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Boot history · 1870s

The trail-town boot

Cattle drives met bootmakers where the trails ended. In 1875 C.H. Hyer of Olathe, Kansas built what's credited as the first modern cowboy boot, and pioneered mail-order custom fitting, cowboys traced their feet on paper and sent the drawing in.

Encyclopedia references: CowboyBootsDB and maker archives linked where available. Historical dates and attributions can vary by source.