. The metal bound were seen on economy saddles, usually mail order saddles, of that era.

[Kaarin]

Did you ever find information about the Moroni Thomas saddle? I have a bit of history and can put you in touch with the family.

Kaarin