I ran across some old western pictures cleaning out a storeroom awhile back.
I thought I would share some here over a few posts.
Pickett House San Angelo 1880
This house had dried buffalo hide for window coverings. Love the cats.
West Texas Settlers 1890s
Talk about using your natural surroundings.
Happy to be in West Texas
Settlers arriving to an early San Angelo Texas in 1868. I can hear it now…
“If it doesn’t fit in the wagon it doesn’t go!”
Pioneer Parade 1880
Bustling San Angelo 1880 Pioneer Parade. You can see the City Bakery, Schwartz & Raas, Pinoeer Drug Co., and Arc Light Salon storefronts. For those familiar with San Angelo, this is the northside of Concho Ave. at the corner of Concho and Chadbourne.
Like many a Texan, I watched our lakes fill up this spring. I watched many of them overflow too.
I once heard that all our droughts end in a flood. It appears so. Every summer I would go camping with my grandparents at Lake Buchanan. On the Lake is the pretty much the only place I ever say my Granddad without boots on. Off came the boots and on went the white low top converse right before he backed his old boat down the ramp and into the water.
I loved those trips. I guess anyone would as kid going camping with their grandparents. We would sleep on cots out in the open under the stars which was nice since it was usually August when we went. We often had visits from a raccoon. Sometimes Uncle Ray would drive over from Brady and to help run the trotlines. I caught my first fish, two on the same trip in fact, on that lake.
We try to get down there at least once a year with our kids and dogs. We have watched the Lake slowly drain away during that time, but still found our own fun. We have some great rocks of pink granite and quartz found here and there.
We also pulled our boat up to an emerging island in the middle of the Lake a few years ago and caught a bunch of grasshoppers to use for bait.
We monitor the lake levels of all the highland lakes on the LCRA website. Buchanan is the first in a chain of lakes leading all the way to Austin. They have a great live update showing river flows into all of the lakes. I found myself checking this site often during the spring rains.
Buchanan in many ways is a diamond in the rough when compared with the other lakes in the chain. I kind of like that about it.
Many people don’t know that Bald Eagles winter there or that Inks Lake is just across the dam or that Longhorn Caverns and Enchanted Rock are just down the road either. That is ok by me. In my ideal world Lake Buchanan would stay frozen in time, always full of water, fish jumping, and Granddads that only take off their boots to get into the boat.
It is gone like a thousand yesterdays. Really it is. That tactile connection to the past.
In today’s world if you ask someone where their steak comes from they are likely to say the store…now they might be joking or then again they might not. In a world where we don’t even “see” the endless/seamless running of trains that deliver our produce, cattle, cars and everything else to trucks that then take them to stores of all different flavors; who could blame someone for being so disconnected to how their food gets to their table each day?
About 130 years ago it was a monumental feat to get steak to New York City from the back country of Texas. There was a railroad but it didn’t go everywhere. There were some roads but not that many. There were still hostile Native Americans, uncertain paths, outlaws, rustlers and of course lots of rattlesnakes.
Cowboys were in high demand and so were Bootmakers. It wasn’t enough to fatten your cattle up. You needed to fatten them up and then drive them a thousand miles to get on a train as well. Cowboys had to do it. The “cattle drive” a moment captured in many western movies and songs over the years sounds romantic, but you know it was hard work. You needed a good pair of boots to get you through. Custom Bootmakers sprung up all along these trails. One of these trails started in my hometown San Angel0 or Fort Concho or Santa Angela as the Spanish called it. The Goodnight-Loving trail was a well worn path for many a “steak” and many a cowboy. San Angelo was a hub of activity for the cattle business and all that supported it. It still is today.
The famed M.L. Leddy Bootmakers started in San Angelo and still make their custom boots out of there. One of our cousins J.L. Mercer had a shop there and still does today. Working cowboys knew the value of a well constructed boot. They might have liked a little fancy stitching up top for variety but what they were looking for the most was quality workmanship, durable materials, and a perfect fit*. Bootmakers of the cattle drive days made their reputations on these three aspects of bootmaking. Many of the custom bootmakers that are still left cluster around the remnants of these old cattle trails.
Boot companies today owe a little bit of their success to the methods and processes developed all those years ago along the old cattle trails serving a need for solid boots by the working cowboy. Those cowboy boots we wear may not be made off of a cattle trail town in Texas, but they are a product of that era when we figured out what mattered in a western boot and codified it.
Today we have all manner of choices in leather, stitching, inlays, embroidering, and other additions to style. Yet all of that would not matter without the basic western boot foundation coming out of the cattle drive and all that it yielded.
Do you remember Dublin Dr. Pepper? Ever even heard of it much less tasted it?
Well too late because it is gone and has been for a few years now. Dublin, Texas Dr. Pepper Bottling story is a great one. You can find detailed versions around the web, but in summary, Dublin Dr. Pepper used the original recipe for Dr. Pepper invented in Waco. In fact this small bottler was the first franchisee I believe. While they could have chosen a huge territory, they just didn’t want to grow too big. Ultimately 120 years later they became the smallest bottler in the huge Dr. Pepper conglomerate’s empire. They were also the only bottler to stick with Pure Cane sugar and the original recipe. This distinction and a “gentlemen’s” agreement that allowed them to sell outside their territory for many years even extending to the internet when it came along; caused Dublin Dr. Pepper to be known the world around. Ultimately “Corporate” wanted to get into pure cane sugar DP and forced ole Dublin Dr. Pepper to shut down. Almost killing the little town along with it and adding to the cliche of big business crushing the little guy. In fact, the battle for Dublin DP caused a mini uproar, spawning facebook pages like as well as comment wars with the DP Corporate FB page going on for weeks.
Fast forward a few years later and you can still find some premium prices on amazon for a “Dublin”. Although I wouldn’t drink them if it was me! Dublin Dr. Pepper bottling has re-branded and moved on as a boutique bottler focused on bottling real sugar based drinks developed by others plus a few of their own recipes. You can find Dublin Bottling Works and order a case of some really good Texas root beer if you want. You won’t find any Dublin DP gear or drinks or anything else Corporate DP made sure of that. I am not sure if the Dublin Dr. Pepper Days held every summer attracting thousands to that little town continues( Corporate didn’t kill that), but Old Doc’s soda shop is still there and you can still take a tour of the old school bottling operation if you are ever out that way.
Recently a documentary on the whole Dublin Dr. Pepper story, the battle with Corporate DP, and the ultimate death and re-birth in Dublin Texas has been made. You can stream it on Amazon now and it certainly does the story justice. click on over and watch the trailer if nothing else.
Texas, a land rich in culture and history, the land of the individual, the land of the cowboy!
One image consistently comes to mind when one thinks of Texas. The Texas Cowboy with his boots, hat, lasso, and trusted horse. He may be herding mustangs; enjoying some coffee around a camp fire; or kicking up his heels on a Saturday night.
Or maybe you think of fierce individualists willing to stand up for what they believe, even when the odds are against them, as in the Battle of the Alamo over 150 years ago.
Either way Texas carries a unique history and outlook. Today it is sometimes said that Texas is a state of mind and maybe it is!
Straightforward, friendly, pragmatic, with a touch of flair are some of the more aspiring qualities that come up for me when thinking about that Texan state of mind. Aspiring and useful too when you think about it whether you are trying to wrangle a little cattle or drive the Dallas “high-five” mix master.
Sure you can come up with other descriptions of Texans like brash, loud, or “quick on the draw”…..well we will take those too I guess. What you ask does any of this have to do with western wear? Everything really. When you think about it there is a boot for every Texan you can be…..whether it is a solid working boot or functional hunting boot to satisfy your straightforward and pragmatic side; maybe it is a boot with a fancy top or exotic leather vamp to satisfy the louder, brasher you. Regardless you can find the combination that fits in today’s market
I remember growing up my Granddad had 2 pairs of custom boots at any one time. One pair for work and another pair for dress. Both pairs would be made over at J.L. Mercer or M.L. Leddy(mostly JL Mercer though) in San Angelo each year. You can still find both shops still in business. J.L has changed hands and most of Leddy’s business is in Ft. Worth, although I believe the boots are still made out Angelo way.
. Although I wouldn’t drink them if it was me! Dublin Dr. Pepper bottling has re-branded and moved on as a boutique bottler focused on bottling real sugar based drinks developed by others plus a few of their own recipes. You can find 
