Leon White, born in Poland, came to the United States through Ellis Island in 1886 with only a satchel of leather working tools. White traveled with his tools southwest to Bryan, Texas where he soon began producing custom made boots. He eventually opened a shop at 2461 North Main Street in Fort Worth. Expanding his operations to include saddles, L. White Boot and Saddle Shop operated from the North Main Street location for the next fifty years. White was one of a kind; a product of the vanishing West just after the turn of the twentieth century. His life and labor reflects the transformation and progress of the new West; a land constantly modernizing yet still a part of the culture and values of the past. Not surprisingly, many Texans walked into this new era wearing L. White boots and riding on L. White saddles.