Anderson Bean Boots: How a Real Texas-Made Cowboy Boot Is Built

Customers ask us all the time what makes an Anderson Bean boot worth the money. It's a fair question. From across the room, a lot of cowboy boots look alike. The difference is in how they're built, where they're built, and who's building them. Here's what we know about Anderson Bean after carrying them for years.

Where They Come From

Anderson Bean boots are made in Mercedes, Texas, a small town down in the Rio Grande Valley near the Mexico border. The company was started in 1989 by the owners of Rios of Mercedes, one of the oldest bootmakers in the country. The Rios family started making boots back in 1853 in northern Mexico, eventually moved the business to the Valley, and the Evans family took it over in 1975. Anderson Bean was their answer to a simple question: could they build a real, handmade, American-made boot that more working people could actually afford?

Both brands are still made side by side in Mercedes today. A lot of the people building them are second- and third-generation bootmakers, and plenty of them have been on that shop floor for 20, 30, even 40-plus years. That kind of experience doesn't show up on a spec sheet, but you can see it in the finished boot.

How an Anderson Bean Boot Is Built

Anderson Bean likes to say they build boots honestly, without shortcuts. Here's what that means in plain terms:

• All-leather construction. Outside of a few necessary parts (the steel shank, thread, heel cap, and on some styles a rubber outsole), the whole boot is leather. No foam or cardboard fillers hidden inside. Leather breathes and gradually molds to the shape of your foot the more you wear it.
• Hand-lasted. The leather upper is stretched and pulled over the last (the foot-shaped form a boot is built on) by hand, not by a machine. That's a big part of why the fit feels the way it does.
• Solid leather insole with a channeled welt. This is the one most people have never heard of, and it's one of the most important. Instead of setting your foot on top of a flat insole, a channel is cut into a thick leather insole so your foot sits down in the boot. It gives the boot a lower, cleaner profile and a more comfortable, locked-in feel. Very few boot companies still do it this way because it takes more time and skill.
• Spring steel shank held in with lemonwood pegs. A steel shank supports your arch, which matters a lot if you ride or stand all day. Anderson Bean holds it in place with wooden lemonwood pegs driven by hand. Unlike nails, wooden pegs swell and shrink right along with the leather sole as it takes on heat and moisture, so they stay tight and never rust or poke through into your sock.
• Leather heel counters and full leather lining. The heel counter (the stiff cup around the back of your heel) is leather, and the boots are lined in leather, so the boot holds its shape and stays comfortable for years.
• Built to be resoled. Because the boot is stitched and welted the old-fashioned way, a good shoe repair shop can put new soles and heels on it when the time comes. A well-cared-for pair can easily outlast several pairs of cheaper boots. (And if you're local, that's exactly the kind of work our shoe repair shop does.)

The American-Made Philosophy

The cowboy boot is about as American as anything gets, but most boots sold today are made overseas, thousands of miles from the culture they're supposed to represent. Anderson Bean has stuck with making theirs in Texas, and they've gone further than most. Their hides come from American tanneries, and they use American-made steel shanks and heel caps. They've even boxed their boots in American-made boxes.

Their thinking is pretty simple: a boot named after the cowboy ought to be made by American hands, and keeping that work in a small Texas town keeps a lot of skilled craftsmen employed and keeps a tradition alive. We respect that. As a family business ourselves, we know what it means to keep doing things the right way when the easier way is right there.

Not Your Grandpa's Boots (Unless He Had Style)

Anderson Bean is old-school in how they build a boot but not in how it looks. They're known for bold colors, distressed and washed leathers, unusual toe shapes, and exotic hides like bison, cape buffalo, ostrich, stingray, shark, and elephant, along with a wide range of sole options. They've also built a reputation in the arena: Anderson Bean has a long partnership with the National Reining Horse Association, and their feedback from riders who are hard on boots has shaped things like more durable sole options for riding.

(You may also see two related lines, Macie Bean and Horse Power, on our shelves. Those are made outside the U.S., so everything above is specific to Anderson Bean.)

Come See for Yourself

Honestly, the best way to understand an Anderson Bean boot is to put one on. You'll feel the difference that channeled welt and hand-lasted fit make the first time you stand up in them. Stop by the store in Ferriday and try a pair, or shop our Anderson Bean selection online.