Trajan Vieira grew up on a family spread in central California where as a teenager, he explained, “We used to make our own saddles. Horseback riding was a big part of my life and I actually won a rodeo scholarship to attend West Hills College, where I majored in animal science. “After college Trajan liked to travel riding in rodeos, taking jobs making saddles and other ranch related work. It was in Cody, Wyoming, where he met his wife and where he first realized that he wanted to be a bootmaker. He was not interested in high production, but in very detailed work. To learn the intricacies, he traveled to Texas where he took an intensive three week curriculum given by Carl Chappell, a third-generation boot maker.
