In the Press
America’s Cowboys Get Their Due
An iconic saddler’s shop houses a heritage Nevada museum that honors the first cowboys.
G.S. Garcia (shown second from the left, in a 1913 rodeo photo) originally built his G.S. Garcia Harness Shop on Silver Street in Elko, Nevada, in 1907, but in 1913, he moved the building to Commercial Street (pictured below). His shop now pays tribute to Garcia’s legacy and to cowboy history as the Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum.
— Courtesy Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum —
First, thanks go to the Franciscan priests who established 21 missions along the California coast starting in 1769, bringing with them the first ranches of the American West—and the vaqueros who were our first cowboys.
Second, thanks go to the power company—NV Energy—which not only donated a historic saddle shop for a new museum in Elko, Nevada, but then restored the 1907 building on its own dime.
And finally, thanks go to Paula Bear Wright’s family and Jan Petersen, for realizing their community’s “dream come true” by opening the Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum last February to showcase vaquero-buckaroo-cowboy history.
“We always dreamed of a museum in this building, and here came a golden opportunity too good to miss,” Petersen says. “This museum brings history to life and is the perfect companion to the great mix of museums already here.”
In fact, if Elko were a jigsaw puzzle, Petersen’s museum is the missing piece. Across the street from her downtown museum in the historic G.S. Garcia Harness Shop is the Western Folklife Center that celebrates contemporary cowboy lifestyles and is home to the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Elko also is home to the Northeastern Nevada Museum and the California Trail Interpretive Center.
Petersen is the perfect director for a history museum. Her Pearce family has lived in the Elko area since 1869—predating even the historic saddle shop where she now spends her Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Even a longer legacy goes to her husband’s Petersen family, who homesteaded a ranch here in 1864.
Both families were well established when G.S. Garcia and wife Saturnina arrived in Elko in 1894 with his saddle-making supplies. His work was instantly popular with local cowboys. Within three years, he produced a mail-order catalog that expanded his customer base across the West.
Garcia became famous for creating the only saddle in history to win two gold medals (at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, and at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon). His bits, spurs and saddles remain highly collectible today. In 1907, he moved into the building that now houses the museum.
“Cowboys were willing to pay two year’s wages and to wait their turn on a two-year waiting list to purchase and own one of Garcia’s saddles,” the museum website states.
The museum has three original G.S. Garcia display cases, looking just as they did the day the store opened 111 years ago. On display are 116 spade bits and 35 bridles, as well as spurs, photos and family ranching histories, Petersen says. The Wright family, who owns the J.M. Capriola Co. opened by G.S. Garcia’s apprentice, helped interpret this history.
Petersen’s future plans for the museum include offering leather stamping workshops, silver engraving demonstrations and rawhide braiding classes, and building a research library to help tell the story of the first cowboys.
“We’re having a great time sharing all this,” she says.
Jana Bommersbach has earned recognition as Arizona’s Journalist of the Year and won an Emmy and two Lifetime Achievement Awards. She cowrote the Emmy-winning Outrageous Arizona and has written two true crime books, a children’s book and the historical novel Cattle Kate.
Grand Opening
By Cristina Faulconer
Elko Nevada was bustling early February and it wasn’t just due to the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. The excited anticipation of the opening of the new Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum also brought in some colorful characters. The museum, which was a two year labor of love, was the partnership of John and Susan Wright of J.M Capriola and NVEnergy with John’s mother, Paula in mind.
“Initially this was a dream of Paula’s. She knew that the building was Garcia’s home and shop. I’m just so pleased we could bring it to life in her honor,” John Wright said.
The museum is four doors down from J.M Capriola Co. in the old G.S. Garcia building in historic downtown Elko.
The museum building, at 542 Commercial Street, was once the center of the community where ranchers, miners and businessmen could appreciate the business G.S. had created. G.S. Garcia moved from California in the late 1800s to Elko where he immediately saw the need for exceptionally made gear in the Great Basin area. His gear quickly became some of the most sought after and recognizable gear on the market. Demands were high. In the early 1900s the family business moved back to California and stayed there until the 1970s when J.M Capriola acquired the business and brought it back to Elko.
The grand opening was nothing short of grand. The museum, which was lled wall to wall with visitors, was buzzing in awe and appreciation. “Everyone who walked in was touched. Doesn’t matter your age, this museum is truly for everyone,” Wright noted. As you walk through and see the many beautiful bits, spurs, saddles and other cowboy gear, much of the collection from the Garcia vault, you can’t help but smile at the American artistry that has inspired many today.
In the future, John and Susan hope to host gear building classes on the second floor of the museum. Wright says their goal is to “encourage and preserve the arts”. They hope to have saddle, bit and spur making classes, along with other trade classes that the museum’s audience appreciates.
You could nd just about anyone among the crowd of folks who attended the event from the traditional cowboy to next-generation enthusiasts. Even the granddaughter of Garcia himself attend- ed the event. You could even nd The Outside Circle, a crew of musicians that celebrate the art of the cowboy lifestyle, who ended up playing a few impromptu tunes outside the museum.
Deemed the “guardians of tradition”, John and Susan emanated the feeling of gratitude towards all that helped bring this dream to life. That feeling brought collectors and artists together for their appreciation of this art and lifestyle. “Cowboys are never thought of as artists but most of them are… to the core!” exclaimed Wright.
The museum opening is not the beginning or end of an era but merely a continuation of the preservation and appreciation of the ranching and cowboy lifestyle. The crowd at the opening made that apparent. The current exhibit of Garcia memorabilia is one you shouldn’t miss. Many congratulations and thanks to the Wrights, NVEnergy and all who contributed in making this happen, continuing this wonderful piece of history and keeping ranching nostalgia present.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CRISTINA FAULCONER : The Outside Circle entertained attendees with an impromptu performance just outside the museum; An incredible saddle on display; Western and ranching memorabilia on display at the Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum in Elko, Nevada; Attendees wander, read and admire the heritage of G.S. Garcia, a legendary entrepreneur and craftsman who created in the very building the museum is located today from 1894-1933.
Article originally published in:
Shop Talk Magazine, March 2018
The Leather Retailers’ and Manufacturers’ Journal
Visiting This Cowboy Museum Today
Seeing as Elko is continually recognized as one of the best “True Western Towns” in America, it should come as no surprise that it is home to one amazing cultural center devoted to the Great Basin Buckaroo and American West. It’s here, and only here, where you’ll find a collection of Elko-area Western artifacts, including antique saddles, bridles, harnesses, and world-famous bit and spurs made by Legendary Nevadan G.S. Garcia.
Read the full article below
Time to Experience the Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum
By Jan Peterson
Did you know that Nevada has a museum devoted entirely to Western arts and culture? Located in historic downtown Elko, the Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum is housed on Commerce Street in the G.S. Garcia’s Saddle and Harness Shop building, which was recently nominated to the Nevada State Register of Historic Places. The museum’s mission is: “Guardian of the western tradition – preserving the heritage and craftsmanship of the cowboy of the American West.” The history, culture and craftsmanship of cowboys, past and present are showcased in this one-of-a-kind museum that opened in 2018 to highlight the rich heritage, culture, and traditions of ranching and cowboy lifestyles through exhibits and programming.
The Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum sheds light onto the unexplored cowboy culture of Nevada and the deep history and experiences of cowboys in American history. Come visit and experience cowboy and Western culture for yourself! The Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum would love to have you!
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BREAKING THE MOLD
By Jennifer Denison
Contemporary bitmakers share their own takes on traditional G.S. Garcia cheekpieces in a new contest.
Story by JENNIFER DENISON
An artist, craftsman and entrepreneur, G.S. Garcia left an influence that is still felt around the world, especially in Elko, Nevada, where he had a shop from 1894 to 1935. A new competition for contemporary bitmakers will now honor his craftsmanship and creativity.
Garcia’s old saddle shop and home at 542 Commercial St., in downtown Elko, was restored to it original appearance and opened as the Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum last February in a partnership between John and Susan Wright, owners of J.M. Capriola Co., and NV Energy, as a tribute to John’s mother, Paul Bear. The Wrights and J.M. Capriola Co. are sponsoring a bit-making contest this year open to emerging and established craftsmen to benefit the museum.
“We have a bunch of old Garcia cheekpieces cut out and stored in a warehouse,” explains John Wright. “We want to send them out to bitmakers and have them put their own takes on the blank canvases, whether it’s engraving or overlaying them, adding a spade or half-breed mouthpiece, or finishing them in a blue or gray [patina].”
Wright would like to hold the contest for five or six years, each year featuring a different style of cheekpiece. The first contest will focus on the most iconic and popular style, the Santa Barbara. Contestants pay $250 to enter the contest and receive a pair of blank cheekpieces. Half of that money will be added to the $2,500 purse sponsored by J.M. Capriola Co. and the other half will go toward funding museum programs.
Finished bits must be submitted by January 1, 2019, and will be on exhibit and judged during the Great Basin Gear Show held at the museum during the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, January 28−February 2, 2019, in Elko. They will remain on display through March.
“Every bit will be numbered as it’s entered in the contest, and will have the Garcia’s and maker’s marks on it, and the year stamped on it,” says Wright. “It will make them collectible down the road.”
MSN recently named the Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum the best new tourist attraction in Nevada. It showcases the history, culture and traditions of the cowboy lifestyle through exhibits, demonstrations and programs.
For more information on entering or sponsoring the contest, call 775-389-1713 or visit cowboyartsandgearmuseum.org.
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We Celebrated the Grand Opening of the Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum in conjunction with the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering . We had an amazing turnout of over 300 guests, Nevada State Dignitaries and out of town poets, musicians and enthusiasts!
The Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum is dedicated to the preservation of the vaquero and the American Buckaroo. The Museum will showcase the rich history, culture, and traditions of the Cowboy of the American West — connecting the past to the present along with representing the deep-rooted heritage of the ranching and cowboy lifestyles through exhibits, demonstrations and programs.