If anyone points you to the first maker of cowboy boots or the original prototype, they probably have been misinformed somewhere along the way. No one actually knows who made the first pair of cowboy boots, not for sure anyway. While the early vendors of western wear were quick to pick up the new style as it became popular, it wasn't some western apparel maker's idea to create the cowboy boots. That distinction belongs to a cowboy whose name and identity are unknown. Legend has it there was a single commissioned pair of boots that started it all. Whether that happened in Texas or Kansas is up for debate to this day.
The qualities that this new boot possessed, however, have not been lost. They have, in fact, grown only more popular. That very first request came as a result of the fact that most of the cowboys riding the cattle trails had most recently been soldiers and the most common boots on the trails were in fact military riding boots. These boots weren't fit for the job, for a number of reasons. The request made of this bootmaker was for a boot that met the following criteria:
* It should have a pointed toe to allow the boot to slide quickly and easily into the stirrup
* It should have a thick under-slung heel to keep the boot firmly in the stirrup without being able to slide all the way through
* It should have a tall thick shaft to protect the legs from hazards and to keep them dry when crossing rivers
* The boots should be able to pull on and off easily, namely to allow one to pull their foot free should their boot get tangled up
And, in answer to those criteria, the first cowboy boot was born. Would they have been thought up by somebody who had not faced a reality wherein barbed-wire fences, snakes, rocks, fording rivers, bruising wooden stirrups, and more? Probably not, this is why they came about in the manner in which they did. This aspect of western wear was one born entirely of the needs of those individuals who first started riding cattle trails across the country to deliver herds of cattle from the wide-open range to the cattle towns from which they could be transported. Today, you can find the most basic of versions, as well as highly ornate versions, but you'll notice that even on those dressy boots- the additions are all aesthetic- stitching and inlay- the structure of the boot remaining unchanged.
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