Found In The Rafters Of Old Garage!

[yotebuster1200]

At the last place my wife and I rented we found an old saddle in the rafters of the garage. We talked to the landlady and she said he was way behind on rent left in the middle of the night and left a few things behind. (he was a farrier by trade). She told us to keep the saddle. As soon as I got looking at it I could tell it was probably late 1800's. I didnt have time to do much with it so I just stuck it in storage. I pulled it out yesterday and decided to clean it up a little. After getting it cleaned up I noticed some markings. They were a bugger to make out. Most of the impressions from the letters were no longer visible but I noticed if I looked at the right angle to the light I could make out the letters (they appeared denser than the surrounding leather). From what I could see and just guessing on the rest I got

J. _ HA_DING

_EADWOOD

DT

NO 31

So I filled in the blanks assuming it was

J. _ HARDING

DEADWOOD

DT

NO 31

I figgures Deadwood had to be referring to Deadwood South Dakota but I Googled Deadwood DT just to see what came up. Deadwood Dakota Territories. So that made sense. Then I looked up J. Harding and after some searching I came up the the following info (Found a name by John A Harding)

Sol Star removed as postmaster by President on charge of complicity

Oct 1881

In regard to: Star, Sol

Appointed postmaster in place of Star

Harding, John A.

Oct 10 1881

Prospective postmaster negotiating for furniture

Harding, John A.

Oct 14 1881

Postmaster receives strange postcard

Harding, John A.

Feb 09 1882

Postmaster at Deadwood

Harding, J.A.

Jun 01 1882

Deadwood postmaster paid most in Dakota, $2700.

Post Office

Sep 30 1883

Since Dr. Harding has sent in his resignation as postmaster of this city, two men have come to the front who would be willing to take it at the reduced salary. James Carney and John Ickes, we understand, are out with petitions which are being signed by their respective friends. As neither of the gentlemen have requested the John Hancock of this local, we have taken no interest in the matter, and will stand back, like the old woman when her husband and the bear fought, and be ready to applaud the victor.

Carney, James.

Ickes, John.

Harding.

November 11, 1883

Yesterday’s Times mentioned that Dr. Harding had or would take the harness and sadlery business of James M. Woods. On yesterday, John Ickes, who has faithfully and honorably filled the position of first clerk and latterly assistant postmaster for the last little more than six years, assumed the management of the harness business as co-owner with Harding. The Times wishes the new management success in their undertaking.

Harding.

Ickes, John.

Woods, James M.

March 13, 1884

Postmaster acepting bids for mail route

Harding,

Dec 31 1882

Postmaster back from convention, extended visit

Harding,

Oct 01 1882

I am going to include some pictures so you can check it out.

I am just a little curious what you think a saddle like this would be worth. From the info I found and the saddle being No 31 I am guessing it was made sometime around the mid 1880's.

[lazyd]

Nice find !! How come I never run across a deal like that ? I love looking at those old saddles to see how they put them together back in the day. I think you should just send it back home to South Dakota. I'll pay the shipping to my shop !!!!-------------------Bill

[DoubleBarP]

The High Plains Western Heritage Center in Spearfish SD has a number of saddels on display including saddles that look like the one you have. Nice find..

[oltoot]

Sadly, it's not worth much as is because of the terrible condition. However, it looks like a good candidate for very careful restoration as it seems that all the original pieces are there and there have been no previous attempts at repair. Please dont let anybody try to "fix it up" unless they can demonstrate qualifications.

[yotebuster1200]

Thanks for the replies and info. I was pretty excited when I found out the details of the saddle even though it is not in the best condition. Oltoot, I was just wondering what exactly you meant by not worth much. Is not much fifty bucks or a couple hundred? The reason I ask is my wife told someone about it and he asked how much we wanted for it. I don't even know if I want to sell it but I dont think I would get rid of it for less than at least $500.00. I don't know if it is worth that much but I like it enough that I am not in a big hurry to get rid of it.

[oltoot]

Well, with the provenance (big word for historical background, but then you probably knew that already) you might attract a history buff, rather than a straight saddle collector, and you might get your $500. Your location would have something to do with your ability to attract saddle collectors. If you can, browse some websites and particularly auction results not estimates to see what people are looking for. Personaly as a restoration and profit making project, I would not give more than $100 but that's me. One alternative that you could consider is to wrap it in a few layers of sheet or something similar and dampen the outside layer a few times, letting it rehydrate slowly a little and keep it since it didn't cost you anything and it obviously kinda toots your horn

[Saddlebag]

These saddles were sold in the early mail-order catalogs. This looks like an old Bona Allen who did serve the catalog trade. The number is likely a reference number for reordering. Dang, I can't recall the mail order BA sold to, it might have been Sears-Roebuck.

[Saddlebag]

I should add that the horn wrap is not original. Sometimes when a repair was done, like this one, the skin from bull testicles was used. The original had two pieces of leather for the horn cap with a nail in the center.

[Harfindel]

I can add this bit of information: It appears J.A. Harding died in Deadwood in 1902. http://www.findagrav...r&GRid=80431112 Also, Dakota ceased being a Territory and became a State on November 2, 1889.

If one assumes that your saddle was made sometime between 1884 and 1889, or at least 1902, that would make it a dated, relatively early example of a Sam Stagg-rigged saddle, which would make it attractive to some collectors, I would think, given that it is mostly original.

You can find copies of the Sears & Roebuck catalog from 1897, I believe, which has illustrations of the various saddles that Sears would supply. There are Sam Stagg-rigged saddles in there; one might match yours pretty closely. It might explain the "No. 31" stamped on the skirt, too.

I agree that it would be best to have the saddle restored by someone who knows what he or she is doing. It could could be essentially destroyed by someone else. You might find the articles and stuff written by Rick Sherer to be of interest re: historical saddle restoration. People here have spoken highly of the book by Alain Eon, too.

You can get the auction results for a few early Sam-Stagg catalog saddles on the historical database of www.liveauctioneers.com. I think you will find that $500 for the saddle, once it is restored, is a stretch. If you can establish that Harding made his own saddles I would think it would be worth somewhat more, but not as much as a one made made by one of the saddlers who was/is better known.

Good luck with it - the saddle is definitely a pretty cool find.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Harfindel

[Harfindel]

I ran across the information for one of the catalog saddles that I mentioned in the previous post. Here is a photo of it. Records indicate that it sold at an auction for $700 in 2008.

Also, if you really wanted to establish whether yours is a catalog saddle, or made by Harding himself, you could check the manufacturing schedules to the nonpopulation census for Deadwood in the years 1890 and 1900. They would have a description of each business doing more than $500 of production per year, and would very likely have an entry for Harding's saddlery if he was a maker.

Edited October 8, 2013 by Harfindel

[Harfindel]

Here is a Google Books link to the 1897 Sears Roebuck catalog. Saddles begin on page 672. There is a model 93031 Cheyenne-rigged, square skirt stock saddle in the group at p. 674, but to my eye it looks significantly different from yours.

http://books.google.com/books?id=pavHOWOWKEEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=sears+catalog&hl=en&sa=X&ei=aYdZUoTJCsnlyAGqj4CoCw&ved=0CEoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=saddle&f=false

[Ken from Denver]

If you still have the saddle, there's a book with a chapter about John Harding and his wife Tilla -- it's a genealogy "Family of the Phoenix: Echoes from the Past" by Robert Keith (available on Amazon). As a child and young adult, John worked with his father in Ohio as a wool manufacturer -- when the Civil War broke out, they made a small fortune providing wool uniforms to the Union Army. After the war, John headed west with a wagon train to Diamond City, Montana where he opened a dry goods store. When the gold production slowed, he and his wife Tilla and their children headed to a new gold rush town of Deadwood in the Dakota territory. He arrived in Deadwood the same day Wild Bill Hickok had been shot in the back of the head and killed. John opened another dry goods store in Deadwood, and Calamity Jane is said to have become friends with John's wife Tilla. He later became Postmaster and then served briefly as Speaker of the House for the Dakota territory (Harding county, SD is named for him). When he died, he was buried in the Mount Moriah Cemetery -- "Boot Hill" -- Deadwood, SD (the same cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried). His wife and daughters are also buried there.

[Dwight]

That is a great find, . . . congratulations.

My old saddle doesn't have any history to it, . . . supposedly a turn of the century company making a Jumbo saddle.

It ain't much, . . . but it's mine, . . . and it rides good. Came out of a Denver, Colorado pawn shop.

May God bless,

Dwight