The Rios name comes from its namesake, Zeferino Rios – the founder of the iconic south Texas boot shop. History holds that the Rios family’s connection to the leatherworking craft dates back several generations. Zeferino’s father and grandfather had always worked as `zapateros,’ or shoemakers in Mexico, and by 1853 the family had settled in General Teran, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, where they began making boots and saddles for Mexican soldiers and calvary troops. The Rios family had made a name for themselves as skilled artisans in Mexico, but the rising revolution that swept across the country drew them north in search of new life and opportunities in America. Around the turn of the 20th century, they settled in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. Little did they know, as they fled one revolution, they were diving headlong into new territory that would engrain them in the foundation of another revolution—one that swept American culture and continues to prevail across the western and fashion industries today. When the Rios family arrived, farms and ranches were flourishing across the Rio Grande Valley. And no one was better prepared to meet the needs of the growing rural and cowboy lifestyles than the renowned zapateros. The first Rios family-owned boot shop opened in Raymondville, Texas in 1928. The following year, Zeferino set out to carry on the family trade, opening his shop forty miles south in Mercedes. Mercedes, TX – known as "The Queen City of the Valley" – is one of the oldest towns in the Rio Grande Valley and has earned a reputation among the most prominent boot-making hubs in Texas. In the town’s prime, as many as a dozen shops were in operation. However, that number has dwindled over time. And today, the family-owned Rios of Mercedes is among the last few remaining handmade boot companies – not just in Texas, but in the entire U.S.