{"id":1128,"date":"2012-10-22T16:35:46","date_gmt":"2012-10-22T16:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/?p=1128"},"modified":"2012-10-22T16:35:46","modified_gmt":"2012-10-22T16:35:46","slug":"riding-tall-in-the-saddle-kings-saddlery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/?p=1128","title":{"rendered":"RIDING TALL IN THE SADDLE!! KING’S SADDLERY!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Cookie and me need a saddle or rope where do we go\u2026well to the best of course King\u2019s Saddlery and King\u2019s Ropes<\/em>!<\/p>\n

And where do I go when the cowboy in my current work in progress needs a top of the line saddle…well he just moseys on over to King\u2019s Saddlery!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Born in Douglas, Wyoming, in 1923, Don King was the son of an itinerant ranch hand, Archie King.\u00a0 By the age of 14, Don learned to tool leather as he supported himself with odd jobs at ranches and rodeos.\u00a0 He sold and traded wallets, belts and other small gear.\u00a0 \u201cI traded for pants, shirts, hats, spurs, anything. Sometimes I ended up with nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

King worked on ranches throughout the West, finally settling down in Sheridan, Wyoming in 1946. There he became an apprentice to expert saddle maker Rudy Mudra.\u00a0 King assisted in the building of saddles and created piecework for local cowboys.<\/p>\n

After acquiring his own ranch he committed his time to that enterprise until in 1957, when he devoted himself full-time to saddlemaking and leather tooling.\u00a0 King preferred to focus on highly ornamental trophy saddles like those given as prizes in rodeo competitions. During this time, he developed his own style of tooling.\u00a0 A style characterized by wild roses \u201cwith a distinctive shape, as though they were viewed from a 45-degree angle.\u201d<\/p>\n

By 1961, when King opened his own business on Main Street in Sheridan, he was well-known among ranchers and rodeo stars for his impeccable craftsmanship.\u00a0 This artistry and precision is best demonstrated in the making of the saddle type he created, the Sheridan-style saddle. The Sheridan-style saddle is \u201cin its general form, a classic high plains roping saddle: short, square skirts; a low cantle with a broad Cheyenne roll\u2026\u201d But the most distinctive element is the wild rose (Sheridan Rose) tooling. King also used unusually deep stamping to give \u201cgreater three-dimensional depth to his tooling\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sheridan Style Saddle<\/p><\/div>\n

His skill earned King the PRCA World Championship Saddle contract for 6 years. Some of these saddles are displayed at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and PRCA Rodeo Hall of Fame.\u00a0 The honors King received for his works include: Chester A. Reynolds Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, The National Heritage Fellowship for the Folk Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Governor\u2019s Quality Business Award for the State of Wyoming.\u00a0 King was also a founding member of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Through the years King\u2019s saddles have been acquired by everyone from local Wyoming cowboys to celebrities and dignitaries such as: Queen Elizabeth, Ronald Reagan, and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

King\u2019s Saddlery & King\u2019s Ropes<\/em> is a must stop in Sheridan. Not only can you walk back to the rope shop and pick out your very own custom rope, but there is a Museum off the rope shop filled with saddles of any style along with Old West collectibles. But beware it is extremely easy to walk in empty-handed and walk out with empty pockets\u2026I speak from experience! But guess where I’ll be next week…?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SOURCES:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.sheridanwyoming.org\/history\/buildingsmuseums\/kings-museum\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.kingropes.com\/thekings.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.cowboysaddlery.com\/donking.html<\/a><\/p>\n

**Photos are mine except the one of the Sheridan style saddle it is property of www.sheridanwyoming.org**<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Cookie and me need a saddle or rope where do we go\u2026well to the best of course King\u2019s Saddlery and King\u2019s Ropes! And where do I go when the cowboy in my current work in progress needs a top … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-old-west-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1128"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1134,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions\/1134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}