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Photography by Carlos Domenech A

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48 JANUARY 2005 HOME&DESIGN

By the end of the 1890s, the cowboy had become a romantic,

near-mythic figure in Wild West shows (beginning with Buffalo Bills

in 1882), dime novels and pulp fiction, and then the movies.

One significant figure was silent star William S. Hart who insisted

on authenticity in his wardrobe. He was followed by, the even more

influential, Tom Mix, whose attire always included flashy boots with

high heels and sterling silver jeweled spurs (when he was killed in a

car crash in 1940, he was wearing black, patent leather boots with a

floral design stitched in red, white and blue thread).

The craze for cowboy movies of the 1930s and 40s, from the

John Wayne oaters to the lighter films starring Gene Autry and Roy

Rogers, led to a demand for western clothes by the general public -

both male and female. It was extended by the popularity of such TV

westerns as Gunsmoke and Bonanza.

For the rest of the 20th century, boots became more flamboyant

with custom-made, multicolored inlaid examples by such firms as

Lucchese of San Antonio (who made Gene Autrys showiest pairs),

Rios, Olsen-Stelzer, Nudies and Charlie Garrison. Some boots cost

$4,000 plus then, and would bring more today.

The above mentioned B. Byron Price, who has held several

distinguished positions in the field, including director of the National

Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Okla., has

produced a lavish volume called Fine Art of the West (Abbeville

Press). Something of a misnomer, it deals exclusively with cowboy

garb and gear - although the magnificent photographic illustrations

do raise it almost to the level of fine art.

The comprehensive text treats in great historical detail the topics

of tooled leather saddles, including striking parade and presentation

examples, cartridge belts and holsters, leather gauntlets and cuffs,

leather and wool chaps, elaborate bridles, rawhide reatas, metal bits

and spurs, revolvers and rifles, watch fobs and belt buckles, Stetson

hats, and of course, boots.

Linda Rosenkrantz has edited Auction magazine and authored 15

books, including Telegram: Modern History as Told through More

than 400 Witty, Poignant, and Revealing Telegrams. She cannot

answer letters personally.

One of the key ingredients of the cowboys wardrobe, from the

late 19th century on, has been his boots. They have evolved from the

simple and basic to the colorful and elaborate, from the purely

practical to the more flamboyant and decorative.

In the earlier periods of riding the range, cowboys wore what

most other laborers wore: crude, round-toed, flat-heeled footwearmade of sturdy leather, which were shipped from factories in the east

and sold in local stores for a few dollars. After the Civil War, cavalry

boots were brought back from the service and found their way to the

west.

The first cowboy-style boot was made of softer leather. It was

usually calfskin and had a square-cut vamp, up to 3 inches. It had

underslung heels to help secure the stirrup and a high, loose

stovepipe top with decorative stitching to stiffen and keep the boots

upright.

Often, there was inside canvas cloth pull straps and leather inner

straps, or long mule ears that hung down the outside to help tug the

boots up. The almost knee-high boot protected the leg from such

hazards as snakes and brambles. It also shielded it from chafing.

According to expert B. Byron Price, the exact origins of the

cowboy boot are somewhat obscure. Most authorities believe the

prototype was made in Kansas, either at the shop of Charles H. Hyer

in Olathe or John W. Cubines in Coffeyville. There were other custom

boot makers in Abilene, Dodge City and Ellsworth, Kan., selling their

wares at twice the cost of store-bought pairs.

Cubines distinctive Coffeyville-pattern boots were cut lower in

the back to ensure free movement. In 1879 he began to make some

out of tanned alligator hide, at times adding a red or brown leather

panel at the top.By the end of the 1890s, the cowboy had become a romantic,

near-mythic figure in Wild West shows (beginning with Buffalo Bills

in 1882), dime novels and pulp fiction, and then the movies.

One significant figure was silent star William S. Hart who insisted