In 1875 a cowboy dismounted in front of a small shoe making shop in Olathe and asked the proprietor if he could make the cowboy a first-class pair of boots. The Mr. C.H. Hyer said he'd never done it before, but he'd try. After discarding two pairs of boots that didn't meet his standards for quality, the he presented his third attempt. The cowboy, quite pleased, headed west with his new pair of boots. The cowboy, quite pleased, headed west with his new pair of boots and before long letters began arriving from all over the West, requesting boots custom-made by Hyer and his brother, Ed. The Hyer Boot Company, described at one time as the largest manufacturer of handmade boots in America, was born.

 From the beginning, customer satisfaction was the primary goal. Boots were available in a variety of styles, heel heights, leathers, and decorations. Boots could be ordered with anything from the simplest stitching to diamond insets and gold and silver inlays. Customers ranged from ordinary $30-a-month cowboys to the likes of Buffalo Bill Cody, Clark Gable, Will Rogers, and Dwight Eisenhower.

 The Hyer boot company was operated by the sons and grandsons of C. H. Hyer until 1977, when the business was sold to the Ben Miller Boot Company of El Paso, Texas. The Miller Boot Company moved all of Hyer boot-making equipment to El Paso but brought back the name in the 1990s.