Selling the Mythic West and the Real West

Parade saddles, illustrations and movie memorabilia were sold at auction

This Edward Bohlin parade saddle, heavily decorated with gold and silver, was a featured item at the Old West Auction. Made for Louise Rechner Cottam of Santa Barbara in the 1930s, it bears a cowboy on a bucking horse carved into the fenders.

It’s been a little over a year since Morphy Auctions and Brian Lebel’s Old West Events merged. The quality and variety of items offered from the real and the mythical West at their January Old West Auction in Las Vegas demonstrate that they are still a premiere source for collectors. As would be expected, saddles by Swedish immigrant Edward Bohlin brought some of the highest prices at the auction. Bohlin worked out of Hollywood, supplying an estimated 20,000 parade saddles to the rich and famous…and doing his part to create the mythical West. Ridden at parades in Santa Barbara and throughout California by Louise Cottam, her highly decorated Bohlin saddle features leatherwork by Bohlin’s leather carver Gabriel Diaz. The saddle, with matching bridle and horse collar, went for $233,700. The combination of fine craftsmanship and Hollywood celebrity brought a top bid of $31,980 for another Bohlin parade saddle. It was first purchased by Ray “Crash” Corrigan, who starred in 24 of the Three Mesquiteers B-Westerns, and was later owned by actor Charles “Durango Kid” Starrett. The lot included a horse collar, bridle and a portfolio of printed materials about Corrigan. The prices gathered at the auction Parade saddles, illustrations and movie memorabilia were sold at auction . This Edward Bohlin parade saddle, heavily decorated with gold and silver, was a featured item at the Old West Auction. Made for Louise Rechner Cottam of Santa Barbara in the 1930s, it bears a cowboy on a bucking horse carved into the fenders.

First owned by well-known actor “Crash” Corrigan, this Bohlin saddle was later acquired by Charles Starrett, who acted in a record 131 Westerns as “The Durango Kid.”

White Bull’s Ledger Book, created from his memories of late 19th- and early 20th-century life, documents battles during the Indian Wars as well as other aspects of his life. It was the top earner at the Old West Auction.

by these and other parade saddles demonstrate the enduring popularity of the mythical West. There were standout items in other categories at the Vegas auction. A stunning poster of Iron Tail, a Lakota star in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, sold for $5,280 while a sword cane, presented to Buffalo Bill by his business partner Nate Salsbury, brought $15,600. Iron Tail and Buffalo Bill experienced the real West, then went on to help create the mythical West. As an actor who inhabited the West created by Buffalo Bill and Hollywood, John Wayne came to personify the Western myth. Wayne had special mugs made for cast and crew members as souvenirs of their participation in his movies. Testimony to Waynes’s legendary status, one such mug memorializing The Searchers sold for $4,096 at the auction. The most expensive item sold at the Old West Auction was a ledger book created by White Bull, nephew to Sitting Bull and eyewitness to many battles. Thirty-three drawings in the book illustrate battle scenes and other memories from White Bull’s life. The ledger book captured a top bid of $270,600, more than twice than was expected. Like the other artifacts at the auction, it demonstrates the continued attraction and importance of the true West.