Frank A. Meanea was the Nephew of E. L. Gallatin and he started his saddle making career by working at the Gallatin & Gallup Saddlery in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1867 or 1868.  By 1873 E. L. Gallatin had joined his nephew in operating the Cheyenne, Wyoming Saddlery after selling his interest in the Denver, CO Saddlery to Francis Gallup.

 Frank A. Meanea & E. L. Gallatin continued to use the famous Gallatin Makers Mark Logo into the early 1880s when buy this time Frank Meanea became a very famous saddle maker in his own right, and from 1881 until 1928 the Saddlery was known as the F. A. Meanea Saddlery.  In 1881 F. A. Meanea started using his own Makers Mark Logo which read as follows “F. A. MEANEA MAKER CHEYENNE WT ( The WT referring to Wyoming Territory ) and at some later date the mark was changed to WYO ( Simply for Wyoming ).  Frank A. Meanea was a very good Businessman as well as Saddle Maker and he was a maverick in the Mail Order Saddle Business.

 Frank A. Meanea was a top notch artist with leather who designed the Cheyenne Style Chaps and the Cheyenne style holster.  Frank had a Brother Theodore who had a large business as a saddle tree maker, and Frank never made a saddle without a Theodore Meanea Saddle tree.  As a note of reference Frank A. Meanea never stamped the fenders of his saddles like other famous saddle makers.  The Meanea Family tried to re-open the F. A. Meanea Saddlery in the mid 1990s but this was a short lived business that only survived a couple of years