What gear would an 1860 Californio carry with him?

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Roscoe Coles and St George,

First, thanks for the excellent posts ... I am not drawing much information here ... as far as Historical drawings, I was actually going through the costumes of Sutter's Fort at the McKinley Library ....

And for the first clothing that I wear, it will have to be the 'walnut' clored Vaquero Jacket and a pair of matching pants and vest ... or perhaps a scarf.

I agree that the Remington 1858 (which the Ruger Old Armies are based on) did not come out in any amount to California until after the Civil War .... and if I can find a Model 1851 that I can afford, it will be in the slim jim holster I already have on order. I have three months to find such a pistol at a price that I can afford .... let's all hope that one comes down the pike.

The Calzoneras are a different thing entirely.

First, I would have to either find a source for such pants, or find a tailor capable of making both them and the long-legged drawers that went underneath them. Again, I will have to search them out ... I have not had much luck on the internet.

So, as they used to say, I am in a state of 'rigid flexibility' here ...

[James Hunt]

All of what Roscoe Coles and St. George said above, plus...

First that is pretty nifty, portraying the Californiano culture. I'd love to do it but not a big call for it in Michigan

I am not clear on who you are. Maybe you have not decided yet. Are you an Anglo or Hispanic? Are you a land owner or a Vaquero?

Remember the period if your year is 1860 or thereabout. Anglo's and the Hispanic culture were not mixing well. Anglo's were grabbing land, business and the political structure, Hispanic property owners were losing out. Neither one was a Vaquero. You can portray a Vaquero, but that would have been a poor cow herder many times Indian or of mixed blood. The Gentry were not Vaquero's for the most part. Think Charro if you are portraying the Gentry.

If you are portraying a Anglo look to what was being worn back east. If you are portraying a Hispanic look not to what the average Mexican was wearing, but to what the more pure blooded Spaniard in Mexico was wearing or if you can find them pictures of Californios - they exist in common books we all look at but they are few.

As you probably are aware, there is a profound difference between the cattle culture of Texas and and what eventually evolved into the "buckaroo" culture. Saddles, roping technique, ropes, dress, horsemanship, spurs, etc. If you are going to represent this to the public you need to know it all.

I suggest you start by doing some reading before you step into an instructors role, and I believe a good place to start is by purchasing David Dary's Cowboy Culture, University of Kansas Press. Start with page 44, the Californio culture. But then read the entire book so that you can articulate the difference. It is fascinating.

Once you know, what it is you are portraying - look for images from about the same time and look like them. I'd stay away from the traditional SASS suppliers and the Wah Maker stuff, good for that crowd but not reenacting. There are other sources, but most importantly you can make your own with some effort and that will give a superior result.

Ah yes, the guns. I think we have had this discussion elsewhere. I got it. You already have Rugers. And you are right, many probably can't tell the difference. The same could probably be said if you carried a S&W military and police (not being mean, that is just the way it is with the public). However, you know it and I guarantee there will be a few others that do and that will form in their mind what they think about the rest of what you are telling them - if they stick around to listen. Ask yourself, do I even need to carry a weapon in 1860 for what I am doing? Unless you are Joaquin Marietta, perhaps not. There is so much more to history than a few shoot-outs you may not need them. I guarantee that a roping exhibition with a reatta would impress me alot more about your knowledge base than a few gun shots.

But if guns are a must..., I get the fact that at a great distance a Ruger might be confused with a Rem NMA. But you put your year at 1860. There were very, very few old models, transition models, or NMA's available at all in that year (it is my opinion that the public in the far west did not have great access to them until after the war). Despite the repro reference to 1858 the repro mimics a gun that wasn't around until 1863 or so. Consider what others have said above, I have seen pictures of Californio's from your time period with Dragoons, 1851 Colts and pepperboxes - but I can not recall one from that period using a Rem NMA. Really consider the use of your Rugers before approaching the public. If you need to do a shoot out put them on for that, consider not wearing them other than that.

And that brings up holsters...., Will Gromley makes some cool looking stuff for sure (whatever you do don't get any of the nickel spotted stuff). But please consider Old West Reproductions. Most cowboy holster guy's use leather that does not seem to mimic what was used during the period. Rick Bachman seems to get it right. A floral slim jim straight hang holster (forget the canted stuff, I have only one reference for one of those and it was made by a military saddler) on the off side would be dandy for the gentry. A poor vaquero would have probably worn a simple leather contraption at his side (something you can make) or stuck the gun in a sash or his pants.

Meant no harm - hope nothing has offended you. But many of us on these boards feel we have a deep responsibility to get it right when addressing the public. If I did you any favors - get that book by Dary!!!!

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Although quite a dilletante, I am a history buff.

And I can understand how there were people feeling trampled on ... whose ancesters had trampled on the indigent indians to get the land that the Californios felt they were being cheated out of....

I am learning so much that I am unsure on which side I will end up ... a dandy Californio or an early Norte Americano immigrant who buys what the stores carry   ... probably  a hybrid of both, since I imagine that I will be representing both. I already have a vaquero jacket, vest and pants that is kind of a hybrid .... in a tan/walnut ... no source for calzoneras yet ... and don't know how the general public would react to them ... we will see.

I have found a heck of a deal on a '51 Colt reproduction. If this comes though, I promise to all who have so admonished me that I will leave the Rugers for SASS matches and reenactments and carry the '51 Colt, perhaps in a sash at first ....

The Bowie again will have to do until I find something else that I can afford .... remember, I am retired and this docent position is volunteer. One thing that will help is that I plan to change the grip to Antelope horn round, and possibly have the brass pommel nut re-lathed to a more period appropriate shape...

And as soon as I get it all together I promise to take a shot and let you guys make the decisions ....

[Major 2]

"I have found a heck of a deal on a '51 Colt reproduction. If this comes though, I promise to all who have so admonished me that I will leave the Rugers for SASS matches and reenactments and carry the '51 Colt, perhaps in a sash at first "

GOOD on you 

[James Hunt]

If you think the gun was expensive wait until you start searching for the 6 ply reatta and Sonora spurs! 

Glad you are considering the pistol.

[Roscoe Coles]

Glad to hear about the 1851, its the right way to go.  As far as some of the other things go let me say that as a historian and someone who has spent years interpreting California history professionally, its far better to leave something out of your impression if its wrong than to bring it along just to have something.  In other words, if you know your knife or anything else is wrong, why bring it?  Decide what your impression is, get the key things, the clothing, the shoes, the hat, etc. and make them good.  From there build up your impression one piece at a time.  If you bring the wrong stuff just to have it, people will know and you loose your credibility.  You never know who is in the crowd.

I'll give you an example.  While interpreting the history of the US Navy in the Mexican War, dressed as a sailor at Sutter's Fort one afternoon I gave a long talk to a group of people about Anglo American naval relations and their effect on American Naval orders in the Pacific prior to the second invasion of Monterey.  After the talk a man came up and talked with me a little and it was clear that he knew what he was talking about, in our conversation we bandied some things back and forth, I talked about what I had read and thought and said "I don't know" when I didn't.  At the end of the talk he introduced himself as a naval officer and a professor of Naval history at the Naval Academy and complimented me on my talk.  Now, if I had not done my homework  or just assumed that no one there would know about my topic I would have been doing them and myself a great disservice and butchering history to boot.  I would also never have found out that I made an ass of myself in front of someone who really knew.  Instead I had a nice conversation, learned some things and gained a good deal of credibility.

I was a docent and a Park Interpretive Specialist for California State Parks, at Sutter's Fort for years before heading off to graduate school for my Masters and Ph.D. in Historical archaeology (not quite done with the doctorate!) but never did the Old Town stuff.  But I would assume that they have guidelines and authenticity people who will help you get it right.  But make sure that you are always touching back to the history and primary source material.  Aside from that, enjoy yourself, tell people what you know, admit what you don't, remember that you are representing real people who can no longer speak for themselves and do your best to get it right.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Roscoe Coles,

It was exactly for this reason that I started this thread ... I figured that there would be people who knew much more than me about this area ... I mean, deep inside I am a frustrated historian, but, as I have quoted Voltaire as saying, 'History is the lies historians agree upon' .... kind of like Hollywood Westerns ....

It looks like I may have the '51 Colt ... no holster for it yet, but I may tuck it into a sash wrapped about my waist ...

James Hunt,

I don't think that people took their reattas off their saddle when they reached town, so it would not be with me when walking around ... and as far as those Sonora Spurs, I am thinking about having a blacksmith make me some Sonoran rowels and just add them to my present spurs ...

That is, after I pay for the Rugers, the '51 Colt, the gun leather , the Vaquero jacket, the ...

[Roscoe Coles]

Hey Wadd,
   Well, Voltaire aside, there is history and then there is history.  The level we are talking about is basically "what."  Where historians tend to get into big fights is "why" and "what does it mean."  I think that you will find that there is a considerable amount of disagreement in history and the interesting part is that history is multi vocal, which means that many things can be true at the same time.  History, like life, is complicated and messy and its easy to spend a lifetime getting a grasp on even a small part of it. 

Have fun

[Dr. Bob]

Hi WWE,

Here is a Spanish style knife at a reasonable price!

     http://www.crazycrow.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CCTP&Product_Code=4926-012-002&Category_Code=841-400-000

Give it a look.  Good researching!!!

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Dr Bob,

Thanks: I put it on my favorites list for a later purchase ....

[Dr. Bob]

Hi WWE,

Been buying from Crazy Crow for 20+ years.  I thought that they had an appropriate knife for you.  Glad that bit of info didn't pass on through the old steel sieve!

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Its definitely a good looking knife ....

I would have ordered it tonight but with three pistols, two gunbelts, and a holster already purchased, my fixed income is a little sparse ... but it is definitely on the list for the next purchase .... in fact, I am going to have to check out the entire line ....*S*

[ChuckBurrows]

Here are just a few prints of Californio caballeros circa 1850-1870's by artist James Walker - several others have been published in various books. Charro is more correctly applied to the traditional cowboys of central and northern Mexico rather than the rancheros, caballeros, and vaqueros of California - in Spain charro was applied to a member of the lower classes who herded cattle. FWIW I learned to ride and work cattle in the traditional California manner in the late 1960's and early 1970's and never heard the term charro used there - they were rancheros, caballeros, or vaqueros. It was in the Santa Barbara and north to Paso Robles region where many of the old Californio ways are still maintained today.









A pair of Californios - one of whom is packing a Walker Colt on a belt holster...both are fairly plainly dressed and rather than just plain buttons on their calzoneras such as  shown in Walker's paintings these have the ball and chain style closure. While IMO it was not common to carry horse pistols on ones belt, this is just one a few pics there is of folks carrying Walkers or Dragoons in a belt holster so it was done - but an 1851 is a whole lot more comfortable!


Here's a treatise on Californio entertainment up to 1848 in PDF format with several period sketches
http://www.josealamillo.com/hispanicalifentertainment.pdf

Bowie knives are an American phenomenon and you would not find them on a Californio.  Why would they want one, they have their own style of knives which is much more European.   Think European stiletto, thin, double sided and relatively long.

With due respect I see no reason that a Californio especially of the later period would not carry a Bowie - they certainly carried Colt Revolvers and other "American" weapons.
1) Not only were thousands of Bowies brought to California by the 49ers and later emigrants, but two of the most prominent makers of Bowies were in San Francisco, Michael Price and Will & Finck. Also there are provenanced Bowies made in the Spanish Southwest by local smiths.
While the Californios did retain much of their Spanish culture as well as possible and especially for fandangos, there is plenty of documentation for adoption of "Anglo" gear especially after California became a state - period photographic evidence as well as written documentation often shows the upper classes, espcially those who were doing business with the Anglos wearing Anglo style suits and the women wearing imported dresses. Anglos had been marrying into the upper crust families from the early 1800's - sea men and traders from the east were frequent visitors and Californios traveled east trading horses, mules, and sheep. In 1846 George F Ruxton while traveling to St Louis from Bent's fort met a California vaquero who amazed him with his roping skills - even roping buffalo calves.
2) On the other hand a Belduque similar to that linked to by Dr Bob would be more "Californio" and was THE knife of the working man in the Spanish areas, be he rich or poor. In fact the earliest known Bowies such as the Searles, are variations on the Belduque which is the Spanish version of the ubiquitous working knife used throughout the Mediterranean area. The Crazy Crow model is not bad but a better example can be made by watching for a decent quality "French" chef's knife and slightly re-doing the handle and maybe lightly etching the blade to remove the name makes an excellent copy. Watch for them at second hand stores - Sabatier and Henkels make good ones and even the J Russell Company aka Green River Knifeworks makes a decent one that can be easily adapted. Another source is to watch for the the Gaucho knives on Ebay, etc. - The Cuchillo Criollo and Facon are the same basic knife as the Belduque.
3) While stilettos were carried/used they are almost strictly a fighting knife. A problem may also rear it's ugly head - Due to the double edged blade they are often illegal for modern carry especially in California - being a custom knife maker I'm all too aware of the legal problems daggers/stilettos can cause in various areas throughout the USA.

Remember the period if your year is 1860 or thereabout. Anglo's and the Hispanic culture were not mixing well.

This would depend on whether you were a newcomer Anglo or one who had been here for years - as noted above there had been a faiurly congenial mix of the two cultures for many years and including many of the older Spaniards who had been part of the 1846 Bear War on the American side.

As to Caliifornia style spurs - prices can vary considerably dependent on style and decoration - earlier ones in particular were often left undecorated except for the decorative work of the blacksmith (call me about both spurs and rowels - I can probably fix you up.......)
Reatas - while custom made rawhide reats are expensive - the vaqueros I worked with back "when" preferred 8 or 12 plait in 60-80 ft lengths. There are places such as El Paso Saddle Blanket that sell pretty fair representative examples in 4 plait.
Perhaps more appropriate than a reata though would be a braided rawhide quirt which again can be found at many price points from cheap to expensive.

whatever you do don't get any of the nickel spotted stuff

While I agree that Sterling or Coin silver would be "better", nickel aka "German Silver" (which was developed in the early 1800's to imitate real silver at a lesser price) is a decent and relatively inexpensive "replacement" for the real McCoy. While in the east "harness" spots are generally considered to be a late 1880's-90's decoration (but they do show up on Texas/Great Plains gear from at least as early as the 1860's) the Spanish all over the Southwest just loved such "gaudy" decoration as silver buttons, spots, and conchos so based on the period documentation it would not be out of place if done properly. Take a look at the horse gear above that is rife with spots albeit again most likely made from real silver. Also here's a pic of Geronimo's holster and gunbelt which has lots of spots and conchoss. It is of Mexican manufacture of unknown date - probably 1870's though, since IIRC it was taken from the Yawner early in the 1880's, but such work can be documented to much earlier here in the Spanish Southwest. Also note the Spear point Bowie and the fact that the holster is one of the few documented "slanted" holsters that I know of - it also was built for a 7.5" barreled gun rather then the 5.5" Colt shown.




BTW - Roscoe I'm the maker of those botas you pictured above - note in Walker's image the botas are worn over the pantalones but under the open legged calzoneras........this would be fine way to wear them in the open grasslands of central California but that sure wouldn't work in brush country!

[ChuckBurrows]

Here's a few more Walker paintings:

Three things to note in these first two:
1) The Spanish birdshead handled knife sticking out of the botas - this is the classic shape of a Beldque's handle
2) The tooled botas - this was done by heating a metal plate with the design engraved/etched in it and then pressing the hide (usually brained or alum tawed deer or goat) between the heated plate and a base plate
3) In the second pic you can see the sword that was often carried by the rancheros as noted by Roscoe




In these next two you can see the silk "pirate" headscarf being worn - a quite common piece of clothing in the Spanish SW. The second image is only a partial image - it shows then folks at a fandango and the activity going on is one in which a chicken was buried up to it's neck and then the riders came along at a gallop and try to grab the chicken by the neck - it showed up teh riders skills but was not fun for the chicken who wound up being roasted or thrown in the stew pot.......




One thing to note about all of Walker's painting - while there is a great deal of important historical detail in them they are still paintings not phtographs and paintings that illustrate a somewhat "romanticized" view of the time and place as did/does most period art work - as always it pays to cross reference as much as possible........

Well it's late and I've got a long day in the shop ahead of me so for now buenas noches...

[James Hunt]

Chuck Burrows: Very good post, outstanding information. Thanks for the Walker paintings. He is clearly the Alfred Jacob Miller of Californio culture although you are right he suffers the same criticism as Miller (they ginned up their work a bit for whatever reason). And thank you for clearing up my muddying the waters with Charro vs Vaquero. I guess my intent was to infer look at the charro groups that exist in California today as an example of fancy gentry style dress - but it sure didn't come across like that.

While I understand your comment regarding the use of nickel silver spots and accouterments - I don't know, it just doesn't look right to me. It looks like..., nickel silver. I could not afford real silver for my saddle so I got Mexican 8 and 4 reales with dates prior to 1870 on ebay and made them into conchos and used them. They looked good and when you do not desire either collectability or quality can be had rather cheaply on ebay, much cheaper than real silver decoration that is for sure. My resarch indicated that these were used, at least by anglos in Texas at the end of the 19th century.

I am fascinated with the horse culture of the Vaquero and today's buckaroo.Not much of a demand for that in Michigan however. I do well to keep my seat and catch a fence post (if it remains absolutely still) with a poly.


WaddWatsonEllis: Not to pile on with the expenses but you can consider the following resources as life evolves for you:

Quirt - Ebay has some reasonably priced braided quirts from time to time, below is one probably vintage which I picked up for less than $40. I got it cause it mirrors one illustrated in "Cowboys and Trappings of the Old West"



Also, there used to be some guy selling on ebay braided quirts made in Mexico, that don't look bad for pretty cheap - quality unkown.

Short Jacket - An unlikely source for a short jacket is the blanket folks at Northwest Traders - www.nwtrader.com/ - they do not advertise them, but there is some guy there making them and they take them to the shows. Below is one I got. It is rather course wool/linen blend with a finer linen lining with ribbon highlights. You might give them a call when you are ready as their price is very reasonable for correct work. Mine is supposedly a copy of one from a Walker painting circa 1830's.



And finally, when that lottery ticket comes in, Joe DeLaronde makes handforged belduques that just make you want to quit your day job and learn how to use the spade bit. These can be found at www.delarondeforge.com/Knives.htm - below is mine purchased when Wall street was still making money:



He also makes some of the best hand forged spanish colonial spurs I have ever seen! We are talking second mortgag here though. Bankruptcy following excessive credit care use is always an option!

I got this stuff because I am enamored of the Californio culture, now I'm all dressed up with no place to go.  My Morgan would draw the line at roping grizzlies however.  

By the way I still highly recommend Dary's book as a beginning resource. Regards.

[Will Ketchum]

I am constantly amazed with the amount of knowledge we have here at CAS City.  I don't mean wannabe historians but people who really know what they are talking about.  Thanks everyone for adding to my knowledge of this fascinating period of California history.

Will Ketchum

[Roscoe Coles]

Chuck:
  Good stuff and thanks for the information on the spanish style working knives.  I forgot to mention them and they are ubiquitous and pretty cheap.  I think I will stick with my comments about the bowie knife not being something that would be used by Californios however.  They had their own style of knives and I think they would stick with them.  As for bowies being adopted by Californios, instead of saying "they could have used them" I think we should ask is there any historical data to show that they did.  I have always encouraged folks to adopt what was most common when building an outfit for historic interpretation, this way they don't have to come up with elaborate explanations for why they have something thats not really in character.

I always think about an infamous picture of a confederate officer wearing what looks to be a set of ocelot chaps and holsters.  Did this guy exist, yep and there is a photo to prove it!   Should everyone doing a confederate officer impression go out and buy ocelot chaps and holsters?  Probably not.  In fact, probably no one should.  Its just to far outside the norm.   Pick your persona, do the history to find out what would be correct for that person, and get that.

On another topic, folks are correct that many high status californios were adopting American style clothing and other things in the late 1850s and 1860.  One of the best examples is General Mariano Vallejo, who not only dressed in American style clothing but built a yankee gothic style home near Sonoma.  both the house and the clothing are strong statements about who Vallejo wanted to be allied with.  However, I think the photographic evidence of californios during this period shows that A) this was an upper class phenomenon and B) that californio and American styles were not commonly mixed.  I can't think of any of photographs of californios that show people mixing styles, with the exception of the addition of firearms.  Eventually the californio styles simply went out of fashion for daily wear though they remain to this day for dress or ceremonial wear, for example during the Fiesta days parades in Santa Barbara where I grew up. 

As with everything I could be wrong but I would love to see any primary evidence of californios mixing traditional and American styles. 

Very interesting discussion.

[Mogorilla]

While I have never seen the photo of the confederate officer with the ocelot chaps/holsters, I have seen mid 40s through 60s saddle accutrements from the Mexican region that used exotic furs.  Would that have been Californio appropriate, or further south?

I would love to see the confederate picture as well if someone can point me that direction.  (we would have thought him a tad fancy for our border unpleasantness.) 

[WaddWatsonEllis]

James Hunt, Will Ketchum, Roscoe Coles & Mogorilla et al,

Just to keep y'all in the loop, I have:

Bought a Pietta Navy 1851 in .44cal.

Bought a Belduque from Northwest Traders

Am having a traditionally correct belt made for the Californio period ... and will tuck the pistol in the belt until I can afford to have a slim jim made. At the time the holster is made, I will probably have a six or seven inch wide 'bullet pouch' made to go in the small of my back (To not only hold bullets and a powder flask, but tobaccky and all the other things a gentleman would carry with him....

Have bought a Vaquero Jacket, and have frontier pants and vest that match. When I find a wide collared linen shirt with a button plaquete (sp?), I will wear that under the vest with a 'wild rag' folded and tied underneath. The whole outfit will be topped off by a palm straw 'Sam Houston' style hat ... much the same one that John Sutter was very fond of ...

If this docent position 'takes', I am thinking about purchasing some matching leather and a ton of 'silver' buttons ... then slitting the pants to the knee and having buttons sewn from hip to ankle to emulate calzoneras ....

And that's the story so far ...

Thanks to all who have given input to what I should need to carry ... I will have to keep a lookout on Craigslist for a quirt ...

And James Hunt, I am going to order that book through the library system ... and if it looks like I should, I'll pick one up on Amazon.com or some such....

[St. George]

This might come as a surprise - but the Colt Model 1851 was in caliber .36 'only' - the .44 being an Italian manufacturer's idea of exotica to tempt gullible buyers.

'Navy' indicated the .36 caliber - while 'Army' indicated the .44.

You can find a very 'usable' Slim Jim from 'Oklahoma Leather' - just cover the logo with a concho and thong, and you'll have what was common.

You don't need any more of a belt than one made of a smooth, plain leather - with a frame buckle.

Men of the time used a vest to carry his makin's and for miscellaneous things - including a pocket powder flask or a packet of paper cartridges.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!