Don Walker makes his home just outside Spring City, a National Historic District in rural central Utah. Don is a custom bootmaker – he makes hiking boots, cowboy packers, shoes and orthotic devices, as well as miscellaneous other leather items people dream up – but he especially likes making nice western dress boots, of fine leather, with fancy stitching.

For a while, Don drove truck, first locally, then over the road. We planted trees, the boys went to school and grew, and eventually Don left the trucking business and bought a shoe & boot repair business. Don looked at the boots he was repairing, and thought, “I could build a better boot than these.” He found master bootmaker Randy Merrill and began taking classes. Randy, who is a great teacher, saw that Don had a knack for working with leather, and encouraged him.

Website: www.walkercustomboots.com

Email: emnwalker@yahoo.com