Halsey Saddle Returns to Nevada
A Western saddle handcrafted by Reno residents in 1945 was sent as a special gift to Admiral William Halsey to mark the surrender of Japanese forces in World War II. The Halsey Saddle arrives Thursday from the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, MD, on a three-year loan. Gov. Brian Sandoval is scheduled to take delivery. The saddle that gained international attention during the war will be housed at the Nevada State Museum in Carson City in honor of the state’s 150th birthday coming up in 2014 and will tour the state.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor and years of war, Admiral Halsey told the media in 1945 he wanted to ride the horse of the Japanese emperor. Within five months the Reno Chamber of Commerce had commissioned and built a saddle in a promotion to purchase war bonds. When Washoe County fulfilled their bond quota, local businesses fashioned the saddle, silver and bridle. The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe sent specially made buckskin riding gloves.
Washoe Family Court Judge Chuck Weller uncovered the history of the saddle and traveled to the academy to discuss the saddle’s return to Nevada. Kai Wallis, president of the Reno Council of the Navy League, arranged to finance the saddle’s visit through a generous donation from the E. L. Cord Foundation. Peter Barton, administrator of Nevada’s Division of Museum’s and History, put the whole project together. As a result, the saddle is coming home to the Silver State for the first time since 1946.
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