The Scott and Cathy Sibley Horn Project
An 18th CENTURY CAMPAIGN HORN and discharge papers
By Scott and Cathy Sibley
If you know anything about contemporary powder horns, then you know about the husband and wife team, from Wyoming, that have long been recognized as two of the nations premier horn makers. I am proud to tell you that for our 2012 live auction, Scott and Cathy volunteered to craft a beautiful war of 1812 themed campaign horn, but not satisfied to stop there, they took this special project to the next level by recreating a complete set of authentic handmade discharge papers to accompany it. This complete set of military service papers are for the soldier whose history is depicted on the horn and serve to make this auction item truly unique and one of a kind.
To start the project, John and Linda Shorb at Powder Horns and More
were asked to donate a cow horn that would be worthy of the project Scott and Cathy had in mind. Scott wanted this horn to be a plain but elegant and with architecture definitely similar to the majority of 18th century campaign horns.
The Shorbs found and sent Scott such a horn, and he quickly got to work. Scott writes, “I let the horn dictate to me as I was shaping the tip. One shape led to another, I wanted it to be authentic, so I had to keep it fairly simple. As I was shaping it, my mind was racing with some ideas for the decoration to be applied by Cathy.”
Scott also adds this additional personal thought, “Some time ago I had set a goal to make a horn for every Sibley that had fought in the War of Independence. I am sad to say, I have fallen very short of this goal as according to the National Archives, there were close to 100 Sibleys that served.”
Scott had this to say about the soldier whose history is depicted on the horn, “The man on this horn is not a Sibley but rather the grandfather of my Great Grandfather. I used his service records, his request for a soldier’s pension: dated June 12, 1819, his wife’s request for his soldier pension after his death, dated July 10, 1850 and family tales to design this horn. It was aged a bit to add to the feeling of authenticity.
The set of discharge papers are a work of art in themselves. The handmade paper was made by Lynn Kalan of Salt Lake City, and Robert Weil printed the basic documents, leaving blank sections for the soldiers personal information. This is very much like original military papers that were printed and used in the past. David Hughes, a well-recognized and skilled artist, then filled in the blanks and wrote the biography of Elnathan by hand in a proper period style. David is a good friend of Scott, and does an excellent job at hand replicating early documents.
Cathy and Scott, and everyone else involved are proud to offer this very special project to the Contemporary Longrifle Association for this year’s event. It will be auctioned off at the Annual Show August 18, 2012 in Lexington Kentucky. For more information about their horn work, or about their new book, Building the Southern Banded Horn, you can contact them at:
Scott + Cathy Sibley, 1132 rd. 7, Powell, WY 82435
Also, for information about attending show and membership, please visit the CLA web site at: http://www.longrifle.com/
