TEXAS RANGERS

Texas ranger Ira Aten poses on a Plains Cayuse in 1887. The most interesting features of his tack and equipment are the Bowie knife, pearl-handled revolver, Winchester rifle and the long tie-rope made of braided hemp. Note the two mohair cinches, both done up snug– the rear one is all the way into the horse’s flank, but the animal does not seem to mind.

Texas ranger Sgt. J.B. Gillett rides a “proto Quarter Horse” in 1879. Like Roosevelt’s mount of the same decade, this is a horse with a lot of Alsup “Billy” blood. Note the full armamentarium, platter-horned Mexican saddle with Spanish wide-tread box stirrups, and big- O snaffle: truly a creole outfit.