15" Denver Dry Goods cowboy turtles association contest saddle with horn

[cowboygear]

I have a great old 15" Denver Dry Goods cowboy turtles association contest saddle with horn. It is marked with the turtles association logo as well as the "Denver Dry Goods" stamp (all original). Does anyone know whether or not Denver Dry Goods actually had a working shop where they made theyre own leather goods or were these items made by other companies and just marketed by Denver Dry Goods under the Denver Dry Goods name? The reason I ask is that this saddle looks exactly like a Hamley association saddle and is definately a higher quality made saddle. I have not had this saddle apart for restoration and I was just wondering if Hamley & Co might have produced saddles for Denver Dry Goods to sell under the Denver name. Interested in any info anyone can provide about either company concerning contest association saddles. I know that Hamley is attributed with producing the first contest association saddles.

[greg gomersall]

Denver Dry Goods produced thier own saddles. They were in business from the 20's till approx. 1986. They also marketed saddles under the Powder River Brand. They bought the Hermann H. Heiser Co. in 1945 and sold the Heiser firm to Keyston Brothers in 1950. While Hamley's developed the Association rig over the winter of 1919-1920 and were probably the largest producer of them into the 50's I would believe that Denver Dry Goods were probably the second largest producer of them. Greg

[bruce johnson]

CowboyGear,

Any chance you could post some pictures of the saddle? Especially the CTA logo and maker's stamp. I find it interesting that a lot of old saddles are described as "a higher quality made saddle". Yes they probably were, they had to be. These saddlers were all competing with each other on quality and let price take care of itself, and had a reasonably educated customer base. If they weren't decent quality either 1) they fell apart and didn't survive until now or 2) never sold enough to be a factor. The big shops like Visalia, Hamleys. Porters, etc. were putting out a quality product, and the individual maker had that standard to look up to. Now it is generally the other way around.

Greg,

Any idea when the horns starting either being cut off or never put on the contest saddles? I have seen a few that had brass horns cut off. The stump was engraved on one. It looked like it was a medallion inlayed, but a tear at the edge showed a leg of the horn. I just looked at my rulebook, and there is no mention I can find of not having a horn being a requirement. Might be pretty cool to see a guy wear woolies and ride a horned saddle, they say everything comes back around.

I have also seen some of the horns off older saddles (not contest saddles) that were hollowed out in the base and others that were solid. Any idea on what foundaries were casting these and where they were? One of those things I have never seen mentioned to any extent - the unsung horn makers.

[greg gomersall]

Bruce it would still be legal to compete with a horned saddle. From what i've been told Earl Bascom was the first to cut his horn off back in the late 20's but I can remeber seeing guys still riding with horns in the early 70's though it was rare. By the mid 50's and early 60's most guys were cutting them off. In the first 50 years of rodeo alot of these guys only owned 1 saddle and they made thier living cowboying out of it during the week while rodeoing on a regonial basis when and if they could.

I've rode broncs at ranch rodeos and bucking horse sales in angora's and an old horned committee rig I have in the past and I tip my hat to those that did it well. Loose fitting chaps are tough enough but if the angora is long it will work in between the swells and your thigh and is slick like grease.

Most of the rodeos up here other than the PRCA shows are also having Stock Saddle Bronc Riding at them and you see a few wearing woolies with thier slick fork rigs. They are allowed to fasten thier rope down tight on the saddle and use thier rope as a night latch with thier free hand, most are but some are going one handed. Our local rodeo here in New Plymouth had $1,000.00 added money plus fees this year and close to 30 entries last month. The Elko County Fair and Rodeo has what they call the World Championship Stock Saddle Bronc Riding In July and it pays out around $15,000.00. The WRCA Finals in Amarillo has it as well as a requirement for each team competeing plus they have an open class as well. Not many are using a committee rig but you do see one from time to time.

I don't know if Severe Brothers produced many with horns or not. I'll try to remeber and ask Randy at some point. Greg

[greg gomersall]

Bruce talked to a friend of mine this morning who has a photo of Bill and Duff Severe along with the first Severe Brothers Bronc saddle and its buyer Casey Tibbs. The saddle had a horn but they had bent the neck forward so that the cap was almost touching the front of the swell. This was 1955, the year Bill and Duff left Hamley's and went on thier own. Greg

[cowboygear]

This saddle needs a little refurbing reline and strings. Funny thing is one of the EZ dee rings was replced with an old welded horseshoe but the original rigging leather is still there and undamaged. I will try to post some before and after photos of the saddle.

[greg gomersall]

Bruce; Recieved an interesting Email today from Earl Bascom's son. He had googled his dad's name and came accross the post on this thread where I had mentioned his dad as being the first to cut his horn off. He says it was 1922 that his dad did this. As a side note Earl was one of the true inventive genuises in the rodeo business as he is also the man who came up with the side delivery bucking chute and the first leather bareback rigging as well, as to that point the bareback horses were rode with a rope instead. No wonder the man is in the Hall Of Fame. Greg

[bruce johnson]

Greg,

Thanks for that update. Yep, the man was a visionary. Pretty cool to get the story from his son too. I have seen pics of those old guys riding with a rope. I am thinking they do it in some of the charro rodeos out here. I did have an old bareback rigging with a solid aluminum (?) handle that came in a trade about 25 plus years ago, kind of an odd one. Came in after the rag handle era, but not sure when. As I recall it was a "Jimmy Houston" (?), so that kind of dates it. I'll ask some of the older guys how long the metal handles lasted, wasn't very long. Quite a few retired bareback riders locally that spanned a lot of years.

I am headed to Denver in a couple weeks. My wife has a convention, and I am tagging along. Pretty free lance vacation for me. I am going to have a week to kill, and will probably spend at least a full day at the Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs. Might go up to Cheyenne too. No serious plans, just time.

Edited October 15, 2007 by bruce johnson