Who knows their pack saddle makers??

[Gunn]

You don't see many of these around so I was curious to see who recognized this style.

[Blammer]

It's really interesting! It looks like it is an old Decker with a wooden tree? Someone has added hooks so it can be used as a sawbuck? I would like to know more! Hints??

[Gunn]

Well, it's not a decker. The hooks are something that this guy used for years and years. They stopped building these in the late 70's or early 80's.

[Gunn]

Hey Blammer,You are on the right track though. It is based off a style of saddle.

[Dan V]

The style of saddle is called an "Aparajo pack saddle." It is supposed to be the "predecessor" to the decker pack saddle.

I have no idea who made it though

[Gunn]

The beginning idea for these may have started there. I don't know. These were built by Martin saddlery in Bayfield Colorado back in the 60's, 70's and early 80's. I'm not sure but possibly even started in the 50's. I was told that Martin's son-in-law took over in the 70,s. He began by converting McClellan saddles. As they became harder to find he started having the trees built in about the same style as the McClellan saddle.
I was really curious to see if any of these saddles were outside the Four Corners area. They are the toughest pack saddle I've ever used.

[Dan V]

I have a packing book that shows some historic photos of those saddles in use around 1900 in the Buffalo Hump area of Idaho. And according to the history books, the decker was born in the same area in the early 1900's It looks like you could cargo items with one of those like you could a decker.

Thanks for posting the pics of your saddle

[Mike Leonard]

Mel Bartell was making this type of saddle in Bayfield up until the late 90's as i remember but not sure what he is doing these days. there was also a little saddle shop out between Bayfield and Durango called OW Saddles. They were making the nicest pack saddles on improved Deck and Arapyho styles i ever saw. I wanted some of them but dang they put so much leather and time in these things they cost about as much as a regular riding saddle. I know some of the packers in the Durango, Pagos Springs area still have some of these saddles and the Forest Services uses some of them that were special built for their draft mule pack trains.