George Lawrence Saddles

I am not a serious collector of anything..., but I have managed to "accumulate" a few old saddles made by the George Lawrence Company of Portland, OR. This is my latest addition.


From "They Saddled the West" by Lee M. Rice:

The George Lawrence Company of Portland, Oregon, has the distinction of being the oldest established firm in the Northwest engaged in the manufacture of Westen riding equipment. Some firms--including Main and Winchester and the L.D. Stone Company of San Francisco--were established prior to the founding of the George Lawrence Company, but the others are no longer in business.

The Lawrence Company was founded in Portland in 1857, at the end of the romantic Oregon Trail days. It was startd by Mr. Samuel Shylock, who came west to the Oregon country to establish himself in his trade of saddler and harnessmaker. In the new city of Portland, he found the opportunity he had been seeking. There was a great need for a shop to furnish harness and riding equipment to outfit settlers and army posts in the remote sections of the Northwest.

...

Mr. Shylock was joined by his brother-in-law, George Lawrence, in 1874. Two years later, upon the death of Mr. Shylock, George Lawrence took over the management of the company. The firm was reorganized in 1893, being incorporated as the George Lawrence Company, and under that masthead it has remained ever since.

...

The George Lawrence Company has never gone into extensive manufacture of high-priced custom-made goods. Their policy and reputation was built by concentrating on quality, catering to the cowpuncher, the packer, and the man who must spend many hours a day in the saddle. To win the cooperation of such men as these, they must provide a saddle that will stand up under the most severe tests with the greatest comfort to both horse and rider. A hundred years of satisfied customers is substantial evidence of the Lawrence Company's record of dependability.

A shorter version of this book excerpt was published in The Western Horseman magazine in Jan-Feb 1945. The George Lawrence Company quit making saddles sometime in the 1950's. I believe that the saddle pictured is one of the last they made in the 50's era.