Buscadero holster

[Cash Creek]

In this picture the cowboy has a Buscadero holster..date is 1885 so is this legal for NCOWS..I got the pictures from True West Magazine..CASH

[Cliff Fendley]

Cash, No it is not legal and it is not what it appears. If you had been able to stay for my holster seminar at the Convention you could have observed as we played a little mythbusters on this photo.

That man is Commodore Perry Owens and this has been brought to attention by others in the past so I felt during my seminar it would be a good idea to bust the buscadero myth.

I had a large image of this very photo and I took a Mexican loop holster apart and demonstrated the photo prop.

That is not a buscadero holster. It is a mexican loop holster that is unlooped and the skirt is tucked up behind the wide cartridge belt. It appears he is using his hand to cover the part of the skirt that would be protruding above the belt and may actually be holding the holster in place. That was likely a photo prop to show off the wide cartridge belt but the holster was not designed nor was it normally worn as shown in the photo.

Leather will change colors from the effects of light/sun. In a large picture you can actually see the shading on the holster body where the loops have been covering the holster.  

[Cutter Carl]

First things, when it comes to history I never say never.  History likes to prove you wrong when you say something never existed. 

What we think of as a buscadero rig probably didn't exist prior to the silver screen cowboys.  At least no evidence has yet been found.  The type of rig I am refering to is a belt with a tab that hang below the belt and the holster hangs from a slot in the tab.

There are a couple of pictures of cowboys / lawman wearing a "buscadero" rig in the late 1800's.  They had a wide double row cartridge belt with a slot cut low on the belt with a mexican loop holster hanging from the slot.  These photos have also appeared in True West magazine.  It may have been similar to what Owens is wearing. 

If I remember correctly the other photos were both from Arizona like the Owens photo, so it might have been a local thing. 

Needless to say while evidence exists that at least a couple cowboys had holster hung in slot low on their cartridge belts as the forerunner of the B-Western buscadero rig they were not widely used and no examples of actual belts and holster have been found.

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[Pancho Peacemaker]

One must ask "why" would a "buscadero" rig have been developed in the pre1900 era?

Lets roll back a bit.  

1860's:  "scabbard" style holsters were the rage.  Handguns were long barreled and generally cap & ball.  These scabbard holsters fit on the standard thin leather military belts of the time.  

1870's:  Cartridges!  And thus the cartridge belt.  These are big 2.5" wide affairs.  The meager scabbard holsters wont fit a big 2"+ wide belt (unless its hung on the billet at the front of a ranger style belt . . . Ive got a picture of such.) Folks from Mexico to Wyoming became smart and started the fad of the "fold over" holster that tucked into its own loops (i.e. Mexican loop holster, Texas jock strap, etc...).  This allowed the holster to fit a wide variety of belt thickness.  

These holsters styles lasted well into the 1890's.  "Packing Iron" has many examples.  This holster design was versatile (would fit many different belts of a variety of thicknesses), quick to deliver, and secure (especially on horseback).   The gun remained in a vertical stance while mounted.

One must ask:  what advantage or situation would've prompted a "drop leg" rig that would ride in a special proprietary belt that would cant the gun back while mounted to a near horizontal position, thus encouraging the revolver to fall out of the rig while at a gallop?   I just dont see one.

 We know the "fast-draw-high-noon" situation is the stuff of silver screen fantasy.  Thats about the only place these "buscadero" rigs would serve man well.  



BTW:  Buscar = spanish verb "to search".  Buscadero = noun "Man who searches" or "searcher".   Apparently thats what one does when you reach down for your gun with one of these drop rigs on.

[Cliff Fendley]

Pancho's post is right on, it would have made no sense whatsoever for anyone to have made one.

I won't say never but Owens photo proves nothing. The belt does not have a slot and the shading of the holster has obvious signs of the loops covering part of the main body so it has been exposed to the light worn in a conventional Mexican loop manner. It was not made as a Buscadero. His hand is carefully placed to hold/hide the skirt of the holster tucked up under the belt. It's just plain obvious when studying the photo.

I'm not sure I've seen the other photos. It would be interesting to see them with documentation of the date. I suppose if someone had an extremely wide belt that the holster wouldn't accommodate they could have cut a slot in the lower part of the belt.

[Cash Creek]

Thanks guys for the answers..that why I love this website you can always get the RIGHT answer here..thanks again CASH

[Books OToole]

Cliff;

I wish I had attended your seminar.  The myth busting of the Commodore Perry Owens photo would have been great.


Did you adress the fact that the holster would have been a left hand twist draw rig?
Quite strange.

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