Bootmaker
Scott Wayne Emmerich
Scott Wayne Emmerich co-owned Tres Outlaws in El Paso, Texas, known by 2002 for elaborate exotic-leather boots with wide hand-stitching and silver inlays built into the leather. He later became a master bootmaker in Cody, Wyoming, profiled in 2024 making completely handmade boots, starting each pair from a foam impression of the customer's feet. One pair, called The Mexican, was later donated to the Smithsonian.
Known for
Tres Outlaws co-founder; a pair in the Smithsonian collection
Related: Tres Outlaws Boot Company
Biography
History
Scott Wayne Emmerich is a bootmaker associated with Tres Outlaws in El Paso and later Falconhead in Cody, Wyoming. Texas Monthly (June 2002) lists Tres Outlaws in El Paso and names Emmerich and Jerry Black as co-owners — “the third outlaw,” Emmerich said, “we hung.” The shop’s specialties included elaborate designs, exotic leathers, hand-stitching as wide as 25 rows, braided kangaroo-skin piping, and silver inlays built into the boot, with prices starting at $595 and a turn of four to eight weeks.
Cowboy State Daily (13 July 2024) profiles him in Cody as a master bootmaker whose boots are completely handmade, with no shortcuts; he says a partner helped him start a small shop, and that he surrounded himself with other bootmakers before slowing down to custom orders and art pieces he personally wants to make. Each custom boot begins with a foam impression of the feet. He says he has made 70,000 designs for “70,000-some happy customers.” One pair he calls The Mexican is priced in the article at $79,000; he also says the buyer paid $75,000 and later donated the pair to the Smithsonian — both figures are given as his own telling. In the same article he describes a partner, Jerry, as “a Mexican coin dealer” in the story behind a set of coin boots.
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Historical references are cited with the history above.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.