Boot Camp, a Deep West Video by Kristin Windbigler
-
0:00 - 0:04(Guitar music)
-
0:05 - 0:07(Chickens clucking)
-
0:20 - 0:23Kristin Windbigler: That's Jack.
My boot-making teacher. -
0:25 - 0:29Jack: Now y'all stand back,
I'm gonna dump the herd here. -
0:33 - 0:36KW: Jack learned to make boots
when he was a youngster, -
0:36 - 0:38growing up in Roswell, New Mexico.
-
0:39 - 0:43Jack: I boarded with a family
that had a boot and saddle shop. -
0:44 - 0:48When I got out of high school
I didn't want to do it for a living. -
0:49 - 0:52I had a lot of runnin' and playin'
I had to do. -
0:52 - 0:55I'd get broke and I'd go get a job
-
0:55 - 0:57in a boot shop somewhere ...
-
1:00 - 1:02but I blew up a knee -
-
1:02 - 1:05I could no longer
ride horseback for a living -
1:05 - 1:08so I went back to making boots
-
1:08 - 1:11and had been doing that
for 25 years. -
1:12 - 1:14I've almost got it figured out.
-
1:14 - 1:17(Guitar music)
-
1:55 - 1:58(Music ends)
-
1:59 - 2:01(Typing)
-
2:02 - 2:04KW: That's me.
-
2:04 - 2:07I grew up in Humboldt County, California,
-
2:07 - 2:10a place my family has lived
for 7 generations. -
2:10 - 2:14By the time I left high school,
I thought I'd had my fill of county life, -
2:14 - 2:15which was convenient,
-
2:15 - 2:18since there weren't many employment
opportunities for me at home. -
2:19 - 2:20I left for college
-
2:20 - 2:23and then landed a job
at a high-tech outfit in San Francisco. -
2:23 - 2:26It wasn't long though,
before I was homesick. -
2:26 - 2:28I don't know when it happened,
-
2:28 - 2:30but all of a sudden patching fence
and bucking hay -
2:31 - 2:32started sounding like a lot of fun.
-
2:32 - 2:35Very much worthy
of a five hour drive home. -
2:36 - 2:40I think it was the same longing
that made me email Jack one day -
2:40 - 2:42to see if he'd show me how to make boots.
-
2:43 - 2:44Jack is a great teacher.
-
2:44 - 2:47And he believes in taking his time.
-
2:47 - 2:49Leather is an unforgiving
material to work with -
2:49 - 2:52so there isn't a lot of room for mistakes.
-
2:52 - 2:56Jack: See, what you want to do is -
-
2:56 - 2:59ideally you'll lay your top out ...
-
3:02 - 3:04to where the stretch goes
across the top. -
3:05 - 3:08When you put your foot down in the top,
-
3:08 - 3:10the top will expand.
-
3:11 - 3:14Glenn is another one of Jack's students.
-
3:14 - 3:16He's hoping to retire
from school-teaching soon -
3:16 - 3:19and start a second career as a boot maker.
-
3:19 - 3:22He's been coming up to Jack's
for about a year now. -
3:23 - 3:26Glenn: I read about him
in one of those boot books, -
3:26 - 3:27believe it or not.
-
3:27 - 3:29I can't remember which one,
but it had his address. -
3:30 - 3:34I thought, there is no way
somebody in Manton makes boots, -
3:34 - 3:36because I knew where Manton was, right.
-
3:37 - 3:38I just couldn't believe it.
-
3:39 - 3:43So I called him up, and he said,
"Yeah, come on out here." -
3:46 - 3:47(Sound of hammer)
-
3:48 - 3:50And that's what
I have been doing ever since. -
3:52 - 3:54KW: The experience that comes with age
-
3:54 - 3:57hasn't dampened
Jack's youthful enthusiasm for life. -
3:57 - 4:00Every time I visit, he tells me
a handful of new stories -
4:00 - 4:02about his adventures.
-
4:02 - 4:04I believe them all, too.
-
4:04 - 4:05Except maybe the one
-
4:05 - 4:08about how his family drove
bullfrogs to San Francisco -
4:08 - 4:10during the Great Depression.
-
4:10 - 4:13It would take days
to share all of the stories with you. -
4:13 - 4:15So instead, here's a little taste.
-
4:15 - 4:19Jack: He set me up there
to sort the cattle. -
4:19 - 4:21We'd loaded that -
-
4:21 - 4:28oh, I would say he was probably
1200-pound, 2-year-old buffalo -
4:28 - 4:30in the back of that pick-up.
-
4:30 - 4:34Well, actually, Rosie was already in Elko.
-
4:34 - 4:38We had a couple of pillows,
we had a sleeping bag -
4:38 - 4:40and a blanket or two.
-
4:42 - 4:43And a bottle to pee in.
-
4:45 - 4:46And -
-
4:46 - 4:49I got on Stan Brock's horse
-
4:49 - 4:51and went and roped the bear.
-
4:51 - 4:55The first run I raised up and reached up
and knocked my wig off. -
4:55 - 4:58And no kid stuck his head in the door
-
4:59 - 5:01My God, you're from California!
-
5:02 - 5:03You know, it was -
-
5:05 - 5:09you know, the aliens have landed.
-
5:09 - 5:11The Pope admired his boots ...
-
5:13 - 5:15and the dummy gave them to him.
-
5:18 - 5:21KW: Part of being one of Jack's students
is getting to know his routine. -
5:22 - 5:23After a few hours of work,
-
5:23 - 5:26we head down to the diner
for a morning meal. -
5:26 - 5:29As does most of the rest
of Maton, California. -
5:29 - 5:30Or at least it seems that way.
-
5:30 - 5:34I felt like I'd met everyone in town
within a few days. -
5:34 - 5:36After lunch, it's back to work.
-
5:37 - 5:38Well, at least for me.
-
5:40 - 5:42Jack: Well, I tell you what -
-
5:42 - 5:44I'm gonna let you
play with this a little bit -
5:44 - 5:46and think about this
-
5:47 - 5:49And look at leather
-
5:49 - 5:53and you know, try some different colors
if you so desire or - -
5:56 - 5:58And I'm gonna go take a nap.
-
5:59 - 6:02KW: Once we spend a few more hours
working on our boots, -
6:02 - 6:04and the day is coming to an end,
-
6:04 - 6:06there's still more work to be done.
-
6:06 - 6:07It turns out
-
6:08 - 6:10that an important part
of learning how to make boots -
6:10 - 6:12involves helping Jack with his chores.
-
6:12 - 6:13It's nice, though,
-
6:13 - 6:17after spending most of the day
trying to learn something new, -
6:17 - 6:20to finish with tasks
I've got years of experience doing. -
6:21 - 6:24I'm making my second pair of boots now.
-
6:24 - 6:25But after I made my first,
-
6:25 - 6:27I wore them everywhere I went.
-
6:27 - 6:30All the way from home place,
in Hubmboldt County, -
6:30 - 6:32to San Francisco, to New York City.
-
6:32 - 6:33I was pretty proud of them,
-
6:34 - 6:36and I admit it -
I wanted to show them off. -
6:36 - 6:41They may look like just an ordinary pair
of brown, leather boots to some people. -
6:41 - 6:43But every time I pull them on,
-
6:43 - 6:46I am reminded of the time
I get to spend with Jack. -
6:46 - 6:49(Guitar music)
-
6:51 - 6:53[Boot Camp]
-
6:59 - 7:01[By Kristin Windbigler]
-
7:03 - 7:06[Music: Matthew Margolin]
-
7:09 - 7:13[Camera help: Donna Crowe,
Glenn Deno, Shawn, Wendy Owen] -
7:14 - 7:17[Special thanks: Taki Telonidis,
Patrick Mullins, the Windbigler family] -
7:17 - 7:19[Jim Frew, Evany Thomas]
-
7:19 - 7:21[The Western Folklife Center]
-
7:25 - 7:26[And Jack Rowin]
-
7:30 - 7:32(Music ends)
-
7:34 - 7:35[Deep West]
- Title:
- Boot Camp, a Deep West Video by Kristin Windbigler
- Description:
-
A portrait of storyteller, philosopher and bootmaker Jack Rowin by an admiring apprentice. Created by Kristin Windbigler for the Western Folklife Center Media Department's Deep West Video program.
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 07:37
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Boot Camp, a Deep West Video by Kristin Windbigler | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Boot Camp, a Deep West Video by Kristin Windbigler | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Boot Camp, a Deep West Video by Kristin Windbigler |