True West Magazine William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s diverse Wild West cast, 97 of them American Indian performers (including Sioux leader Black Elk), paused for their portrait on the fog-shrouded deck of the SS Nebraska en route from New York to perform for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee at the American Exposition in London in May 1887. Cody’s Wild West performed over 300 shows from May to October and had a major influence on Europeans’ knowledge and passion for the cowboy, Indian and Spanish cultures of the American West. – Merritt Van Wagner, Courtesy Library of Congress – One hundred years ago, on June 20, 1921, boot maker Charles H. Hyer died in Olathe, Kansas. Mr. Hyer and his family had moved to the Eastern Kansas town in 1875. Hyer, who had learned shoemaking and leatherwork from his German immigrant father, taught leatherwork at the Kansas State School for the Deaf in Olathe. To make ends meet, he made boots and shoes at home. In 1876, he opened a boot shop in town and, as fate would have it, a lone cowboy came into his store with a custom order. He wanted a pair of boots with a pointed toe, riding heels and a scalloped top to ease taking them on and off. Soon enough, Hyer had more orders for this new cowboy boot and he hired his three sons and his brother Edward to meet demand. C.H. Hyer and Sons was born, and his boots gained an international reputation. Today, Hyer’s Olathe Boots are still handmade in Mercedes, Texas, while the cowboy boot, along with the cowboy hat, blue jeans, Western wear, saddles, spurs and tack are American icons known around the world.