DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Willie Lusk Jr. — and friend, this one's worth every mile. Now picture a twelve-year-old boy in San Angelo, down on one knee with a shine rag in his hand, working N.A. Brown's boot shop.
That boy was Willie Lusk Jr., born in 1914, and he was already paying attention to something most folks just walked past — the craft of a well-made boot. From the shine stand, he moved to the bench, apprenticing under a Czech bootmaker named Frank Urban, earning himself exactly one dollar a day. One dollar.
You remember that figure, because it's about to look pretty small by comparison. In 1934, Lusk packed up and moved to Lubbock, where he went to work for E.E. Brown — that'd be the brother of N.A.
Brown, the very man whose shop had given Lusk his start — at Brown's boot and saddle shop on Broadway. He wasn't there long before the work spoke for itself. Within a few years, Lusk was promoted to foreman, overseeing twenty-two other bootmakers.
Twenty-two. That's not a helper — that's a man running a floor. In 1940, he married Mildred Kavanaugh, a teacher at Dunbar High School.
They'd go on to have three children together. Now here's where the story takes a turn that only Texas could write. One of the customers coming through was a man named Benny Binion — wealthy Dallas gambler, and not a man known for wasting words.
Binion looked at Lusk, a skilled craftsman and a good manager, and asked him point-blank: why wasn't he running his own shop? Lusk said he didn't have the funds to get started. So Binion loaned him the money — at a time, the marker makes clear, when very few African Americans in Lubbock owned a business of any kind.
Lusk set up at 1706 Avenue A. And what happened next is the kind of thing that sounds made up but isn't. Within six months of opening in 1946, his boot shop had received enough orders to put him and his employees six months behind.
Six months behind in six months. The work had outrun the calendar before the paint was barely dry. Lusk wasn't a man to sit still and wait for customers to find him, either.
He toured western states, pulling in new business from rodeos, livestock shows, and Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. When he took an order, he traced a customer's feet directly onto the order form, alongside his notes and measurements. Personal.
Precise. No shortcuts. He never signed his boots with a logo or trademark.
Didn't need to. His work was identified by a distinctive flame stitch variation — his own — and by wooden pegs in the soles where other makers used nails. Actors, musicians, politicians, and working cowboys around the world sought out those boots.
In 1951, Coronet magazine ran a piece on him titled "Texas King of Cowboy Boots." By 1952, the demand had grown so much that Lusk moved into a larger storefront just to keep up. Willie Lusk Jr. was born in 1914 and died in 1976. He left behind no logo, no trademark — just boots.
Boots that people still recognize by the flame stitch and the wooden pegs, scattered across the world on the feet of folks who knew what they had. One dollar a day to the king of cowboy boots. That's a Texas story if I've ever heard one.
What the marker says
(1914-1976) Born in 1914 in San Angelo, Willie Lusk Jr. worked as a shoeshine boy in N.A. Brown's boot shop when he was 12 years old. He then apprenticed with Czech bootmaker Frank Urban, earning a daily wage of one dollar. In 1934, Lusk moved to Lubbock and worked for Brown's brother, E.E. Brown, at Brown's boot and saddle shop on Broadway. After a few years, Lusk was promoted to foreman, overseeing 22 other bootmakers. In 1940, he married Dunbar H.S. teacher Mildred Kavanaugh; the couple had three children. Benny Binion, wealthy Dallas gambler, was a frequent customer and asked why Lusk, a skilled craftsman and good manager, was not operating his own shop. When Lusk said he had no funds to get started, Binion loaned him the money at a time when few African Americans in Lubbock owned a business. Lusk set up his new boot shop at 1706 Ave. A. Within six months of opening in 1946, Lusk's boot shop received enough orders to put him and his employees six months behind. Lusk promoted his business by touring western states to bring in new customers from rodeos, livestock shows and Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. Lusk traced customers' feet directly onto the order form alongside notes and measurements. He did not sign his boots with any logo or trademark, but many are identified by his distinctive flame stitch variation and by use of wooden pegs instead of nails in the soles. His handcrafted boots were sought out by actors, musicians, politicians and working cowboys around the world. The business also grew through positive referrals and national press, such as a 1951 Coronet magazine article titled "Texas King of Cowboy Boots." In 1952, Lusk moved into a larger storefront to accommodate the increased demand. His work remains valued for its craftsmanship and artistry. (2021)