Pure Cowboy

Member: National Bit, Spur & Saddle Collector's Association and Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America

Item #SA202 /   $2,900.

Tom Flynn Saddle -- All Original -- ca. 1895

             Slick Fork with Sam Stagg Rigging/Leather Conchos and Tab with Tie-downs/Square Skirt Leather-Covered D-Rings and Cinch Strap

             Heavy Leather, Slick Fork Half-Seat, Sam Stagg Rigging/Cantle Back and Two Leather Conchos and Tie-downs

Line Drawing of a Bull on Side Jockey

                         Floral Design, Front of Cantle/Original Stirrups/T. FLYNN, MAKER, PUEBLO, COLO.

About This Antique Saddle:

This innovative, early Pueblo Saddle made by Tom Flynn is as heavy and sturdy as the day it was made, which would be approximately 110 years ago!  There are wear areas and some tears in the leather, but some amazing parts of this saddle are in the better shape than one would expect.  The stirrups are in excellent condition- no splits or cracks or repairs of any kind.  All the leather is very thick and supple.  Three of the Four D-rings have retained their leather covering and the leather cinches are still on the saddle-- on both sides and the rear cinch leathers are present as well!  This is a slick-fork half-seat saddle with Sam Stagg (or 'naked') rigging.  This Flynn saddle is representative of the pinnacle of pre-1900 saddle making.  (The engineering of the tree and other parts establish the date of manufacture quite well).  The tree is solid and true.  All the leather conchos are in place and unblemished, as are all the leather ties.  There are two sites of double-holes in the skirt which once had either conchos or ties, which have been removed very early in the life of the saddle. The high-back seat-front is decorated with a skillfully finished floral design of flower buds and open flowers and leaves.  The leaf design is mirrored in the rigging strap that runs over the top of the saddle between the two front chinches and in the stirrup straps, though the design is so worn from use that it is very difficult to see.  There are numerous extremely-worn images of a bull in both fenders, the front of the skirt and the side jockeys.  The embellishment of a line drawing of a bull on select saddles was made popular by the Texas saddle makers, such as S. D. Myers in the 1880's.  The fenders are both marked at the front: "T. FLYNN, MAKER, PUEBLO, COLO."  For its age, the saddle is in truly remarkably good condition.  It is a tutorial of how they used to do it, especially in the original, early Pueblo style.  There are some definite signs of age and wear, as follows: the side jockeys have been repaired by placing small nails at the site of a large tear in the leather.  This repair was done a long, long time ago and the saddle was continuously ridden after that point, making the early repair now in need of stabilization.  The skirt on the left side of the saddle is completely intact, while on the left, there is a 1 1/2" tear.  There is some wear on the top of the cantle and there is absolutely no fleece.  It is rare to find a Tom Flynn, and this one is an exceptional specimen and well worth adding to any collection of Western antiques, but especially worthy of addition to a saddle collection as a beautiful piece of saddle-making history.

About The Maker:

While S.C. Gallup pioneered the Pueblo Saddle in 1870, the next two of the first-class saddle shops on the scene of the extremely wealthy boom-town of Pueblo Colorado were the exemplary and innovative saddle makers R. T. Frasier and Tom Flynn.   The only competition to these makers at the time was S.D. Myers (of Sweetwater, TX) and F .A. Meanea (of Cheyenne, WY).  Tom Flynn opened his first shop in 1880, in Silver Cliff, Colorado and stayed until 1889, when the silver ran out.  Before he was ready to leave, the bank at Silver Cliff closed it's doors with all the town's money-- Tom went looking for the bank president and found him on the verge of sneaking out of town.  With a gun in his ribs, the bank president was glad to give him back his savings and Tom Flynn moved on to Trinidad, CO for a brief period; then at the prophetic suggestion from a gypsy fortune-teller, he moved into saddle-making history in Pueblo. 

Flynn did 90% of his business through mail order.  Pueblo was a rail hub, which allowed his saddles to be easily distributed all over the country.  He supplied his innovative, strong and beautiful saddles to many Wild West Shows and Ranchers.  His sturdy saddles, built for heavy use and the comfort of the rider, were in high demand with people who spent most of their waking hours on horseback-- and were not affordable for most of the cowboys of the day.  Tom Flynn saddles were identifiable by over-sized skirts - measuring up to 32" - and wide fenders.  They were double-rigged to support the roping style of the cowboys, contrary to most of the saddles made in Montana at the time.  These saddles almost always had square skirts. They were typically made of thicker, stouter leather than was used by most other makers, with the exception of those saddles created by the co-inventors of the Pueblo Saddle.  Tom Flynn was one of the great saddle makers of the American West.

Flynn saddles are marked on the fenders: "T. FLYNN, MAKER, PUEBLO, COLO."  As the majority of his saddles were half-seat or modified half-seat, markings on the seat were not practical.

Tom Flynn's shop flooded in 1921 and he passed away 6 months later.

Tom Flynn Pueblo Saddle / Item #SA202 /  $2,900.

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