I was also asked to design holsters for the 1873 Colt 7 1/2" SAA to match the original Schofield holster for use in the movie. Draped over the saddle horn are two of these holsters. Since Frank James was known to favor Remington 1875 models, I designed the holsters to fit both the Colt 1873 and the Remington 1875 models. Click on the Frank James link below to see a reproduction of Frank's rig and read about his wild life.
Also, I am now offering the complete patterns for Frank & Jesse James' Holster and Belt Rigs. You can take a look at them at the pattern link below.
If you want me to make one for you, contact me at my email address.
On the morning Jesse James was shot, a Smith & Wesson Schofield revolver, holster and cartridge belt were found on Jesse's bed. David Carrico asked me to design and carve replicas of Jesse's holster for Brad Pitt and his stunt doubles to use in the film. I have painstakingly reproduced Jesse's holster and money/cartridge belt from photographs of the originals. Notice how the cartridge loops completely cover the cartridges. This was common for early cartridge belts and protected the early, more fragilely constructed, cartridges from damage.
Brad Pitt in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford".
Brad Pitt is starring as Jesse James in a new movie about the famous outlaw. The film deals with the infiltration of Bob Ford into the James' Gang and his dissatisfaction with being overshadowed by the gangs popular folk-hero leader. This leads to Ford's murderous plan to get rid of James and collect the reward. On April 3rd, 1882, Ford shoots the unarmed James in the back of the head while Jesse is straightening a picture in the James home.
Ford doesn't collect the reward, though he escapes legal penalty for the murder. He does not escape justice however. Ford eventually opens up a dance hall in Creede, Colorado. It burns to the ground and Ford re-opens his business in a tent. On June 8th, 1892, a day after his establishment reopens, Edward O. Kelly walks into Ford's dance hall. He is mad over a dispute between him and Ford. Kelly empties both barrels of a sawed-off shotgun into Ford, killing him before he hits the ground. Kelly goes to prison for the murder of Ford. In 1904, two years after Kelly is paroled from the Colorado State Prison at Canon (pronounced Canyon) City, he is shot dead by an Oklahoma City Policeman.
