09/25/2025
MORAN BROS. SADDLE, circa 1885, photographed by renowned Miles City (MT) lensman L.A. Huffman. The saddle had extensive floral tooling, covered rigging rings, double cotton cinches, tapaderos (covers in front of the stirrups), and an unusual Angora wool drape (called โanqueroโ by the maker). Buffalo Billโs Wild West began touring in 1883, and the Angora cover of this โWild Westโ design was influenced by saddles Bill Cody was riding. [See example in oldest comment on my page.] Click image to enlarge/clarify if using a PC. Research and small-file digital restoration of image by Gary Coffrin.
- Historical Background -
I estimate the date of Huffmanโs photo as 1885โ86. Photographer L.A. Huffman reportedly had at least one Moran saddle at the time of his death in 1931. Comments are welcomed, since I know more about Photoshop than saddles.
Miles City, the Montana cowtown at the end of the trail for many Texas cattle drives, hosted some extraordinary saddle makers. Moran Brothers saddles are prized by collectors and museums.
Much of the published history of Moran Brothers saddlery was dead wrong. False claims like โMiles Cityโs first saddleryโ are often posted with auction listings, since earlier than actual dates can increase perceived value. One auction house listed a start date of 1875 for Moran Brothers, although Miles City did not yet exist! Even reputable auction houses make huge blunders, since they cannot have in-house experts in every field. This type of BS was, and still is, often copied in social media, magazines, and books.
The brothers had worked for the famed J.S. Collins & Co. saddlery in Cheyenne. Both Pioneer Saddlery and Goettlich & DeBord had opened in Miles City before the Morans. In July 1884, the Moransโ arrival and plans to open a saddlery were documented by Yellowstone Journal. Nearly all published accounts incorrectly cited 1879 as the saddleryโs year of opening. Still, the inaugural date of 1884 was a full decade before the famous Al Furstnowโs Saddlery started business. In December 1896 (not 1895 as commonly cited), Al Furstnowโs, then partly owned by Charles Coggshall, bought out Moranโs inventory. Thus, Moran had operated in Miles City from 1884 through 1896, not 1879โ95 as typically listed. At least two other saddleries had proceeded Moran Brothers.
In 1899, Charles Coggshall would start his own operation. In 1909, Coggshall sold majority control of his saddlery. The new owners changed the name to Miles City Saddlery, but continued to market saddles under the Coggshall moniker.
L.A. Huffmanโs photos have been the subject of five books. โThe Frontier Yearsโ and โBefore Barbed Wireโ are the must-have volumes. Huffmanโs photos of buffalo hunters at work and cowboy life on the unfenced range, as well as portraits of important warriors of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, are national treasures.
โThis Last Westโ by Dr. Loram L. Hoopes has historical details regarding Miles Cityโs first decade, 1876โ86. It provided data with citations for Moran Brothers, Goettlich & DeBord, and Pioneer Saddlery. Photo resides at the North Dakota State Historical Society.
