Born near Delaware, Oklahoma, Bob Marrs cowboyed on the Ewing Halsell ranches of Lenapah, Oklahoma and Muleshoe, Texas; the Waggoner ranches of Vernon, Texas and Mosquero, New Mexico; the VVV ranch of Seligman, Arizona; the Rudineck Land and Cattle Company of Bakersfield and Weldon, California; and the M.T. Johnson ranch of Alanreed, Texas.
One of the most decorated saddlemakers in the American West, Marrs built saddles for cowhands, rodeo stars, country singers, and Western actors. After serving in World War II, Marrs studied leatherwork with Bill and Jack Oliver in Vernon, Texas, and worked with saddlemakers in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas, while still cowboying. In 1954, Marrs bought the Stockman’s Saddle Shop in the Amarillo stockyards and semi-retired in 1992.
Marrs received the Academy of Western Artists’ Don King Lifetime Saddlemaker Award in 2006 and the annual saddlemaker award in 1996; the Chester A. Reynolds Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 2001; the Western Heritage Award from the Big Bend Museum in Alpine, Texas; and a Western Heritage Award from Amarillo Range Riders in 1999. Marrs considers his highest honor making the “Top Hand” Saddle for the Texas Ranch Roundup in Wichita Falls for 18 years.
“Every [saddle] I make I try to make better than the last one. It’s just work I enjoy,” he said. “Cowboyin’ was my favorite thing to do, but I got into saddlemaking. They kind of go together.” Bob Marrs
