Don King

[greg gomersall]

Don King passed away saturday evening. He was one of the greatest and most innovative stampers and tool makers to ever be involved in the business. Don, you were a good freind and teacher and I am gonna miss you. Greg

[wolvenstien]

Tool on.

[Don101]

I never met the man although he and the kings were and are legends world wide and its a sad loss, RIP, Don

[MatthewD]

Prayer for the family

[Johanna]

I excerpted this from an article I found in "Sunset" written by Peter Fish.

He was born in Douglas, Wyoming, but didn't hang around long. At age 5 he left with his father, a cowboy who moved all over the West. When King was 14, he, too, struck out on his own, breaking horses at Arizona dude ranches, exercising polo ponies in Santa Barbara, discovering he had a gift for tooling leather. When he was wrangling in Glacier National Park, he remembers, "I'd wake up at 3:30 in the morning. I was supposed to catch up on sleep, but I'd make a belt. And I was making more money selling belts than I was on my wages."

In this way a career was born. After World War II, Don King married and settled in Sheridan. The town had dude ranches and real ranches and cowboys and tourists who appreciated fine leatherwork. King apprenticed himself to a saddlemaker. "Oh, they were pretty rough," he says of his first efforts. "But I learned. I'd copy saddles at first. But I figure if you use someone's style you should change it or improve it. I'd throw in my own ideas."

King's ideas helped shape what is now called the Sheridan style of saddlemaking. It's exuberant, yet controlled, with designs - often garlands of wild roses - intricately carved into the leather, not stamped as with cheaper saddles. "This area has a history of exceptional floral tooling," says Jim Jackson, who tools King belts and wallets. "Don took patterns they were stamping, large flowers, and turned them into smaller, tighter patterns. Guys had never seen anything like that before."

King is retired from saddlemaking and spends his time producing much-in-demand leather-carving tools. But the King tradition carries on. Son Bruce runs the shop, son Bob runs King Ropes, and son John produces the saddles. John King's custom saddles can run upwards of $4,000. "There are other people who try and do our style," he says. "But they don't know how."

The Kings' way with leather has earned them fame surprising for a place on Main Street in Sheridan. Bill Clinton owns a King belt. The National Endowment for the Arts brought Don King to Washington and honored him as a living treasure of American folk art. Photographs on the saddlery walls show a familiar-looking woman touring the store. The photos are accompanied by a letter of thanks from Buckingham Palace: "Her Majesty was fascinated by everything she saw and was much impressed by the skill involved in the making of the saddles."

King's Saddlery and King Ropes, 184 N. Main St., Sheridan, WY 82801; (800) 443-8919

Johanna

[barra]

What a loss to the leather world and my deepest sympathy goes out to the King family. This mans legacy will live on in the artistry seen in numerous leather items all over the world.

Barra.

[BruceGibson]

Terribly sad. We've lost a legend.

[bruce johnson]

Thanks for posting this Greg.

Pretty small group of guys who have not owned at least one King rope in their lifetime, and fewer still who didn't have a "King's Ropes" cap at one time. Not many people who pick up a knife have not been influenced on some level by Don King. I have been fortunate to talk with Don a few times. Favorite memory- Last year at the show, We spent Thurs afternoon going through the museum (again). A lot of guys were huddled around Jim Jackson's bench watching him tool a checkbook. Don was standing a ways away by himself. My wife (not known for being non-conversational) walked up to Don and said "Mr. King, You will be busy later on, but I just want to thank you in advance for the good time I am going to have at your party tonight". Work stopped and about 10 guys turned around. Don got that twinkle in his eye and laughed. They talked for about 15 minutes. Saturday night, Don was still laughing when he saw us and decided our glasses were low. Although I haven't switched totally to tequila/grapefruit juice, thank you Don. It is a loss that you are gone, but a bigger gain that you were here.

[Cowboy Crafts Online]

I was able to meet Mr. King 3 years ago at the museum. He was busy, but took time to talk to me. I think it will probably be on of the best times in my life. He took leather work to a higher level, making it so refined. He will be greatly missed, but his leagecy will live on. We all need to take what he did and continue to make our selves better leather workers.

Ashley

[Mike Craw]

I, too, had a chance to meet and talk with Mr. King at last year's show. During our conversation I mentioned that I was building my first saddle for my daughter's wedding present, and that I was basing it on a Visalia Stock Saddle Co. saddle that I found in "The Art of the West." He said, "Have you seen the Visalias we have here?" I said I had seen one or two. He got up from his chair and took me arouond the museum and showed me every one in the collection. I don't know what astounded me more, that he would stop what he was doing and lead me around personally, or that he knew the exact location of all of them.

I was heasitant about going to Sheridan for a lot of reasons. I was brand new to saddle making and I figured that "Saddle Week" was for the pros. None of my concerns turned out to be valid, and the week was fantastic. I learned a ton, I got to meet great people like Bruce Johnson, Don Butler, Al Gould, and all the other participants who shared so much. I have nothing but great memories from my trip to Sheridan, but I also have a picture to go with my memory of meeting Don King, and that is something I'll always treasure.

Edited August 21, 2007 by Mike Craw