WEBVTT

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(Guitar music)

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(Chickens clucking)

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Kristin Windbigler: That's Jack.
My boot-making teacher.

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Jack: Now y'all stand back,
I'm gonna dump the herd here.

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KW: Jack learned to make boots
when he was a youngster,

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growing up in Roswell, New Mexico.

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Jack: I boarded with a family
that had a boot and saddle shop.

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When I got out of high school
I didn't want to do it for a living.

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I had a lot of runnin' and playin'
I had to do.

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I'd get broke and I'd go get a job

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in a boot shop somewhere ...

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but I blew up a knee -

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I could no longer
ride horseback for a living

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so I went back to making boots

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and had been doing that
for 25 years.

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I've almost got it figured out.

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(Guitar music)

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(Music ends)

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(Typing)

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KW: That's me.

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I grew up in Humboldt County, California,

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a place my family has lived
for 7 generations.

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By the time I left high school,
I thought I'd had my fill of county life,

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which was convenient,

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since there weren't many employment
opportunities for me at home.

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I left for college

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and then landed a job
at a high-tech outfit in San Francisco.

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It wasn't long though,
before I was homesick.

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I don't know when it happened,

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but all of a sudden patching fence
and bucking hay

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started sounding like a lot of fun.

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Very much worthy
of a five hour drive home.

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I think it was the same longing
that made me email Jack one day

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to see if he'd show me how to make boots.

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Jack is a great teacher.

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And he believes in taking his time.

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Leather is an unforgiving
material to work with

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so there isn't a lot of room for mistakes.

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Jack: See, what you want to do is -

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ideally you'll lay your top out ...

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to where the stretch goes
across the top.

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When you put your foot down in the top,

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the top will expand.

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Glenn is another one of Jack's students.

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He's hoping to retire
from school-teaching soon

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and start a second career as a boot maker.

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He's been coming up to Jack's
for about a year now.

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Glenn: I read about him
in one of those boot books,

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believe it or not.

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I can't remember which one,
but it had his address.

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I thought, there is no way
somebody in Manton makes boots,

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because I knew where Manton was, right.

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I just couldn't believe it.

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So I called him up, and he said,
"Yeah, come on out here."

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(Sound of hammer)

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And that's what
I have been doing ever since.

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KW: The experience that comes with age

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hasn't dampened
Jack's youthful enthusiasm for life.

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Every time I visit, he tells me
a handful of new stories

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about his adventures.

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I believe them all, too.

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Except maybe the one

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about how his family drove
bullfrogs to San Francisco

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during the Great Depression.

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It would take days
to share all of the stories with you.

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So instead, here's a little taste.

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Jack: He set me up there
to sort the cattle.

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We'd loaded that -

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oh, I would say he was probably
1200-pound, 2-year-old buffalo

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in the back of that pick-up.

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Well, actually, Rosie was already in Elko.

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We had a couple of pillows,
we had a sleeping bag

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and a blanket or two.

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And a bottle to pee in.

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And -

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I got on Stan Brock's horse

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and went and roped the bear.

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The first run I raised up and reached up
and knocked my wig off.

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And no kid stuck his head in the door

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My God, you're from California!

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You know, it was -

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you know, the aliens have landed.

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The Pope admired his boots ...

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and the dummy gave them to him.

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KW: Part of being one of Jack's students
is getting to know his routine.

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After a few hours of work,

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we head down to the diner
for a morning meal.

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As does most of the rest
of Maton, California.

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Or at least it seems that way.

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I felt like I'd met everyone in town
within a few days.

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After lunch, it's back to work.

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Well, at least for me.

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Jack: Well, I tell you what -

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I'm gonna let you
play with this a little bit

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and think about this

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And look at leather

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and you know, try some different colors
if you so desire or -

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And I'm gonna go take a nap.

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KW: Once we spend a few more hours
working on our boots,

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and the day is coming to an end,

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there's still more work to be done.

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It turns out

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that an important part
of learning how to make boots

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involves helping Jack with his chores.

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It's nice, though,

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after spending most of the day
trying to learn something new,

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to finish with tasks
I've got years of experience doing.

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I'm making my second pair of boots now.

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But after I made my first,

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I wore them everywhere I went.

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All the way from home place,
in Hubmboldt County,

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to San Francisco, to New York City.

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I was pretty proud of them,

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and I admit it -
I wanted to show them off.

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They may look like just an ordinary pair
of brown, leather boots to some people.

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But every time I pull them on,

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I am reminded of the time
I get to spend with Jack.

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(Guitar music)

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[Boot Camp]

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[By Kristin Windbigler]

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[Music: Matthew Margolin]

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[Camera help: Donna Crowe,
Glenn Deno, Shawn, Wendy Owen]

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[Special thanks: Taki Telonidis,
Patrick Mullins, the Windbigler family]

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[Jim Frew, Evany Thomas]

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[The Western Folklife Center]

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[And Jack Rowin]

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(Music ends)

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[Deep West]