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'''Charles Weldon Cannon''', known as '''Tooter Cannon''' (January 14, 1915 – March 14, 1997) was a widely recognized manufacturer of boots and [[saddle]]s in [[rural]] Dickens County, [[Texas]].

'''Charles Weldon Cannon''', known as '''Tooter Cannon''' (January 14, 1915 – March 14, 1997) was a widely recognized manufacturer of boots and [[saddle]]s in [[rural]] Dickens County, [[Texas]].

Cannon was the last of nine children born to Charles Ira Cannon (1871–1920) and the former Mattie Cordial Snodgrass (1870–1956)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txdicken/spur/c/cannon_charles_mattie.html|title=Dickens County Biographies: Charles and Mattie Cannon|publisher=Rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=April 15, 2009}}</ref> on a working ranch in Afton in Dickens County in West Texas. He was given his unusual nickname as a child by his father. As a teenager, he learned boot and saddle-making techniques to help the [[cowboy]]s obtain a proper fit on their [[horse]]s. He also worked on other ranches in [[Arizona]], [[New Mexico]], and [[Nevada]], as well as Texas.<ref name=obit>Charles Cannon Obituary, ''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal,'' March 19, 1997.</ref>

Cannon was the last of nine children born to Charles Ira Cannon (1871–1920) and the former Mattie Cordial Snodgrass (1870–1956)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txdicken/spur/c/cannon_charles_mattie.html|title=Dickens County Biographies: Charles and Mattie Cannon|publisher=Rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=April 15, 2009}}</ref> on a working ranch in Afton in Dickens County in West Texas. He was given his unusual nickname as a child by his father. As a teenager, he learned boot and saddle-making techniques to help the [[cowboy]]s obtain a proper fit on their [[horse]]s. He also worked on other ranches in [[Arizona]], [[New Mexico]], and [[Nevada]], as well as Texas.<ref name=obit>Charles Cannon Obituary, ''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal,'' March 19, 1997.</ref>

He broke horses for the U.S. government during [[World War II]] at El Reno in Canadian County, [[Oklahoma]]. After the war, he operated two [[leather]] goods businesses in [[Tulsa]], Oklahoma; his clients included the city police. In 1949, he returned to Dickens County and settled in the Spur community. He relocated his shop to Dickens in 1968. After 1970, he concentrated exclusively until his death on saddle-making. '''Tooter Cannon Saddles''' were prized by ranchers and rodeo riders because they were designed to fit the contour of the back of the horse. A Tooter Cannon saddle or a pair of his boots is usually passed down within families. It is rare to find anything made by Cannon for sale on the open market. His work is instead found in a number of private collections.<ref name=exhibit>{{cite web|url= http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ranchhc/TooterCannon.htm|title=C.W. Cannon Boot and Saddle Shop|publisher=[[Texas Tech University]]|accessdate=April 25, 2009}}</ref> Customers often waited for Cannon to fill their orders, rather than finding other available saddle-makers.<ref name=exhibit/>

He broke horses for the U.S. government during [[World War II]] at El Reno in Canadian County, [[Oklahoma]]. After the war, he operated two [[leather]] goods businesses in [[Tulsa]], Oklahoma; his clients included the city police. In 1949, he returned to Dickens County and settled in the Spur community. He relocated his shop to Dickens in 1968. After 1970, he concentrated exclusively until his death on saddle-making. '''Tooter Cannon Saddles''' were prized by ranchers and rodeo riders because they were designed to fit the contour of the back of the horse. A Tooter Cannon saddle or a pair of his boots is usually passed down within families. It is rare to find anything made by Cannon for sale on the open market. His work is instead found in a number of private collections.<ref name=exhibit>{{cite web|url= http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ranchhc/TooterCannon.htm|title=C.W. Cannon Boot and Saddle Shop|publisher=[[Texas Tech University]]|accessdate=April 25, 2009}}</ref> Customers often waited for Cannon to fill their orders, rather than finding other available saddle-makers.<ref name=exhibit/>

Cannon, who outlived all of his siblings, died in a [[Lubbock]] hospital at the age of eighty-two. He was a former two-term member of the Dickens Town Council. He was [[Methodist]]. Survivors included his second wife, the former Grace Adeline Roberts, then Grace Wheeler (1908-2000), whom he married on April 22, 1957,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txdicken/dickens/c/cannon_grace.htm|title=Grace Cannon'' obituary|publisher=Rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=April 15, 2009}}</ref> in [[Santa Fe]], New Mexico; a daughter, Leanora Cannon Houwen, then of Santa Maria in Santa Barbara County, [[California]], but who later returned to Dickens; two stepsons, Kenneth Wheeler of Hobbs, New Mexico, and Bill Wheeler of [[San Antonio]], eleven grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild. Cannon also had an older sister named "Grace." Charles and Grace Cannon are interred at Dickens Cemetery.<ref name=obit/>

Cannon, who outlived all of his siblings, died in a [[Lubbock]] hospital at the age of eighty-two. He was a former two-term member of the Dickens Town Council. He was [[Methodist]]. Survivors included his second wife, the former Grace Adeline Roberts, then Grace Wheeler (1908-2000), whom he married on April 22, 1957,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txdicken/dickens/c/cannon_grace.htm|title=Grace Cannon'' obituary|publisher=Rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=April 15, 2009}}</ref> in [[Santa Fe]], New Mexico; a daughter, Leanora Cannon Houwen, then of Santa Maria in Santa Barbara County, [[California]], but who later returned to Dickens; two stepsons, Kenneth Wheeler of Hobbs, New Mexico, and Bill Wheeler of [[San Antonio]], eleven grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild. Cannon also had an older sister named "Grace." Charles and Grace Cannon are interred at Dickens Cemetery.<ref name=obit/>