Don King was born August 26, 1923 in Douglas, Wyoming. At the age of 5 he hit the road with his father, Arch King, a cowboy whose home address was wherever they needed a good ranch hand. Together, they spent their summers working on Wyoming dude ranches like Eaton's Ranch and winters in Arizona or California.

At one time, Don and his dad worked for a rancher whose cow camp was just over the mountains from Tucson, 15 miles from ranch headquarters. All their food and gear had to be packed in. Don was given 5 horses for his pack string. He was 7 years old.

While his dad was working at the polo fields near Santa Barbara, California, Don spent his free time at the studios of Joe De Yong and Ed Borein. Joe De Yong took an interest in Don and loaned him his rope horse so Don, who was 13 years old, could enter the Santa Barbara Rodeo. The horse, "Bootlegger" had belonged to Will Rogers.

By the time Don turned 15, he and his dad had gone their separate ways. Don always had an interest in leather stamping and the art of saddle making. He learned the craft of stamping by hanging around saddle shops. While Don was working for a riding stable in Phoenix, he spent his spare time at Porter's saddle shop watching the old saddlemakers work. They wouldn't give Don the time of day but one young guy, Cliff Ketchum, took an interest in him. Cliff told him how to make his own stamping tools out of nails and sent Don back to the stables with some scraps of leather. The next thing you know, Don was making belts, wallets and other small items that he would sell to the cowboys he knew.

Before going into the service, Don worked off and on for Rudy Mudra. Rudy had a reputation for being one of the finest carvers and saddlemakers in the Sheridan area. In 1946, after getting out of the service, Don agreed to go back to work for Mudra on the condition that Rudy would teach him how to make saddles. Don learned the fundamentals and then went out on his own.

In 1947, King opened his own saddle shop in a garage but decided in short order that he preferred to break horses for a living. In 1961, the business opened in the back of a sporting goods store in Sheridan as a supplier of quality cowboy equipment.

In 1963, the rope business was started. Don knew how to stretch a rope and how to tie a hondo that stayed straight. He used his ingenuity to build a large rope business and was the first to develop and twist a rope for left handed ropers. King's sells 40 - 50,000 ropes annually all over the world.

By 1973, having outgrown the old location, the store was moved to its present location.

Don has since left the business to his sons and has retired to his shop where he continues to refine his art, making his own stamping tools to create his intricate designs. But the lasting legacy of Don King is not only his own art but also his introduction of countless others to the art of leather carving and his contribution to those whose styles have been influenced by him.