We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Morgan Buckert. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Morgan below.
Morgan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I delivered a pair of cowboy boots to a client last weekend. The stress of a delivery is almost crippling. Will they fit? Will she like them? These questions keep me up at night. She was trembling with excitement while opening the box. Her gasp, a couple of tears, and the pop of sliding into a perfect fit calmed me down. It never occurred to me when I started down this path that I would be so emotionally attached to each pair, the process, the client, and making things perfect, but it’s one of the ways that boot making fulfills me and has changed my life for the better.
My boot making path began eleven years ago. My first foray into shoe making was a class at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina in 2013. I quickly realized that my life of sewing and hard work fit in this craft. I returned the following year for a more advanced class—then I really knew that this was for me. I was stuck in my education, though—I really wanted to make cowboy boots, but needed a way to make that happen.
I had heard through the grapevine that there was a boot maker in MacKay, Idaho, Seth Teichert. I cold called him and asked to come over to chat about boots. After visiting with him and his family for four hours on my first visit, I asked him to take me on as a student. We worked together for about two years—it’s a short drive to their house in the summer, but in the winter it’s over two hours so I would occasionally spend the night. We participated in the Traditional Artist Apprenticeship Program through Idaho Commission on the Arts—a program that he was an apprentice in 12 years prior. Since then, I worked with Wes Shugart in Nashville, and as the recipient of the 2023 Art of the Cowgirl Fellowship, spent two months living with and learning from master boot maker Lisa Sorrell in Guthrie, Oklahoma. As a traditional craft, boot making is passed from master to apprentice, which is difficult for both masters and apprentices to commit to in the age of things like overwhelmingly expensive housing prices. Thanks to the kindness of grant funders and the boot making community, I was able to gain the education I needed to become a successful boot maker.
Over my decade long journey, I have invested thousands of hours of time and money building my dreams. I love boot making because it’s a combination of creative expression and brute force. And math. And the little bit of magic and leap of faith it takes to make a pair of boots that fits, is structurally sound, and looks like a million bucks. Most people have no idea how physical boot making is, but the hard work is what keeps me coming back for more.
I am deeply inspired by post war vintage designs with colorful inlay and overlay, and the “Urban Cowboy” era of the late 1970s and early 1980s. I have found my niche to be mountains and wildflowers and am excited to be entering a new period of work where I am able to be a little more creative with those themes. I have worked hard to build a clientele and currently have a three-year wait list, which I anticipate going down to about eight months once I start building boots full-time. I mostly work with clients in Idaho and Texas, though I am starting to expand my reach beyond my two home states. It’s fun to work in these two very different communities that have different styles of western dress because they add variety to my work.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I build custom cowboy boots with bespoke patterns, traditional construction techniques, and vintage machinery in Hailey, Idaho. I’m the 7th generation of a Texan ranch family, and the influence of cowboy culture is evident in all my work. In my uniquely American craft, I have studied with boot makers across the country to continue the tradition of my work, building boots representative of cowboys from the Coastal Bend of Texas to the mountain ranges of the American West. Built for discerning clients expecting fit, function, and artistic expression, Morgan Buckert Custom Boots provides a completely bespoke process that values tradition, knowledge, creativity, and community, ensuring the future of my craft thrives.
Cowboy boots are uniquely American, and a uniquely Western American craft. The cattle drives of the late nineteenth century created a figurative tornado of creativity as cultures collided, resulting in what we know as the cowboy boot. Riding boots originated in Central Asia as a tool of the talented horse people of Mongolia. Continuously moving west, those boots developed into Spanish riding boots and the Wellington, found in Northern Europe. Spanish riding boots and Wellingtons met in America along the Chisolm Trail, somewhere between Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, as cowboys came north from Mexico and Texas as well as west from more settled parts of the United States. For over 150 years, cowboy boots have been made throughout the American West and Mexico, with skills passed in the traditional method, from master to apprentice.
Born a ranch kid, cowboy boots were always a part of my life, especially custom cowboy boots. I still remember the awe I had for pairs my parents had made from famed boot maker, Lee Miller, of Austin. Those images stuck with me throughout my life. Recently, while visiting Lee and Carlynn Miller, they gave me the lasts they used to build my parents’ boots, bringing that story full circle. My high school graduation present was a pair of custom cowboy boots from M.L. Leddy’s in San Angelo, Texas, which I still wear decades later.
I grew up on one of the largest and most historic ranches in the country, the O’Connor Ranches in South Texas. Through photos and oral histories, Louise O’Connor, the ranch owner, has documented the unique ranching culture of South Texas, consisting of Tejano, Black, Eastern European, and Irish cowboys for over 50 years. As a kid, I remember my dad taking groups of the older cowboys out for panels everywhere from universities to the local mall to share their stories and their arts, like building horsehair ropes. I have experienced the importance of sharing our culture since before I knew what it was.
With eleven years of experience in my craft, it is paramount that I work not only to preserve the traditions of cowboy boot making, but to promote and grow the knowledge of my craft. I work diligently to build relationships and learn from fellow artists producing beautiful work across the West. Many people describe our work as “dying arts,” but we want to show the world that not only are our arts not dying, but that they are revitalized as a new generation commits ourselves to carry on and build upon the work of those who came before us.
There’s nothing more quintessentially American than the cowboy boot, which is currently riding a cyclical high in popular culture as a result of the popularity of things ranging from the show, Yellowstone, to (my favorite) Beyonce. Everyone loves to play cowboy—cowboy boots physically increase your presence as well as allow you to portray dreams of freedom and individuality, playing off of the Frontier Myth.
My cowboy boots represent all of these things: an alchemy of cultures, a craft history spanning time and place, what it means to be American, cultural and artistic expression, and the preservation of tradition ensuring that this culture and art thrives into the future.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part of boot making is completely filling my brain and my body with my work. I often say that I like boot making because of the combination of math, creativity, and brute force. I have had a variety of careers, from fly-fishing guide to non-profit executive, and each have been fulfilling in their own way, but something was always lacking. With my work, it’s really easy to enter a flow state and I love having tangible progress at the end of each day. Boot making requires extreme precision to ensure a proper fit, which allows me to focus on fine details and reduce my margins with every pair. I am always striving to improve my work and there’s always something new to learn.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Because I have a business background, I incorporate a lot of pragmatic work into my creative work to help me build a more sustainable business–meaning maintaining my body, ensuring I stay in business, and using materials responsibly. A few years ago, I created what’s called a Magnetic North for myself, which includes a mission statement, purpose, vision, and values. My values really drive my work: Tradition, Knowledge, Creativity, and Community.
As a uniquely American traditional art, it is up to cowboy boot makers to continue the tradition of our work. I always say yes to an opportunity to share my work with the public and describe some of the over 300 steps required to build a pair of boots.
I am constantly striving to grow my knowledge of cowboy boot building. I frequently rely on my mentors and the boot making community as a whole to learn more. We gather at trade shows, online, and on the phone to maintain connections, as well as share the history of the craft.
As one of the younger and woman boot makers, I bring creativity to my work expanding on the 150 years of tradition. I’m known for my wildflower and mountain landscapes–something that was not common in cowboy boots. It’s amazing to be able to create ideas on the cowboy boot canvas while maintaining all the traditional construction techniques.
I spend a lot of time building community amongst boot makers as well as Western traditional artists, both formally and informally. From monthly zoom calls for the women boot making community to organizing gatherings like the Idaho Cowgirl Congress and co-chairing Cowgirl Artist of America’s exhibition “Women’s Work,” community is how we keep our art alive, as well as keep great friends!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://morganbuckert.com
- Instagram: @morganbuckertcustomboots
