The Next 25 Bootmakers

More of the best bootmakers in the state.

by Joe Nick Patoski

June 2002

(Page 2 of 2)

FORT WORTH

Ponder Boot Company
2358 N. Main
817-626-3523
www.ponderboot.com
This Stockyards retailer makes boots at its Fort Worth location and thirty miles north at the old Ponder Bank Building (100 W. Bailey, 940-479-2611; appointment only).
Specializes in: American born-and-raised ostrich; soft-tanned alligator leathers; butterfly pattern top stitching; one piece tops with a single seam.
Prices start at: $600.
Turnaround time: Five to six weeks.
Has made boots for: Former presidents Ronald Reagan (four pair) and George H. W. Bush and five Texas governors.

Mercedes Boots Company
1009 N.E. 16th Street
800.552.BOOT
www.mercedesbootco.com
Mercedes Boots was founded in Fort Worth in 1975 and was purchased by the Sossamon family in 1989. The company caters to an equestrian clientele; the headquarters are next door to the Pinto Horse Association, just down the road from the stockyards.
Specializes in: High tops for riders; double-stitched welts and heels with Vibram rubber caps.
Prices start at: $479.
Turnaround time: Three to four months.
Has made boots for: Cutters and horse trainers.

Luskey's/Ryons
2601 N. Main
817-625-2391
www.luskeys.com
Although customers are measured on-site at this fourth-generation family store, the specs are shipped to Raymondville, where the boots are actually made.
Specializes in: Fancy tops with logos.
Prices begin at: $350.
Turnaround time: Three to four months.
Has made boots for: Country and western singer Trisha Yearwood.

FREDRICKSBURG

L. M. Easterling Custom Boot Company
609 W. Main
830-997-8980
Lloyd Easterling, a former Lucchese and Dan Post president, runs this small store in Fredricksburg's shopping strip, but the boots are actually made at his five-man facility in El Paso.
Specializes in: Decorative tops.
Prices start at: $550.
Turnaround time: Six to eight weeks.
Has made boots for: Country music singers and rodeo queens.

HARPER

Jones Custom Boots
23809 U.S. 290
830-864-4673
Blake Jones runs this one-man shop.
Specializes in: Round toe boots.
Prices start at: $700.
Turnaround time: Six to eight months.
Has made boots for: Cowboys and tourists.

HOUSTON

Custom Boots By Morado
402 Frisco
713-694-7571
James Morado and his son, James, have been producing both fancy and basic boots for twenty years. Specializes in: Western boots.
Prices start at: $595.
Turnaround time: Six to eight months.
Has made boots for: Former Houston mayor Bob Lanier and prominent Houstonians planning ahead for the annual Houston Rodeo.

INGRAM

Don Atkinson Custom Boot and Saddle Shop
229-C Old Ingram Loop
830-367-5400
Seventy-four-year-old Atkinson, who was born in Missouri (where he began learning his craft) and is a former bullrider, turns out old-fashioned show boots with some help from his wife, Virginia. Specializes in: Elaborate tooling; superb finish work.
Prices start at: $900.
Turnaround time: Eight months to one year.
Has made boots for: Musician Bob Wills.

MARFA

Ray's Boots and Saddle Repair
107 S. Highland
915-729-3465
Weldon Ray has been making boots in Giant country for ten years.
Specializes in: Rugged boots.
Prices start at: $350.
Turnaround time: Two to three months.
Has made boots for: Local ranchers and artists.

RANKIN

Slavko Drazic
311 N. Texas Highway 329
915-693-2202
Drazic came to the United States from Yugoslavia in 1974, and he took on the name of his adopted family, thus going by Shane O'Neil. He perfected his bootmaking skills in his spare time while working as a cowboy at the feet of C. W. Cannon of Dickens. He's passing on what he knows to his thirteen-year-old son, Shawn, who made his own pair last year.
Specializes in: Boots for hard-to-fit feet.
Prices start at: $750.
Turnaround time: A few months to one year.
Has made boots for: Ranchers and cowboys.

SAN ANTONIO

Rogers Custom Made Boots
1255 Loop 410 SW, Suite 136
210-673-5948
Refugio Perez from Nuevo Laredo currently sits in the chair previously occupied by the late Genero Uribe, the last gran maestro of San Antonio. The shop is run by Roy Rogers.
Specializes in: Tough hides; solid soles; orthopedic boots.
Prices start at: $500.
Turnaround time: Five to six weeks.
Has made boots for: Ranchers; lawyers; and doctors.

WESLACO

Moran's Leather
1000 E. U.S. 83
956-968-1856
Rafael Moran, a native of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, has been in the bootmaking business for 35 years and oversees this five-man shop.
Specializes in: Exotic leathers such as alligator and ostrich.
Prices start at: $150.
Turnaround time: One month.
Has made boots for: Singers Johnny Canales and Los Cadetes de Linares.

WHITESBORO

Mike Allred's Custom Handmade Boots
102 Third
903-564-7447
Mike Allred has been making boots at this one-man shop since 1976.
Specializes in: Solid boots.
Prices start at: $700.
Turnaround time: Eighteen months.
Has made boots for: Cowboys and bartenders.

WORTHY EXTRAS

CACTUS
Lagarto Booth
302 Stoney Drive
806-966-3072

NOCONA
Nocona Boot
915 E. U.S. 82
940-825-3279

ODESSA
Pee Wee Dalton's
13998 W. U.S. 80
915-563-4267

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