Everything Horses and Livestock® Magazine Feb 2019 Vol 4 Issue 1

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

on Hamley Saddle Company and here is what I found: The Hamley Family came from England in 1850 when William Hamley moved his family here. JJ and Henry Hamley founded the Hamley saddle shop in South Dakota, in 1883. They were only there for a couple years before moving to Idaho and then finally settled in Pendleton Oregon in 1905. They were makers of Saddles and tack for the working cowboys of the area. They also made harness along with bits and spurs. Soon they were the “go to place” in the area known as " Cow Country" to get what cowboys needed to perform their jobs. In the hay day they had over 20 or more saddle makers, working at Hamley making saddles. They soon out grew their building in Idaho and moved to new building in Pendleton in 1905. During their hay day, such stars as Buffalo Bill Cody, Tom Mix, Hout Gibson and Gene Autry frequented their shop and bought saddles. During the 1990's, we saw a recession hit America and Hamley was affected by the down fall in

the economy. The business started to decline, and the building went into disrepair. In 2000, Parley Pearce bought the building and the Hamley name. Renovations to the building was done, and the rebuilding of the business began, bringing it back to it’s “old glory”. Today they only have one saddle maker, Pedro Pedrice, who builds all Hamley saddles. He also teaches saddle making accepting 4 students at a time. Their moto is the same today as it was in 1883, “Quality

articles built for those tired of the extravagance of buying cheap things.” The old Hamley saddle that I repaired so many years ago, speaks a lot to what I strive to do today, with all my leather work. Make it last a lifetime or more. Randy Cornelius owns Cornelius Saddlery and can be contacted though his web site at: WWW. Cornelius-Saddlery. com

39 Everything Horses and Livestock® | February 2019 | EHALmagazine.com