Engraved Hand Made Silver & Brass Rodeo Cowboy Belt Buckle.

This one can stop a bullet! This hand made Nicklel Silver Rodeo Belt Buckle is an impressive piece of Southwestern Cowboy fashion. It's tough, it's big, and it can be worn proudly at the rodeo, the roundup, or whenever. This buckle features hand engraved fine line old western floral designs in shimmering nickel Silver for a high shine that won't tarnish. The edges are finished with hand made Red Brass twist wire that follows the classic contours of this stunning buckle. This Rodeo Buckle was made in our shop. It is 3-1/2" tall by 4-3/4" wide with a 1-3/4" wide keeper on the back.

The cowboy was born in 1866 as the first herd of Texas longhorns trailed across hundreds of miles of wild and dangerous country filled with predators and hostile Indians. From that time on the big Texas cattle drives fed the market for a beef-hungry America. Six hundred thousand cattle came up the Texas trail in 1871 in herds of about 2,000 each led by a wild, reckless, and tough bunch of young men with great courage and fortitude. Huge numbers of longhorn cattle had multiplied in Texas after the Civil War, the result of few predators, few fences, and plenty of grass and water. They ran wild while Texas men went off to fight for the Confederacy. With the war over, a new line of work was needed for the adventurous and courageous survivors. Cow-gathering was a challenge but getting a herd all the way to the Kansas railroad paid big. Early cowboys had very little grub (mostly corn meal and salted bacon), used homemade saddles and chaps, had no tents or tarps, braided their own rope from horsehair, and bragged they could go any place a cow could and stand anything a horse could. Lay on the saddle blanket and cover with a coat was the Texas trail bed. The twelve-inch-barrel Colt was necessary equipment and boy did it get used. Strong, wily men who were persevering and loyal defined a new American spirit of freedom and independence. Mothers shared great pride in seeing their sons grow up to be cowboys when the west was young.