AN 1880’s
JOHN H. LIVINGSTON STOCK
SADDLE - SADDLE MAKER IN
FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS – A
VERY SCARCE EXAMPLE OF LIVINGSTON’S SADDLES IN EXCELLENT
CONDITION:
This is a scarce example
of an 1880’s Stock Saddle made by John H. Livingston
who maintained a saddle making business in Fort Smith,
Arkansas. Very well made and having survived in
excellent condition, this saddle is an attractive
example of the saddle maker’s art available on the
1880’s frontier, and representative of the true
stock saddles ridden throughout the Western Frontier.
This saddle still retains four maker’s cartouches
reading, “J.H. LIVINGSTON – MAKER – FT. SMITH ARK”.
Ft. Smith is situated at the confluence of the Arkansas
and Poteau Rivers on the western border of Arkansas
where it abuts Oklahoma.
From its earliest days it
was recognized as a well situated settlement which
through the years served as a military post, a trading
center for the western fur trade, and a natural jumping
off point for the immigrants who followed the Western
Expansion.
This type of activity certainly
included people who required a saddle, so it is no
surprise Livingston established his saddle shop in Ft.
Smith.
One of the city’s most
famous historic associations grew from the U.S. District
Court convened there and that court’s most famous jurist
– perhaps the most famous legal personality of the post
Civil War West – none other than Judge Isaac Parker.
Located just across the river from the violent lawless
“Indian Territories” - what would later become the state
of Oklahoma - Ft. Smith and Judge Parker’s term in the
Federal Court wrote an interesting chapter in the
history of the American Frontier. Parker served on the
bench from 1875 to 1896 – the period in which this
saddle was made, quite possibly just down the street
from the courthouse, and there is little doubt that
Livingston witnessed many of the hangings ordered by
Parker, and in turn benefited from the business that was
attracted to the town by those events.
Born in 1865, John
W. H. Livingston was in the saddle making
business in Ft. Smith by 1883, evidenced by an
advertisement in the September 21, 1883 edition of the
Ft. Smith Elevator Newspaper, “Saddlery hardware
at wholesale or retail – Call on J. H. Livingston”.
At this time, very little is known about Livingston’s
business history. William J. Murphy arrived in Ft.
Smith in 1885 and formed a short-lived partnership with
Livingston, which ended when Livingston sold his share
of the business, presumably to Murphy. After
considerable searching, I was able to find only one
other surviving Livingston made saddle. Despite his
young age, the quality of work exhibited on this saddle
indicates he was an accomplished maker and produced a
solid, durable, well finished saddle, and based on this
specimen one would be led to believe his work was in
demand. It is easy to imagine that at least some of the
U.S. Marshals employed by Judge Parker’s court rode
Livingston’s saddles, and more than a few cattlemen and
immigrants rode his saddles into the western frontier.
This saddle bears four
maker’s cartouches - “J.H. LIVINGSTON – MAKER – FT.
SMITH ARK”. One on each of the short jockeys behind the
cantle, just above the silver metal conchos, and one in
the center of each of the sweat leathers (fenders). So
marked, its apparent that Livingston was rightfully
proud of his work.
This saddle includes
features that identify it as having been made during the
period of transition as saddle makers began to
incorporate design advancements which developed into
stock saddle of the 1880’s.
This saddle retains the
half seat, however the horn and slick fork pommel are
fully covered with finished leather rather than the
exposed rawhide of earlier saddles. Likewise, the horn
has a short profile with the “button-top” cap,
considerably shorter than the higher slender roping
horns which would appear in the 1890’s. The leather
covering the slick fork and side bars in front of the
half seat are decorated with intersecting pairs of hand
tooled lines, forming a delicate cross hatching
decoration in the surface of the leather. Similarly,
the straps of the Samstag rigging are decorated with
hand applied tooled parallel lines. These additional
touches speak well of Livingston’s skill and attention
to detail in producing a quality saddle.
The leather half seat is
formed of two layers of leather, with the top layer
having a nicely embossed parallel line design that
follows the perimeter of the seat. The seat is in
excellent condition - fully intact with no splits, tears
or weak points, and it retains a bright shiny smooth
surface.
The saddle is fitted
with the Samstag rigging with the straps looped around
the horn – a rigging style which had become popular by
the mid-1860’s. This saddle is “double rigged” with two
sets of girth rings –– a development which became more
common on stock saddles after the Civil War. The
“double rigging” provided the additional flank cinch
which served to stabilize the saddle and prevent it from
tipping forward when roping cattle. The rigging is
fully intact, with strong, pliable straps and they
depend down to the large iron girthing rings on both
sides. The straps are decorated with leather discs from
which depend full length saddle strings.
Mounted over the two
side bars, the original laced stirrup straps are
intact and full length with no damage or weak points.
The straps are fitted with the original sliding sweat
leathers (fenders), and from the straps depend the
original wood frame stirrups.
The original full
square-cornered skirts are attached to the underside of
the tree, protecting the horse from the two large girth
rings on each side. There are smaller square-cornered
jockeys set over the larger underskirts. The front
jockeys extend back to cover the lower edge of the seat
and serve to protect the rider’s legs from rubbing
against the stirrup straps. The jockeys are held in
place with multi-layer leather buttons from which saddle
strings depend. Each of the rear jockeys have a silver
colored metal concho backed with a leather button. The
undersides of the full skirts are lined with sheepskin
with the wool intact. This lining appears to have been
replaced at some point in the saddle’s life as it is in
excellent condition. The original lining was prone to
deterioration as the saddle was used and exposed to the
horse’s sweat, so finding this lining replaced is not
unusual, and in no way does it detract from the
appearance or value of the saddle.
Of special note, the
saddle strings through the buttons securing the rigging
and jockeys on the near (left) side of the saddle are
fitted with small iron rings for attaching the rider’s
equipment such as a rifle scabbard, canteen, or rope –
an unusual feature.
The edges of the
jockeys, skirts, and sweat leathers are stamped with a
very effective multi-lined design which highlights the
lines of the saddle. All of these trimmings are
original to the saddle and have survived in remarkable
condition. While showing the expected evidence of use
that comes with having been ridden over countless miles,
the surfaces of the leather all still hold a nice shine,
the stamped designs are still legible, and the leather
is pliable. The foundation tree is strong with no
movement or loosening, and all of the seams are intact.
This J. H. Livingston Saddle is a
very attractive specimen in its own right, and as noted
above, this saddle is not only an accurate
representative specimen of the saddles in use when the
West was still being tamed, but it has the added value
of having been made in historically significant Ft.
Smith.
If subjected to extended use and
poor storage, saddles of this vintage simply did not
survive in significant numbers, and that this one exists
in such high condition is not only remarkable, but it is
a rare opportunity to add a genuine early Western
Frontier saddle to your collection. (1205)
$1950
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