Bob Marrs: Legendary Saddle Maker

Bob Marrs didn’t start out making saddles; before he started making saddles he was a working cowboy in the 1940’s and 1950’s. He worked at some well know ranches; such as the Mashed O near Muleshoe, Waggoner Ranch in Vernon and even out in Arizona on the 3V. Marrs also served in the Army. While at the Waggoner Ranch his boss gave him nights off to tend a G.I leather making school. The school did not teach him saddle making, but it did teach him the basics, and leather carving. He learned his saddle making skills from several different saddle makers that were located in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. In an interview done by the American Saddle Makers Association Marrs stated “Cowboyin was my favorite thing to do, but I got into saddle making. They kind of go together.” His time being a cowboy and working with several different saddle makers gave him the knowledge to make the perfect ranch saddle and many other styles of saddles. In 1954 Marrs moved to Amarillo with his wife, Betty, and they took over the Stockman’s Saddle Shop where he ran his business for thirty-eight years. They called it the Bob Marrs Stockman’s Saddle Shop. In 1954 customers paid $160 to $225 for one of his saddles. Now they run $3,550 and up. In 1992 he sold the shop but is still making saddles. He starts out with the tree. Marrs carefully selects and prepare the pieces of leather, each piece is created to fit and designed to handle the elements. He does all his own stitching, stamping and tooling. Marrs has customers around the world, including Australia, Canada and Zimbabwe. And some of his more famous clients include country music star Randy Travis, John Erickson the author of the “Hank the Cowdog” books, western actor Ben Johnson, and steer ropers Shoat Webster and Tuffy Thompson. Because of his careful, well-crafted work he has received numerous awards including: 2000 Western Heritage Award from the Big Bend Museum in Alpine; the Chester A. Reynolds Award, Western Heritage Award from Amarillo Range Riders and what he says to be the most prestigious award was being asked to build the saddle for the “Top Hand” at the Texas Ranch Roundup. He made that saddle for 18 years. These are just some of his awards. Unfortunately he is no longer taking new customers but still has a backlog of orders he is filling. If you are interested in one of his saddles check out our saddle listings and we just might have one available.