Hello members, I've recently been doing a lot of reading about the history of the Red River D belt buckles made during the production of the Howard Hawks film "Red River" in 1946. I have recently purchased a brass replica of the buckle with the initials "HWH" that John Wayne wore in nine of his films beginning with "Rio Bravo" in 1959. I'm curious if anyone has any unknown bits of information about the buckles to talk about.

From the information I have gathered I'm pretty sure that the buckles were made at the La Azteca Silver Shop in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico beginning in 1946. The 1946 buckles were made for John Wayne, Howard Hawks, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan and several other members of the cast and crew of "Red River." These buckles had the initials of the recipients included into the lower left hand corner of the buckles. John Wayne and Howard Hawks swapped their buckles out of mutual admiration and respect for each other. John Wayne frequently wore the buckle with the initials "HWH" on it for the rest of his life including in nine of his movies. There was another batch of buckles made for the release of the movie in 1948. These 1948 buckles left the lower left hand open for the recipients to add their own initials after receiving them. It is unknown exactly how many of the 1946 and 1948 buckles were made by the La Azteca Silver Shop. The shop was owned and operated by the Martinez family during that time.

I have recently acquired a post card from the 1950s of the street in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico showing the store front of the La Azteca Silver Shop where the buckles were made. I believe that the Martinez family sold the La Azteca shop in the 1960s and relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona were they continued their silver and jewelry business. John Wayne continued to use them to make belt buckles for his "26 Bar" ranch located near Eager, Arizona.

I have attached the photo from the post card showing the La Azteca Silver Shop in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

Please reply here with any other information you may have concerning these Red River D buckles.

Thanks.