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