Cowboy Gear: Saddles
“The West was won and conquered by the men who sit in saddle leather.” Saddle, a cowboy’s workbench and his throne. In the West, known as cow saddles, range saddles, stock saddles. In the East as Mexican saddles, Western saddles or cowboy saddles. Western cowboys were not impressed with the small, pad-saddles of the Eastern rider and referred to them as hog skins, kidney pads, pimples, or postage stamps. Made for riding, not for working stubborn Longhorns, most came without saddle horn and with narrow pieces of iron as stirrups. Impressed by the skills of the Mexican vaquero, Texas cowhands adopted their saddle among other things, eventually modifying the Mexican-style mochila saddle, which appeared in the 1850s. Known as the “Texas saddle”, it weighed only 12 to 13 pounds, the tree was covered with stitched rawhide and the stirrups...
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From Vequero to Cowboy
What’s the difference between Vequero or Cowboy? Cattle handlers were called many names with various meanings through out the past 150 years, beginning with the great cattle drive era to present day. Today cowboy is the most familiar term, but in the old days it meant something entirely different. During the period of the great cattle drives, cowboy literally meant a “boy” who tended the herds. Just barely in their teens, they were hired from the towns and farms to spend the next three to six months on the trail driving the valuable beef to northern markets. Some were second sons from European families whose first born had inherited the family estates, coming over with big dreams of western adventure. Townspeople who lived at the end of the northward shipping points were not impressed when this rowdy, trail-worn bunch...
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Cast Iron Cookware
Worth a Mention in Your Will Cast iron cookware has been so treasured for many generations, some women left specific instructions in their will for the care of their cookware. Without a doubt, the best wedding present we received was a large cast iron skillet. My sister-in-law said, “I wanted it big enough so that you could cook a whole chicken.” It’s so heavy, I have to use both hands to lift it. After 30+ years of marriage, it has obtained a smooth, shiny black patina and I love my cast iron skillet. My grandmother used her cast iron pan to wilt lettuce. Chunks of leftover bacon, diced onion and garden-grown lettuce that she and I had picked that morning, stirred in re-heated bacon grease. I’ve never tasted anything like it since. My parents were extremely picky about...
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