When we got interested in Cowboy Action Shooting, we looked at all the leather gear that people were selling, and then went to Tom Schaefer with our ideas. He designed us a custom rig that would work for both Penny and I. Here's 1890's honky-tonk piano player and occasional bank robber 'Austin Travis' modeling the whole rig.
It features a straight draw holster on the right side, for our 5 1/2' Uberti .45 Colt, and a cross draw on the left side, for our 4 3/4' Cimarron Thunderer with bird's head grip. The bird's head grip makes a big difference in making the gun easier and faster to handle, even if it isn't completely authentic. Colt never made a single-action gun with that grip, but they did make a double-action gun with that grip prior to 1900 - CAS shooters have allowed this little revision of history. On the holsters themselves Tom engraved his own floral pattern and added some Texas star conchos.
Austin was the illegitmate grandson of Alamo defender Wm. B Travis, who was mostly known for his talented, yet tasteless, piano playing. Born the son of a poor farming family, he left home at 16 and made a meager living playing piano in saloons and whorehouses. His abuse of laudanum began to twist his musical sensibilities, and his renditions of familiar songs began to offend customers, with his emphasis on flatted 13th chords, odd meter, and long improvisational jams.
As a defense against getting shot at during performances, he paid Marshal Ben Thompson of Austin to teach him the art of the gun. His fast fingers made him a natural at gunslinging, and he soon discovered that bank robbing was more profitable than piano playing. He spent the years between 1890-1900 on the run, often near the Texas/Mexico border. During this time he learned the guitar and was seen performing with mariachi bands in Mexico.
After 10 years of running he was tracked down, not by a posse, but by a music critic from New York, who had heard of his imaginative piano works. This promoter, a distant relative of P.T. Barnum, convinced Travis to put up his guns and embark on a second musical career in the concert halls of New England. Travis' brief moment of fame had a tragic end, however, when he was taken from the concert hall and lynched for his honky-tonk piano rendition of Stravinsky's 'The Rite Of Spring' in Lawrence, Kansas in 1915.