howdy pards

[cowboy316]

ive been hangin out in the leather worker forum and the sent me here to see if you could help me what im lookin for is information one the 1800 era cowboy gear like holster gun belts saddles things like that cuz im wanting to make period correct leather goods
Thank you
Cowboy316

[Curley Cole]

Well you could look at Will Ghormleys web page, excellent work and period correct.

Packin Iron seems to be the leather crafters bible...and they give dates and eras of the rigs.

And if you have a copy of Tombstone, guns and gear, they go into a lot of detail of how they put together the guns knives rigs and tack and if they did not exist at the time of the shootout of the OK, well, then it just wasn't put in the movie.

My personal rigs (except my Duke rigs from EPS)  and my Ghormley Jessie rig are all done by RedDog leather, and he makes them to my specs, but also follows the period correct rule...:
check out some of me and Old Tops leather at my web page:
http://sdough.smugmug.com

look in the gallery called: Just For Fun

curley

[St. George]

By all means - get a copy of Rattenbury's 'Packing Iron' - you'll have an excellent reference on leather that was actually used during the era.

The work of Chuck Burrows of 'Wild Rose Trading Company' , Will Ghormley  of 'Will Ghormley - Maker' , Rick Bachman of 'Old West Reproductions' and David Carrico of 'Carrico's Leatherworks' has been featured here at CAS City and you'll find it excellent, as are a number of other modern makers.

You'll want to look at any and all original leather and get a feel for the styles and the thicknesses and the overall workmanship of the times - much 'Old West' leather was actually produced 'Back East' by suppliers to the Trade, and was sold through catalogs and dry goods stores.

Good Luck!

Vaya,

Scouts Out!