Has any one heard of Commadore Perry Owens gun belt

[gospel micah]

Howdy i have heard about  Commadore Perry Owens.He was a old lawmen in the late 1800s.He cut a slit in has gun belt for his holster. So that his rifle ammo belt would fit neatly above it.It was like a buscadero belt. Does any one have any pictures of his gun belt.

[Irish Dave]

GM:

I think probably everyone who has done any research on The Old West knows about CPO's gun belt and a famous photo of him with the aforementioned belt abounds. It is published in a multitude of Old West reference books.

The belt has been the subject of considerable debate over time.  Also, as I recall, it is a wide belt with double rows for cartridges -- some shorter ones for pistol, some longer for rifle.

[Delmonico]

The wide belts with the double rows of cartidges show up from time to time in several photo's, there as far as I know never been any serious question as to if they existed or not.  The gun rig of CPO is really not clear enough in any copy I've ever seen to say exactly what it is.  However if some one could come up with the negative to that photo, well, it might be interesting.

[RattlesnakeJack]

Well, here is the photograph of Commodore Owens ... 




And here is a version of his rig created from the photograph by an outfit called Caravan West ....



http://www.caravanwest.com/

[Trailrider]

Howdy, Pards,

I have a much larger (though the resolution isn't all that much better due to it being a "screened" print from a magazine (True West???...can't recall) copy of the print hanging on my wall.

The photo raises several questions, to which I have no answers... First, the sixgun (looks like a Colt's w/ 7-1/2" barrel) hangs quite low and along the seam of his chaps.  The holster is vertical, not canted for a cross draw.  To me, even as slender and long-armed as CPO appears, it would seem awkward to drap the sixgun with the right hand.  A left-hand twist or "cavalry" draw would be easy from this rig.  Both the belt tongue and the hammer on the Officer's Model Trapdoor Springfield are on the "correct" side, so the photo is not reversed, as was the case with many of the photographic processes back in the day (or earlier).  So, was Commodore Perry Owens left-handed, and used a lefthand twist draw?.

Secondly, it is difficult to tell if there is a tie-down thong hanging from the end of the holster, as some of the fringe, if that is what it is, gets in the way.  CPO does not have the holster tied down, but it almost looks like there is something at the toe of the holster that might be a tie thong.  Having one would make sense as the holster hangs pretty low and from a straight piece of leather attached somehow to the belt.  Of course, with a tie, bending the left leg would cause the attaching piece of leather to bend and wrinkle, so that might not be the best idea.

Third, though Owens is shown with an Officer's Model Trapdoor, during his reported gunfight, I thought I read he was using an '86 Winchester lever action rifle.  Might the rifle pictured be a prop used by the photographer?  In which case, might the rig have been a prop?  (Looks like it fits, though....).

Interesting....

[Slowhand Bob]

Until and unless someone finds the leather rig, we will be limited to conjecture.  I have even seen this picture used as justification that Owens was a tall man and at the other extreme, a short man??  Since we are working with an old photo, we can not assume that the holster and belt match as to finish or even age.  The holster and belt could easily have been married well after manufacture.  I do think the photo is easily clear enough to totally rule out any possibility that there is a buscadero slot attachment involved.  It appears that there is a good chance this could have been a standard skirted style holster with the skirt removed and the remaining flap of leather slid under the belt for sewing as the means of attachment. 

Owens seems to have been a much more heroic individual than most have noticed, he single handedly rose above higher odds than the 'four man' Earp faction took on in Tombstone and came out of it without a scratch, or historic notice.  This encounter could also shed some light on the leather, if we extropolate a bit.  It would seem that Owens was more a rifleman than a pistolero and, as such, would have placed higher emphasis on this gun.  This would explain the importance of a riflemans belt, these things were surely less comfortable than a narrow pistol belt, even when the light weight folded leather is factored in.  I think as a man who new his life might well hang on the balance of his equipment, he kept the secondary weapon available but relegated to an out of the way position.  No, I see no relationship to Perry Owens photo and a buscadero rig.  One relegates all to the handy draw of a pistol while the other, in my mind, relegates it to a secondary status.   

[Deadeye Don]

Well, here is the photograph of Commodore Owens ... 




And here is a version of his rig created from the photograph by an outfit called Caravan West ....



http://www.caravanwest.com/

I checked the website.  It doesnt appear like they are making that belt now. 

[St. George]

Since legend has it that his gear all went into the outhouse upon his death - we'll most likely never know.

His was supposed to've been a one-of-a-kind rig, and built to his own design.

Regrettably, there don't seem to be any other photos of him wearing it - and certainly none clearer, since they all seem to be copied from the same old article with low resolution.

Most gun men liked a rifle for 'serious' business.

It gave them distance and power and an increased ability to hit consistently - unlike the heroes of the 'John Ford Reference Library', whose 4 3/4" Colts boasted phenomenal accuracy - especially when fired from the hip, or diving off the horse.

As to his possible left-handedness - carrying a piece in crossdraw fashion allows the use of either hand.

As far as the Officer's Model Trapdoor's concerned - doesn't that 'look' like a studio photo?

It could easily be a prop - though he also could have owned one - along with several other rifles of varying calibers, and this one may've been the 'pretty' one used for his photo.

Overall length of the Officer's Model is 45" - mine hits me at the lowest rib, and I'm 6'1" - and his looks to hit in about the same place.

Back then, he'd've been an imposing man, with that height - a useful 'tool' for a lawman.

As to 'Buscadero' status - 'that' style evolved in the '20's, as the joint inspiration of Texas Ranger John R. Hughes and saddler S.D. Myers - of El Paso.

Popular with lawmen of the Southwest - it became wildly popular in the movies and was brought to its 'zenith' by Ed Bohlin's leather carving and decoration talents.

There's  reference to that in 'Packing Iron' - by Rattenbury.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!