Texas State Footwear – Cowboy Boot
The Cowboy Boot was adopted as the Texas State footwear on June 15, 2007. Riding boots date back for centuries but the basic pattern of the cowboy boot as we know today was created during the post-Civil War trail drives between 1866 and 1890. During this time, cowboys drove millions of head of Texas cattle to northern and western markets. According to the legislature, “Boot makers in Texas and Kansas responded to suggestions from those cowboys regarding the design of their footwear, and a slimmer boot with a higher heel, more rounded toe, and rounded, reinforced instep began to be developed.” During the 20th century, cowboy boots gained popularity driven by a fascination first with the West from movies and radio shows in the 1920s and 30s then with rodeos and dude ranches post World War II. The legislature called these boots, “An integral part of cowboy gear, cowboy boots played a valued role in one of the defining chapters in Texas history and continue to figure in the mythic romance of the Lone Star State.”
The boots in the photo are from the Justin Boot Company. According to the legislature, “one of the most influential of the early boot makers was H. J. “Big Daddy Joe” Justin, who set up a boot repair shop in Spanish Fort, just off the Chisholm Trail in Montague County, in 1879; within a decade, Mr. Justin became one of the first to offer cowboy boots by mail order.”
