2/26/2011:
The Sentinel Butte Saddle Company has a long history of producing quality saddles and harnesses. On this date in 1915, the Studebaker Company announced a one hundred thousand dollar contract with the North Dakota firm – a substantial amount at that time. With the war in Europe, the Studebaker Company, better know for manufacturing farm and military wagons, had taken on a seven million dollar contract to supply leather goods for the allied armies. It was still a time when the military relied on horses for transportation of troops and supplies. To fill the order, the Sentinel Butte Saddlery recruited an additional crew of eight to ten men. This coincided with a sharp rise in the price of leather, and all leather goods, including shoes, would soon feel the pinch.
Dakota Datebook written by Jim Davis
Source:
The Dickinson Press February 27, 1915