Born to Italian immigrant parents in 1887, Tony Lama first learned the leather and boot trade at the age of 11 when he apprenticed a shoemaker in Syracuse, New York. In the early 20th century, Lama joined the U.S. Cavalry as a cobbler for the soldiers stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. After complet...
H. J. Justin came to Texas from Lafayette, Indiana in 1879 where he had been a boot repairman. He settled in the west Texas town of Spanish Fort on the Texas-Oklahoma border. At this time in the Old West, the ranchers had cattle drives to move the herds to the markets in the East. During the C...
