If you need a saddle tree, consider Superior Saddle Tree Co. of Benton, Calif. The company handcrafts saddle trees and sells them all over the world. Last year, it sold approximately 1,300. The trees are used for new-saddle construction, pack saddles, and broken- and antique-saddle repair. The company, established in 1965, is now owned and operated by the Utu Utu Gawitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation. Tribal chairman Joseph Saulque discovered the U.S. government had given the tribe 160 acres in the 1800s for a small reservation that was never established. Through Saulque's efforts, the Benton Paiute Reservation was set aside. In 2003, the tribe purchased the saddle-tree company, and employs tribe members to handcraft trees.
For more information, call (760) 933-2404; or visit www.superiorsaddletree.com.
