Dead people had to be buried. Sick people had to be tended. People with money needed banks, and people with legal problems needed attorneys to do the paperwork and argue at the bar. The men and women who performed the various trades of 19th and 20th Century Canadian were, in many respects, the core around which community commerce was built. The River Valley Pioneer Museum has a number of authentic exhibits that show the tools, goods, and services provided by bankers, doctors, mercantile shopkeepers, and undertakers. Time spend poring over these exhibits will impress you with how far we've progressed, but also with how deeply our lives are still intertwined with the services of medicine, finance, and consumer goods.

William Reid Errington, Saddle Maker

Reid was born May 7, 1907 in Ellis County, Oklahoma. He spent most of his school years in Oklahoma. When he was fifteen years old, he moved with his family to Canadian, Texas. After finishing school, Reid went to work as a cowboy. Reid said cowboys were paid $25 a month and during hard times were paid with Bull Durham tobacco instead.

Later, Reid went to Silver City, New Mexico to learn saddle making from A. D. Seitzler. In the years that followed, Reid made saddles in California, Clarendon, and Amarillo, Texas. While in California he made very expensive saddles for singer Allan Jones and cowboy star Leo Carrillo, better known as "Pancho", the sidekick of the "Cisco Kid".

When WW II broke out, Reid spent five years in the military. As a member of the 111th Medical Battalion, 36th division, he saw combat in North Africa, Italy and Germany.

He returned to Canadian in 1947 to open his own saddle shop. His trademark "The Style of the West" can be seen on his shop sign that hangs in our exhibit. A talented artist, Reid combined hand-stamped original floral patterns as well as the best of materials and workmanship to make saddles capable of withstanding the roughest range use. Reid was also a fine marksman. He was a member of the Texas Rifle Association and the National Rifle Association. He was also a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, and the Masonic Lodge.

His saddles can be found in every state in the Union. When he retired due to ill health, a long list of outstanding orders was still on his books. After living in Canadian for 63 years, Reid passed away December 12, 1984

Julius Born

Julius Cesar Born was born in Tennessee on May 24, 1879. He came to Canadian on March 6, 1897, not quite 18 years of age. He had worked in the mines of Tennessee for 60 cents a day, been buried alive during a mine cave-in and given up for dead. He was unconscious when dug out. Canadian must have seemed like a significant improvement.

In 1900, he was working for the Santa Fe Railroad as a section hand at the old coal chute when track work was slack. He came to Canadian in 1897; after a temporary move to Oklahoma, he returned to Canadian and opened a general store on March 5, 1905, at 215 Main, with exactly 75 cents operating capital. He borrowed $8 to start the business and had 6 bits left after paying the dryman for his load of merchandise. He operated this store for over 50 years and lived in the back.

Julius Born's Variety Store became a curiosity shop for Canadian residents and visitors to the city. He carried everything from brightly colored feather fly catchers to old fashioned silver clasp purses, kerosene lamp wicks, to syrup pitchers like grandma used to have on the table. He bottled and sold Sarsaparilla to generations of Canadian's youngsters, and his sugar-candy figures were a delight to the children and probably a horror to their mothers.

Julius Cesar Born passed away on July 10, 1962 at the hospital in Canadian, Texas. He had been a patient at Smith's Rest Home in Wellington, Texas for about a year and a half. He was brought to Canadian two weeks before his death and gradually grew weaker. He is remembered as owning and operating one of the first businesses in Canadian, Texas, and being the foremost photographic chronicler of the town’s history.