From the highway, Ed Martin’s house is just a bump in a cornfield east of the Fort Lyon prison. It’s not until an apron-clad Martin opens the door of his workshop — a 1920s-era ranch house his aunt ...

Buster's Boot Company owner Craig Bartels trims a boot seam with a sharp knife. It's a delicate task. If he cuts the stitching, he'll have to start the whole process over.

When an apron-clad Ed Martin opens the door of his workshop — a 1920s-era ranch house his aunt passed on — piles of leather and old tools hint at his profession. It's the shed, though, that gives it ...

Sheets of ostrich, and kangaroo are stacked in the back of his shop. Such exotic materials run prices into the thousands.Mass-produced boots are much less expensive, but every boot Bartels makes is ...

NEAR AKELEY, Minn. – Most boots are manufactured by the thousands, and shipped from China or other countries. But one man in northern Minnesota is still doing it the old way. Craig Bartels owns and ...