The Dehner Company, Inc.

Carlton C. Dehner established the company in Junction City, Kansas, in 1875, where he made boots for cavalry officers stationed at Fort Riley. The company moved to Wichita, Kansas, in 1914 to increase production capacity. In 1929, after the death of a business partner, the company relocated to Omaha, Nebraska, with several employees and Dehner’s son-in-law, Harold Ketzler. The first pair of Omaha-made boots was shipped in November 1930.

The Dehner Company operates from a facility spanning 27,000 square feet at 3614 Martha Street in Omaha. Annual production is about 10,000 pairs of boots, which are distributed internationally. The company uses traditional manufacturing processes, including hand-operated tools and decades-old machines to cut and assemble leather.

The Dehner Company selects upper leathers, including calfskin sourced from Europe, while acquiring other components from suppliers in the United States. Artisans use these materials to craft each pair of boots through manual and mechanical techniques.

Dehner’s product lines include boots for equestrian sports, law enforcement agencies, military personnel, and motorcyclists. The company produced boots for NASA astronauts during the organization’s early manned missions and the start of the space shuttle program. Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, previously purchased boots from the company.