Presidents’ Saddles On Display .....
BHSS Foundation Exhibits History - And History In The Making

Rapid City, SD -- The old saddle maker took one look and knew what it was.

On that summer day long ago, two travelers from Iowa stopped in to what was already a landmark in a town rich in history - the Duhamel Trading Post.

The glass store front building was there when cattle trailed through the streets and Presidents stayed at the Alex Johnson Hotel, just across the street.

What those two brought with them was something Bud Duhamel hadn’t thought he’d ever lay eyes on again .... a President’s saddle.

History repeats itself in unusual ways. This story begins in 1927 and rewrites itself in a new millennium.  As one saddle built for the 30th President of the United States comes home to South Dakota, another leaves it -  built for the 43rd President and the American people. One created in a simpler time and place in history; the other born to mark the courage and sacrifice of a nation at war - in an era that would redefine what that means.

 THE COOLIDGE SADDLE:

President Calvin Coolidge was known as a man of few words. In fact, the press of the times had dubbed him `Silent Cal’. Both his dry Yankee wit and his frugality with words became legendary. Which is probably among the reasons why people in the Midwest took a shine to him - cowboys in particular would appreciate his quiet reserve.

He also came to be much admired by people (especially in Western South Dakota) where his many trips to the Black Hills and the State Game Lodge, would become known as his  administration’s Summer White House.

There was more than the excellent hunting that drew him to the undisturbed beauty of a land considered to be the hub of the geographical medicine wheel traveled in the directional points of North, West, East and South by the tribes and bands of the Plains Indians.

His was a deep and abiding interest in the native Indian history. And the recognition that history had not treated them well. He would be one of the few President’s to be welcomed into tribal circles at the time and in turn, would welcome elders and leaders from the Lakota, Cheyenne and Sioux tribes to the White House.

There were other  people and places that would draw him to South Dakota and he took full advantage of his time spent here, taking in the local cultures found in rodeos and small town, summer community celebrations - the kind that are still a favorite today in cow town’s like Belle Fourche, SD.

 It was in the summer of 1927 at the Black Hills Roundup (now in its 83rd year) that President Coolidge left South Dakota with something he had wanted for some time. A group of young boys from a local Boys Scout troop were trail riding when they encountered the President, along with his hunting companion John Frankl, a Wyoming rancher (Sodagren/Torkio Ranch) and Iowa farmer. Coolidge admired a saddle one of the Scouts was riding and commented, “Maybe some day, I’ll have a saddle like that.”

And so it was done; and in time, lost to history.

Until that summer day in August, 1967  when Torston and Edith Lagerstom of Torby Farms, a well known registered Angus operation in Iowa and Nebraska at the time,  brought with them a saddle and a story.  They neighbored with John Moxley, a grandson of John Frankl. Moxley, remembering the stories his grandfather had often told of days spent hunting with Coolidge, had sent the saddle with them.

‘Was this the saddle?’, they wondered.

 Indeed it was. Duhamel knew every piece he had ever worked and for the sake of history and the man (Moxley) who now owned the Coolidge saddle, he drafted a notarized letter documenting the saddle’s origin.

There comes a time in any person’s life when treasure’s long held dear, are shared with those who carry an appreciation for a certain place or thing. Such was the case with the former President who in time, gifted the saddle to the Moxley’s grandfather John Frankl who had shared so many hours with him....in the saddle. He in turn, would hand it down to his daughter and she, to her son.

Over three decades would pass before the Coolidge saddle would surface again - this time at the renown western auction at Cody, Wyoming. It’s a favorite haunt of collector’s from around the world - including a man who spends a great deal of time searching for the stories of the Old West (specifically western South Dakota)  in the form of historical items. By the time he came upon this unique piece of history, he had helped to establish what is now another highly regarded auction, the BHSS Foundation’s Cowboy Heritage Cowboy Collector’s event.

 The cornerstone of this auction is the Duhamel saddle. The Duhamel family has helped to sponsor the Foundation’s event since it was first held, eight years ago. What Jay George, a Foundation director, would find that day in Cody, Wyoming  would come to have untold meaning.

“There wasn’t a lot of fanfare about it,” he recalls. “It was just another item among the hundreds of lots being offered for sale that day. But for me, with my own personal interest along with the avenue the Foundation has created in preserving the history of the Duhamel saddle, it was a rare find.”

George knew the Coolidge saddle’s rightful place was home, in South Dakota. Which is where it’s at today, along with the letter written by Bud Duhamel, authenticating the saddle that had traveled far and seen much since 1927. It will sit side by side with another President’s saddle.  It’s story is just beginning.

 THE SADDLE OF INDEPENDENCE:

 As many have done since being struck by the faceless enemy of terrorism, directors of the  BHSS Foundation  considered how the organization might express a deep appreciation for a President and people who have endured the unspeakable.

The history of the cowboy is ingrained in the Foundation that does much in  preserving the legacy of the cowman and his role in creating what today is among the largest winter stock shows in the United States.

The significance of the cowboy’s saddle is a part of that. It’s said that much of history  was written from the saddle of a horse and that for history to become a heritage, one must live it. In one form or another, people have truly lived history since September 11, 2001.

The cowboy’s saddle represents the heritage of an entire nation; one of endurance, courage, sacrifice, compassion; all things a cowboy (and a country)  needs to function - in time of peace and war.

“It was almost as if time stood still for a moment,” recalls George of discussions that day.

"For anyone who appreciates the time honored shear grit and determination of people of the West, then they understand the full meaning, just as President Coolidge did. It’s a remembrance the cowboy has never extended lightly, evidenced by the fact that throughout history, there are few President’s saddles. I was fortunate to find one;  now there are two.”

What will be the history of the Saddle of Independence? That remains to be seen. For the man who built it, Benton Moore of Groesbeck, Texas, it begins with reaching back in time.

“How the old saddle makers did it, names like Bud Duhamel of South Dakota, came to mind,” he says. “I don’t build ‘pretty’ - they didn’t either. Duhamel saddles were built for the person,  the horse, and the job that needed done. This one is too.”  Like Duhamel’s craftsmanship, Moore’s saddle are found around the world.

As a Vietnam era veteran himself, Moore has been deeply moved by the events of such a dark yet united time in American History. “How do you express gratitude to a President and people who have had to make the hardest decisions in their life and have faced the worst times in their life? How do you reach those who lived and lost in the death and destruction of September 11th? How do you trace the grief of such sorrow and bravery?”

 To remember.

“When the President steps into this saddle; when people read about it or kids and grandparents come to see it;  when the saddle carries another rider; or when it sits empty, waiting .... I hope people will remember."

From his place in the past, President Coolidge would speak to that following another historical conflict, WWI. "What America should have required was not the keeping of the peace, but the keeping of the soul .... Nathan Hale and Joseph Warren did not keep the peace. Nor did Washington and Lincoln. But they kept the faith. To honor the past, is to render more secure .... the present."

For more information on the commissioned saddle contact the Foundation office at 605-718-0810 or Benton Moore Saddlery at 254-729-3986. Email foundation@BHSSF.com  or bentonmooresaddlery@glade.net.