When my father found a single old spur on our ranch along the Goodnight-Loving Trail outside San Angelo more than 60 years ago, that sparked in me a lifelong fascination and a collection of hundreds of spurs representing dozens of craftsmen and more than 120 years of history.
But one eludes me, and it’s a marvel.
Anyone with an interest in Kelly spurs has seen the cover of P.M. Kelly’s Catalog No. 20 from 1927, with a picture of La Espuela Grandes No. 222. They were showy, oversized and, apparently, rare. They carried a hefty $100 price tag while most spurs in the catalog were $15 or less. Diamond Dicks, for example, were $10.
That cover image has little or no similarity to the first spurs crafted by Kelly, starting in the Panhandle in 1903 and later in El Paso. All this begs the question: Why did he make this elaborate, rather unpractical spur? He was a businessman focused on efficiency, productivity and output.
I suspect it was a marketing ploy. Of course, this is just speculation. But placed in a storefront window, a pair of extravagant La Espuela Grandes would loudly announce: We sell spurs!
That was the case at the R. E. Donaho Saddles & Cowhand Saddlery in San Angelo when Gov. Allan Shivers visited, according to a recorded interview between historian and writer Jane Pattie and Dr. Tom Reagan of Beeville, who was a knowledgeable resource on the topic of spurs and bits. The Donaho shop had La Espuela Grandes in the front window, and Shivers, governor from 1949 to 1957, borrowed them to wear to a special event.
Reagan says he tried unsuccessfully to purchase the spurs a few times, but they remained in the shop, on display, until one spur disappeared under suspicious circumstances. The remaining Kelly spur was copied by spur-maker Wallie Boone, creating a new pair—one marked “Kelly,” the other “Boone”—and remained on display, until the “disappeared” spur was returned after a saddle shop employee died.
The employee’s embarrassed wife returned the original. These three spurs a Kelly pair and Boone copy—now reside in the collection of Jay C. Lyndes in Montana.
There have been copies of La Espuela Grandes over the years, by Randy Butters and Jerry Wallace. They’re exceptional in workmanship and fit the catalog description, and Gatesville collector Lloyd Mitchell included the Butters reproduction in his collection.
But I’ve never seen a genuine Kelly pair No. 222. I called Lyndes and offered $20,000 for his. “Well,” he said, “I gave over $50,000 for them.”
So, as I’ve done for decades, I’ll just own them in my dreams.
