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INDIAN WAR PERIOD FRONTIER SADDLER MADE SADDLE ON
A GRIMSLEY SADDLE TREE – EXTREMELY RARE SOLDIER MADE
SADDLE:
Every once in a great while
a previously unknown piece of Indian War soldier
modified equipment surfaces that is truly unique
and such a find is very
exciting to those collectors who can appreciate the
rarity and significance of such an artifact.
Collectors of Indian War
period arms and accoutrements are generally familiar
with such pieces as the “cut loop” Dyer Cartridge
Pouches that were modified to be carried on the looped
cartridge belts. However, very few truly unique,
one-of-a-kind artifacts have survived as evidence of the
frontier soldier’s creativity and his efforts to adapt
the available equipment to meet his needs at the remote
posts throughout the West.
When considered from the viewpoint of the Ordnance and
Quartermaster Departments, the rarity of these modified
pieces of equipment is not surprising. While
modifications generally were not authorized by the
Chiefs of these departments, and in some cases they were
specifically prohibited via general orders issued from
the headquarters, with the amount of field modified
equipment that has survived one has to conclude that the
company and regimental officers must have understood the
reason for the alterations and turned a blind eye in
many cases to the soldier’s efforts. Despite the
modifications, the equipment still remained US
Government property and most of it was probably turned
in along with other standard pattern equipment during
regularly scheduled equipment exchanges or as new
patterns of equipment were issued. As the older
equipment transferred back East to central depots to be
stored or disposed of through the surplus sales, such
modified pieces were identified by the inspectors as no
longer retaining the original form, were condemned, and
destroyed or disposed of in trash pits. Hence, these
gems of true frontier used and soldier modified
equipment simply do not exist in great numbers in
collections today.
This Indian War Era
Saddle features all the character of having been
produced by a company or regimental saddler who drew on
the available materials at hand. Noting the pattern of
the saddle parts used to assemble this saddle I am
inclined to believe this saddle was made after 1876 and
before the end of the 1880’s. This saddle was obtained
some time ago from an old collection in southern
Arizona, and given the period of history it was made as
defined by the materials used, this saddle might well
have been one of the saddles assembled for use by a
scout, packer or possibly the infantry soldiers who were
mounted on mules to pursue the Hostiles during the final
years of the Apache Wars.
The rawhide covered seat
is a replacement tree for the Grimsley Artillery
Driver’s Saddle. A standard item of issue to refurbish
the Driver’s saddles at the local unit level, the bulk
of these trees are believed to have been manufactured
during the Civil War, with such quantity on hand in 1865
that further production was unnecessary after the end of
the war. The majority of these trees appear to have
been manufactured by E. Waters of Troy, New York and
bear the maker’s brass tag on the rear surface of the
cantle as does this saddle. The right side bar is
legibly stenciled in black ink “P.V. HAGNER, Lt. Col.
Ordn”. Lt.Col. Peter V. Hagner was in command of the
Watervliet Arsenal during the War and as directed in the
Ordnance regulations, his inspection ink stamp was
applied to each tree prior to being covered in
leather.
As it is known that the
civilian contracts for saddle manufacturing were
terminated after the end of the Civil War, and Hagner
was promoted to full Colonel in 1867, dating this
replacement tree as being made during the Civil War is
fairly certain. The Light Artillery, the branch of
service which would have been issued the Grimsley
Drivers Saddles, was present in force on the frontier,
with at least one battery of artillery assigned to each
cavalry regiment and some infantry regiments, and their
stores of replacement saddles and related equipment
would have accompanied them into the West. By the
mid-1880’s the army had begun to replace the Grimsley
Artillery Driver’s saddle with the current patterns of
the McClellan Saddle, making these Grimsley replacement
trees surplus to the needs of the units and they would
have been available for other uses such as the saddle
presented here.
This standard Grimsley tree has been rigged with a set
of 1st Pattern Model 1874 quarter straps,
featuring the spaded “D” rings and heart shaped leather
girth safes on both the near and off sides, with the
girthing straps present on both sides. The rarity of
this set of straps strongly argues for this modification
having been done during the Indian War period, as the
M1874 quarterstraps did not survive in the surplus
market in great numbers after that period. The Grimsley
tree does not have the full arc shelves in front of the
pommel and behind the cantle as are found on the
McClellan saddle, so the quarter straps on this saddle
were trimmed at the top edge of the front and rear
extensions of the side bars. A second set of the M1874
heart shaped girth safes were placed over the iron
stirrup strap loops – perhaps to reinforce the rawhide
or protect the soldier’s legs – and the edges were
anchored with small iron tacks. The foot loops and
equipment rings on the ends of the side bars are all
black japanned iron fittings, and were salvaged from one
of the earlier pattern 1859-1872 McClellan saddles. All
four sets of the foot loops and rings are present and
intact. There are sets of original “coat straps” still
attached to the pommel and cantle rings, albeit not of
the regulation pattern, but obviously original to this
saddle and evidence that this saddle was indeed used in
the field by someone who needed to secure equipment to
the saddle. The saddle was completed with two full
length, original 1859-1874 pattern stirrup straps and a
pair of civilian style bent wood stirrups.
The overall condition of
this saddle is solid, with no structural weakness in the
tree and all the straps present and unbroken. The
leather overall shows the same level of age and wear,
indicating the components have been together as an
integral piece with no replacement pieces added through
the years – this saddle was used as it exists today.
The rawhide covering the seat is complete with no pieces
missing, but there are some splits in the seat surface
as is shown in the photographs below. These splits do
not affect the integrity of the seat, and do not detract
from the saddle in view of its significance as an
artifact. The quarter straps, stirrup straps, and coat
straps all show the same level of wear, but all are
intact and will display well. An application of a
quality leather dressing would improve the appearance,
but I will leave that to the next owner’s discretion.
The stirrups are solid with no severe wear or structural
damage.
This saddle is a unique piece in many different ways,
not the least of which is its testimony to the ingenuity
and craftsmanship of the Frontier Soldier. I think it
is worth mentioning that during the research we
conducted for The American Military Saddle, and
in all the museums and private collections we examined,
we found only the one Indian War era saddler made pack
saddle shown in that text. Nothing of the type of
saddle offered here was found, suggesting this is a rare
example and worthy of display in an advanced Indian War
collection. Given this saddle was discovered in
southern Arizona, it would display particularly well
among a collection of Apache War artifacts.
$2500
NOTE: Since posting this listing I
have learned this saddle was one in a group of ten
saddles that was obtained from the descendants of C.S.
Fly, the famous photographer who lived in Tombstone,
Arizona Territory from 1880-1901. This group of
saddles remained in the Fly family collection until the
family moved from the Los Angeles, California area
around the end of the 20th Century, when the saddles
were transferred to an antique dealer in Arizona.
The connection of the Fly family to California is well
documented, as Fly's parents resided in Napa Valley.
Fly's wife, Mary, or "Mollie" as she was known,
continued to operate their combination boarding house
and photography studio in Tombstone after C.S's death in
1901, eventually retiring to Los Angeles in 1912 after
the boarding house burned. Mary died in Los
Angeles 1925. C.S. Fly is known to have amassed a
considerable collection of artifacts related to the
Arizona Territory, and it stands to reason that Mary
retained some or all of that collection after C.S.
passed away. This additional connection to
the period of the Apache Wars in the Arizona Territory
strengthens my suspicion that this saddle is associated
with that historic period.
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