Real Holstorians Question the Old Assumptions

Above, the 1976 article by Larson about the holsters of the old West contains a distinction between what the author has called a Kansas loop, a Denver loop, and a Mexican loop. And I'll comment that 50 years later, in the early 21st century, writers no longer make any distinction at all and call them all "Mexican Loop". I'll also point out that only Heiser in its earliest gunleather catalogues called the style Mexican loop and they quickly abandoned the title anyway. "Mexican Loop" in the No. 19 Heiser catalogue of 1921:

So I'm picking on the text in that same article's page, that I've 'boxed' in red at upper right of the page. Here the author presents, as 'proof' of the era, the paintings of Frederick Remington beginning 1885. So I went looking at them and it turns out the author is WRONG. And the paintings are 20th century anyway, so perhaps working from photographs?

The holsters shown on Remington's paintings are what Larson has defined as Mexican Loop and are not what he calls the Kansas Loop, because they have two loops vs. one. There are two because the loops are not cut from a small flap behind the holster pocket, but rather from a full-coverage 'fender' that allows more than one.

We know today that these are a style called an "olive" pattern and are not Mexican at all: ALL of them were made in Missouri from the 1870s to the 1950s when the sole maker, Wyeth, closed its saddlery. This one is not only Jesse James' holster, who was killed in his hometown of St. Joseph, MO, in the 1880s -- it is also a Wyeth, which company was also situated in St. Joseph, MO.  

One more reason to believe the James holster is 'plausibly' his in 1885: the substantial 'red rot' in its leather, which occurred only in leathers veg-tanned in America during 1850-1900. This was completely eradicated by then, and you will not find a Myres or a Heiser with it because they were gunleather makers only from the turn of the 20th century.

I'll suggest that the author didn't have the advantage of a magnifying glass when examining small images of the Remington pics? Because on my huge monitor, and now on yours, the holsters in them all are Olive pattern: no flap, two loops, with a full fender behind the pistol pocket. Notice, too, from the many Remington paintings that follow, and the Jesse James holster, that all are a single variation made by Wyeth: the muzzle of the holster extends past the fender behind the holster itself:

Whereas there are Wyeth models of the Olive that have a full fender past the muzzle of the holster. This one below is a Wyeth that is marked J.S. Collins after Wyoming Territory achieved statehood in 1890 or so.

Following, The Evidence According to the Artist Formerly Known as Remington:

And now, more 1880s Remington paintings (ok, one's a drawing) and their "Olive" pattern holsters. In these depictions of cowboys vs. soldiers, there are NO exceptions: all look like this, front or back, with a pair of leather bands around the holster that were created by slitting a full size 'fender' behind the holster, to create an "Olive" not a Kansas Loop. I deduce that Mr. Remington had an Olive pattern holster and perhaps a matching scout belt, because the holster is the same in every_single_painting.

Below is called the "Mills" belt, which was a woven belt invented to prevent the new brass rifle cartridges from forming Verdigris inside the belts' cartridge loops; which buildup is caused by the chemical reaction between brass and copper in contact with neatsfoot-oiled leather. Which oil, ironically, the soldiers of even the Civil War were REQUIRED to apply to their gunleather. A perfect storm for the Mills belt's inventor.

My research of the olive pattern tells me that you will virtually NEVER encounter in the flesh what the author is calling a Kansas loop: a single slitted fender that is the old flap of the Army holster, folded behind the holster pocket. The flaps are too SMALL for even the one loop, although test examples were made by the Army.

What does it all mean? Dunno, maker Wyeth wasn't even in the wild West. It was in the mid-West near the Missouri cattle yards and tanneries (such as Hermann Oak which survives today as one of only TWO sole leather tanneries in America).

The image below is from a Colt ad from the early 20th century; now notice it is even marked 'olive', which is its 'pattern' or 'style' or 'model'. Only Wyeth did this. "Two, two, two loops in one" to paraphrase an old TV commercial from my youth.

Read more about it in my book that is titled "Holstory -- Gunleather of the Twentieth Century - the Third Edition": click on the link at the top of the page to review then purchase it. THE THIRD EDITION IS AT THE PRINTER NOW, though not yet available for purchase.