LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Handmade cowboy boots were once a staple of ranching life across America and Mexico, but most boots are now mass-produced, and fewer artisans are learning the techniques used to make them by hand.
For centuries, bootmaking has been part of ranching culture on both sides of the border.
In Las Vegas, bootmaker Javier Martell is carrying on that tradition and sharing it with a new generation.
A craft tied to ranching culture
Before boots became a symbol of the American West, they were part of life for vaqueros across northern Mexico. Martell is one of the few custom bootmakers in the U.S.
“So, it’s because I feel like we carry the tradition,” Martell said. “If you go to Mexico, you see people making boots. And here in the U.S., unfortunately, that has pretty much died out.”
RELATED: Las Vegas pastor arrested two decades after wife’s deadly fall at Zion
Martell said he makes boots by hand using techniques that date back to the 1800s.
“Well, after like the beginning of the 1900s, things got more industrialized,” Martell said. “So, you know, they started mass producing things.”
Carrying tradition forward
Growing up between Sonora, Mexico, and Las Vegas, Martell said he saw how traditions often looked more alike than different.
“Well, I think it’s very important for me because I don’t like people to put us, you know, Hispanics in a box,” Martell said. “Everybody thinks that we should be a certain way, and that’s not how it is. You know, we are more than what they think we are. So to me, I am proud of being an American as I am proud of being Mexican as well.”
Fernando Arias immigrated to the U.S. from Ecuador four years ago in search of the American dream. He said shoemaking is part of the culture back home.
“I am so grateful to this country, and we are thankful for this profession,” Arias said. “It has given me the opportunity to manufacture products for American feet.”
Arias said he found a way to carry tradition from Ecuador into a new chapter of his life in the United States.
“Follow your dreams, give it your all, and remember that this is a country full of opportunities — and that you have to come here with that drive to seek them out and make them yours,” Arias said. “Here, you can really make it big.”
Martell said as the number of traditional bootmakers in the United States continues to shrink, he hopes his story will inspire others to continue the tradition.
Las Vegas Old Country Boots is located on the first floor of Neonopolis in downtown Las Vegas.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
