EHAL MAY 2017

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

decline with William’s death in 1900. The Company

further declined with the invention of the automobile

and the expansion of railroads. Harpham Brothers

Saddlery bought the Askew business in 1928. They

moved it to Nebraska just before the Great Depres-

sion of 1929. The building still stands and has been

repurposed into apartments.

I feared I might not find any existing Askew saddles or

pictures of them. I did find some, one quite by acci-

dent. The saddle pictured here has a 14.5 inch seat,

high back and remains in excellent condition.The

owner estimates it dates to the early 1900’s. It has

few modifications or repairs. The saddle still has orig-

inal lace up stirrup leathers and iron stirrups. It also

has the large and colorful metal makers mark plate on

the back of the seat. Rope burns on the pommel and

the missing horn leather. attest to its working cowboy

use. The horn remains tight and the tree remains sol-

id. The back of the seat has the initials FGMc carved

into it. These likely belong to the cowboy who rode it.

The second saddle pictured has a 17” seat (if mea-

sured correctly) and came with what appears to be

an original horse hair cinch. The horn cap has been

redone and the cantle seems loose. This saddle

shows some hard wear. Like the other Askew sad-

dles this saddle has few decorations only a small

border stamping around the stirrup leathers and seat.

Working cowboys did not require fancy saddles.

The third saddle belongs to a dear friend who spent

her working life in Kansas City. I casually asked her

if she knew anything about Askew saddles. To my

surprise she said, “I have one”. This owner’s father

bought is used in the late 1940’s. He had it dyed

black and dyed the strings white to resemble a pa-

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May 2017