Richard Jernigan -> RE: Cowboy boots - Redux (Jan. 7 2024 3:44:16)
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Many thanks Robf for posting this set of videos. I really appreciate it and watched them all. When I slightly knew Charlie Dunn he was already world famous. A pair of boots from him would have been an extravagance. He worked for Buck Steiner, who owned and ran Capitol Saddlery in downtown Austin. From age six until her twenties my daughter trained and competed as a show jumper. Capitol Saddlery was the only place in town that stocked "English" style saddles, tack and boots, as well as Western gear. When a neighbor heard that my daughter was going to Capitol Saddlery she said, "You don't let your 15-year old daughter go to that place do you? That old man has a 16-year old girlfriend!" Buck was past 90 years old at the time, but apparently still vigorous. I replied that I always accompanied my daughter, and Steiner never got out of line with her or her teen aged friends. Buck's young girlfriend was often at the store, sometimes waiting on customers. Of course, Lee Miller is world famous now. It was a very great pleasure to see him at work and to hear his narratives of boot lore. It's been 50 years since I wore a pair of Western riding boots. Abraham Rios e Hijos, Raymondville, Texas made boots and shoes for three generations of my family. The vaqueros of the South Section of the King Ranch got both their work boots and their dress boots from the Rios. When the Kineños came to town they made an impression. Hard looking, bowlegged men, they walked with the rolling stride of those who spent most days on horseback. Few of them spoke much English. Luke Snow, the Sheriff of Willacy County, didn't let them go armed in town. They wore freshly washed and ironed Levis which were often indelibly stained by the black medicine used to doctor cattle for screwworm infestations. In Germany and France in the mid-1970s "cowboy" style was fashionable. My friend Tom F. and I were approached by a man on a sidewalk in Munich, who offered to buy our clothes off our backs: jackets, shirts, Levis and boots. I was at a loss for words, but Tom leaned over and hiked up one of my my pants legs, showing a boot top. It was plain, good quality cowhide, except for a single design cut into it. "Do you know what that is?" Tom asked, pointing to the decoration. 'Nein," our new acquaintance replied. "It's a cattle brand. The Texas Cattlemen's Association would come after any unauthorized person wearing it." Tom may have exaggerated slightly, but it served to deter the prospective clothing merchant. Long ago the Hijos sold the Rios brand to a company in El Paso, who put it on their factory made boots. I think they may have gone broke, or were bought up by one of the big boot brands. Zeferino Rios, Abraham's cousin made boots in Mercedes, Texas, also in the Lower Rio Graande Valley. Zeferino came from Mexico and opened his business in 1929, the year after Abraham set up shop in Raymondville. "Rios of Merciedes" now belongs to some gringos, who persist in the boot making trade. Until a few years ago the Rios name was still on the building in Raymondiville. RNJ
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