About Tejas SteelWorks
Since launching Tejas SteelWorks in 2013, I’ve had the opportunity to work with quite a few small shops, like mine. We usually have a lot in common. We took the leap into self-employment because we had tired of leaving our future in the hands of nameless, faceless corporate entities, never sure of when or how economic currents might upset our livelihoods. We certainly weren’t lazy or shy about putting in hard work. We just wanted more direct input on our long term stability.
Recently, I was talking with one of these “Peers” that I’ve met through the course of doing business. He asked me a question that I’ve not been asked before. “Why ‘Tejas SteelWorks’ and what’s with the logo?”
That’s a pretty simple story, but has two parts. First, guys love car clubs; groups that share a familiar passion. Ten or twelve years ago, I was making a lot of rounds in traditional hotrod circles when some magazine writer declared “Hotrodding is dead!”, or something like that. I think it was a tongue in cheek allegation, but it caused quite a stir. The inter-webs were set afire by comments like “they’re a bunch of malcontents”. While others were laughing it off, or getting bent out of shape, I simply declared that label, Malcontents, a badge of honor. Soon after, I gathered a half dozen of my closest friends and we called ourselves the ‘Tejas Malcontents’. We couldn’t quite pin down what a Malcontent looked like. Perhaps it was some Yosemite Sam with six guns blazing; Or maybe it was just an idea. The lot of us having a fierce loyalty to Texas (hence the word Tejas, which needs further explanation) and the stubborn grit of our Republic’s founders, it was no surprise that the original emblem of the Texas Rangers was incorporated into our motif. So, that’s where my affinity for the badge comes from. Read up on the Texas Rangers and you’ll soon find they weren’t the most lawful and orderly bunch, but they sure had some fierce determination, and legends were born of their deeds.
Now, about that ‘Tejas’ name. Many believe it’s a Spanish variation of Texas, and it is often used as such. The truth, however, is that it has roots in an old Caddo and Hasinais Indian word that sounded much like it looks. The Indians were comprised of many tribes, friendly, for the most part, to the earliest settlers of the region that would become Texas. They called these settlers ”taysha” or “tejas”, pronounced Tay Haus. It’s simplest meaning is “Friend”. In the Texas I grew up in, “friend” was a big word. We ‘Drive Friendly’ (or used to), we never met a stranger, and all were our Friends. It only made sense to me that my fledgling company should include something purely Texas, and I soon latched onto the Tejas name, borrowed from my hotrodding brotherhood, the Tejas Malcontents. The badge, it was just as fitting. I admire the grit and determination, the honor and loyalty of those early Texas Rangers. I aimed to do business in the same way, thus Tejas SteelWorks was born.
Today, I am fortunate, and grateful, that I can call many of my customers “Friends”, and I strive to treat them as such, earning their loyalty through service. I am Scotty Baccus, and I aim to provide my customers with the same quality and customer service that I want for myself. My friends can call on me anytime.
I was telling my brother Randy how my new shop building seemed cold, and needed some soul. He says "Hold my Dr Pepper..."
No self-respecting metal worker is complete without a proper anvil! This one comes loaded, and has so much soul I think I can hear it singing the blues!
