Vintage 14" Keystone Brothers Slick Seat Roping Saddle w/ Tooling San Francisco

Description

A vintage 14" Keystone Brothers Slick Seat Roping Saddle with Tooling.  The saddle is in real good shape for its age. It was made by Keystone Brothers in  San Francisco California. The
keeper is hard to read but has Keystone Brothers.  It is also stamped in the front of the seat Keystone Bros. San Francisco.  Then there is a metal tag in the back underside of the seat. Made in San Francisco by Keystone Bros. Established 1868.  Last the keeper on the right side has Dan Daude Lazy 5 Kempner Texas. Dan Daude did both restorations and custom leather work. He used only the best materials with as much original leather and structure retained as possible.  The tree is tight and the fleece has been replaced and so in real good shape.  All of the saddle strings have been replaced also.  The saddle
has a slick seat with tooling all over the rest of the saddle.
It has brass hardware for the rigging and a 6 1/2" gullet SQHB. Overall the saddle is in good shape and ready to be used.
Now here is some history on Keystone Brothers of San Francisco Ca.
In 1868, the effects of the gold rush and the "forty-niners" still lingered in San Francisco. A booming port and bustling city of 139,000 souls,
The City struggled for respectability. On May 1 of that year James Keyston began Keyston Bros., a firm which today serves the furniture and
transportation industries out of 21 locations and has sales of almost million. James began making whips and lashes in the stable of his father's home on Church Street in San Francisco. He purchased his leather sides from a local tannery and toiled that first week to produce his hand-braided whips and lashes. Beginning the following Monday, he traveled on foot from livery stable to livery stable and by nightfall had sold his entire week's work and made enough money to buy leather for the next week's production. Open freighters, stage coach drivers, teamsters and cattle ranchers were using Keyston bullwhips, black snakes, and drivers. James was establishing a reputation of quality at a fair price.
In 1906 Keyston Brothers moved into the saddle making business and bought out the J.C Johnson Co., Saddlery. Approximately 4 years
later in 1912 Keyston Brothers purchased Main Winchester & Stone Saddlery also F. S. Johnson Co., Saddlery in 1914 they purchased
Harpham & Jensen Leather and Shoe Findings Company. After acquiring W. Davis & Sons in 1925, Keyston Brothers was the largest
manufacturer of Saddles & Harness on the West Coast.
Following World War I, saddlery and harness-makers fell on hard times and while some went under, some continued to be purchased
by Keyston Bros., who remained strong and profitable. As the company entered the twenties, Fred Keyston toyed with the production
of toy leather holsters with scraps from the harness and saddlery operations. This became the largest contributor to the Keyston
business and extended Keyston Bros. operations to every state in the union.
Keyston Bros. no longer maintains its link with the past with our single Riding Goods branch in Sparks, Nevada. It was closed in October of 1999. However, Keyston Bros.' upholstery customers still expect and receive the same level of quality at a fair price as they did when James Keyston  braided his first whip 136 years ago.
Shipping to the lower 48 states
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