Museum of Western Art | November 22, 2025-January 10, 2026 | Kerrville, TX

Cowboy Couture

The Museum of Western Art celebrates the star-studded saddles of Edward Bohlin.

By Sarah Gianelli

When the Lone Ranger cried “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” as he and his white horse raced off to the rescue, both were outfitted in silver-mounted gear handcrafted by Edward H. Bohlin (1895-1980). From the 1940s through the ’70s, Bohlin’s ornately detailed saddles appeared on other TV and Hollywood Westerns starring Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Cisco Kid and others; and in events like the Tournament of Rosesparades. Known as the “Saddle-maker to the Stars,” Bohlin went on to create a brand the company describes “as iconic as the famed Western stars” themselves.

Debuting in Bohlin’s 1951 shop catalog with an astronomical price well over $5,000, this iconic and regal parade saddle is 100 percent original and was made for Dominic Bressi (1903-1977), a prosperous road contractor from San Luis Obispo, whose name appears on the seat plate and gold initials “DB” on the back of the cantle.

In celebration of Bohlin’s legacy and his incredibly intricate leather and silver work, the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas, in collaboration with gallery owner and prominent collector Charles Morin, presents Silver Saddles and the Silver Screen: The Golden Age of Hollywood. The exhibition, which features a dozen of Bohlin’s elaborate show saddles, opens on November 22 and remains on view through January 10, 2026. A reception will be held on November 21, at which Morin will speak at 5:30 p.m.

“The Museum of Western Art is tasked with telling the story of the American West through art, and the art of the silver saddles is one more important piece,” says Darrell Beauchamp, the museum’s executive director. “The cowboy’s saddle helped settle the American West by providing a more comfortable mode of transportation, thus giving the rider the ability to move freely about the West. The saddle is a staple of Western art and film, visually and symbolically representing the genre. From classic Western films to literature, the saddle and the cowboy who rides it are an inseparable pairing that immediately evokes themes of adventure, the frontier and American mythos.”

Edward H. Bohlin’s “Tom Mix Pattern Presentation Spurs” from 1941. Originally made for Harry West of Shafter, California, a prominent director and captain of the elite Rancheros Vistadores of Santa Barbara who owned more than 8,000 acres of prime farm and ranch land in and around Bakersfield.

Bohlin was no stranger to the allure of the West. His journey from Sweden to America was in part fueled by his childhood fascination with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show when it toured in Denmark. Beauchamp explains, “After running away from home at age 15, he worked his way across the Atlantic and found his way to the American West, driven by a desire to live the cowboy life he had only seen in shows.”

Bohlin worked as a cowhand in Montana and later at Buffalo Bill Cody’s ranch, where he began practicing leatherworking and silversmithing. In 1920, he opened his first leather goods shop in Cody, Wyoming, where he would perform rope tricks to attract customers. “Bohlin’s path to becoming a world-renowned artisan was cemented when he moved to Hollywood in the early 1920s,” adds Beauchamp. “After being discovered by silent film cowboy star Tom Mix, Bohlin opened the Hollywood Novelty Leather Shop, and the rest is history.” The Bohlin Company eventually expanded into Western buckles, saddles and accessories, many inspired by Bohlin’s friends Mix and Charlie Russell. In 2000, the operation moved from Hollywood to Dallas and carries on the tradition of selling handcrafted Western items.

Edward H. Bohlin silver parade saddle ridden by actor Monty Montana in one of many appearances in the Tournament of Roses Parade. It is reported that Montana once roped then President Dwight Eisenhower from a horse adorned with this saddle.

Each of Bohlin’s saddles was custom made and crafted from hand-tooled leather and embellished with engraved silver on the pommel, cantle, skirts, tapaderos and stirrups. Bridles and breastplates complement the saddle and are adorned with silver ferrules and tip plates. Other intricate embellishments included floral engraving, twisted silver horn caps and diamond-and-oval conchos.

“Edward Bohlin saddles are distinguished by their exceptional craftsmanship, liberal use of high-quality sterling silver and gold, and status as functional Western art for Hollywood stars and Musewealthy clients,” says Beauchamp. “Unlike standard working saddles, Bohlin’s are renowned for their intricate, ornate artistry. The Silver Saddlesexhibition will give visitors a chance to see a number of impressive Bohlin saddles in one place. I hope they come away with an appreciation for the craftsmanship and attention to detail.” —