The saddle at right was made by Edward L. Gallatin in Denver, Colorado, and presented to Col. Jesse H. Leavenworth in 1862 by friends and fellow officers of the 2d Colorado Volunteers. The rich black, hand-tooled leather, the bright gold and silver trim fashioned into stars and eagles, and the classic military accessories animate the sturdy soul of a cowboy’s day-to-day rig. It is a saddle intended to be worked in as well as admired.

When settlers and adventurers began to move West, they found that Eastern saddles of the English model were ill adapted to managing livestock on the open range or to riding long distances over rugged terrain. They found, too, that the Mexican vaquero saddle already in use in parts of Texas and California was far better suited to life on the frontier. While American saddlemakers mostly ignored traditional Spanish decorations, they were quick to adopt the more practical aspects of the Mexican design.

Gallatin fashioned his spectacular saddle around what he called the California tree—a tree being the leather-covered frame, usually wooden, that forms a saddle’s seat and fits over the horse’s back. The California tree has a horn rising in front of the rider, which is handy for snubbing a lariat, and a tall behind, which helps prevent an embarrassing backward slide when a horse rears up. The California tree was the precursor of several popular styles of Western stock saddles including the Taylor, the Visalia, and the Pueblo, among others. Because the Western saddle’s deep seat proved less tiring for the rider, it became the model for cavalry saddles as well.

In 1845, when he was seventeen, Gallatin apprenticed in St. Louis with Thornton Grimsley, the foremost maker of military saddles. Gallatin had mastered the craft and was working for John Landis of Independence, Missouri, when, in 1860, he cajoled his boss into letting him make a risky journey to Denver, Colorado, to sell saddlery and harness to gold miners. The trip was a success. Gallatin decided to stay on as manager and sole employee of Landis’s new branch store, and it was during his sojourn in Denver that he made Colonel Leavenworth’s saddle.

In 1863 Gallatin and a partner bought out Landis and renamed the establishment E. L. Gallatin & Co. Gallatin’s superior workmanship soon won his saddles a widespread reputation, and for a time he owned shops not only in Denver but in Nebraska City and Cheyenne as well. Meanwhile he became influential in the development of two of the most popular styles of saddle ever made: the Pueblo and the Cheyenne, which were widely used by cowboys from Canada to Texas.

Like many of his fellow saddlers, Gallatin listened to the cowboys who used his product, and he experimented with design changes to improve the comfort of both horse