Bootmaker
D.V. Ross
D.V. Ross is credited by his grandson Bob Ross as the man who started the family’s Amarillo bootmaking business after returning from World War I. The family’s account says he met and followed a woman to Amarillo in 1919 and began making cowboy boots there; a 2002 magazine list instead dates the family trade to 1914. The shop became Western Leather Craft, carried on today by his grandsons.
Known for
Founded the Ross family’s four-generation Amarillo bootmaking line
Related: Western Leather Craft · Bob Ross · Charles Ross
Biography
History
D.V. Ross is credited by his grandson Bob Ross as the man who started the family making cowboy boots in Amarillo, Texas, after the First World War. According to the story Bob tells, D.V. was on a train home from the war in 1919 when a young volunteer brought him a plate of cookies; he wrote his mother that he had found the woman he was going to marry, followed her to Amarillo, and began making boots there. Sources differ on the founding year: a 2002 Texas Monthly profile instead says the family had been making working and dress boots since 1914, without naming D.V.
The shop he started is now Western Leather Craft, carried on by his grandsons Bob and Charles Ross. His initials, D.V., were not expanded into a full given name in the sources, and no birth or death year for him has surfaced.
Sources
Identification and markings
Maker-specific markings guidance has not been documented yet. Preserve the complete stamp and compare it against dated sources.
Sources and references
Historical references are cited with the history above. Each catalog record includes its own supporting evidence.
Encyclopedia references: CowboyBootsDB and maker archives linked where available. Historical dates and attributions can vary by source.