NRS Founder David Isham was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame March 25 in ceremony at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth. Submitted photo
Ten-year-old David Isham sat perched in the bleachers, watching in wide-eyed wonder as team ropers caught calves, barrel racers sprinted to the finish and bull riders risked life and limb at the Wise County Sheriff’s Posse Rodeo in 1975.
The Isham family had just moved to Decatur from Arlington, leaving behind the big city for smaller schools and community connection. The rodeo was one of their first local family outings, and the evening’s pageantry mesmerized the self-proclaimed “city kid,” setting him on a path to become a competitive team roper, visionary entrepreneur and founder of National Roper’s Supply, one of the largest and most respected brands in the Western and rodeo industries.
For his lifelong leadership and passion for preserving Western heritage, Isham was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame March 25 in ceremony at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth.
“It was a beautiful night,” Isham said. “It was surreal. I’m always living in the present moment, looking at the future and where we’re headed. I’m always out in front of it, so to stand and look back, you’re just like ‘wow.’ It was such an honor.”
TCHOF, headquartered in Fort Worth, inducts new members annually, celebrating those who have shown excellence in competition, business and support of rodeo and the Western lifestyle in Texas.
Isham was nominated for the honor by rodeo legend Roy Cooper, before he passed away in April 2025.
“To think that a guy like Roy Cooper, Super Looper Roy Cooper eight-time world champion, thought that I had made a mark big enough on the Western industry to deserve to be in the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame is maybe one of the greatest honors,” Isham said. “And to be surrounded by so many legends in the Western industry, all great people … to be considered part of that group, it was pretty cool.”
Cowboy in the making
Despite a swell of excitement, Isham said he first felt like an imposter when nominations were announced. He wasn’t born into the Western lifestyle like many of those inducted before him, he chose it.
Just a few days after that 1975 rodeo, Isham started fifth grade at Decatur Elementary School, and he met and became fast friends with Willy Gasperson.
“The Gaspersons were this authentic, ranching cowboy family that team roped as a hobby, and so for the next decade, I hung out with them, and they taught me everything I know about being a cowboy,” Isham said.
As a teenager, Isham spent most of his free time at the Gaspersons’ ranch helping catch and saddle horses, warming up horses, catching steers and working chutes. Although he practiced with roping dummies on the ground, he never dreamed he could become a team roper himself.
“My senior year I remember Bob Gasperson (Willy’s father) saying, ‘Hey, just back my horse in the box and see if you can rope one,’” Isham recalled. “And man, I did. I caught the very first one, and I’ll never forget that. That just charted the direction of my life for the next 40 years.”
Isham and Willy Gasperson team roped together on the college rodeo circuit, and after Isham earned his accounting degree from Abilene Christian University, he moved back to Decatur and continued to pursue the sport.
“I had a job at Price Waterhouse in Fort Worth, so I was a suit-wearing accountant by day and a cowboy at night,” Isham said with a laugh. “I would rush home, saddle my horses, practice at my house or a buddy’s house and hit rodeos on the weekends, knowing all that time that I would somehow do something related to the Western industry.”
That opportunity presented itself in February 1989 when Isham purchased Bryan’s Western Wear in Decatur, turning it into David’s Western Store. He was 24 years old and knew nothing about running a retail store, but his father, Robert Isham, encouraged him to make the leap.
A photo of David’s Western Store in Decatur around the year 1992. Submitted photo
“Really, this is where it just circles back to my dad,” Isham said. “He was my mentor and encourager my whole life, and he had been a successful entrepreneur, so the language of business was just our kitchen table. I remember telling him about this opportunity, and he thought it was a perfect fit.”
Employees Mildred White and Opal Shaw stayed on after the sale and taught Isham everything from how to work the cash register to how to use the Jiffy hat steamer. In the fall of ’89, Isham moved the business from a strip mall to its longtime home on Farm Road 51 South, featuring more square footage and the eventual addition of tack products.
“That very first year, the store did double what we ever dreamed the store could do over the course of many years,” Isham said. “People ask me all the time if I had a great five-year, 10-year plan and all of this, but man, you’re just drinking from a fire hose.
“Honestly, my life story is just praying to God that I see the doors and opportunities that He opens up in front of me every day and that I have the wisdom to navigate what He presents to me.”
Building a Western destination
David Isham talks to customers during customer appreciation night at NRS. Submitted photo
As the business ballooned, so did Isham’s ideas. He realized the name “David’s Western Store” likely conjured the image of a small-town mom and pop shop, and he wanted a name that suggested a trendy, fashionable store while also speaking to the growing team roping crowd.
“It was just this middle-of-the-night epiphany coming up with the name National Roper’s Supply,” he said of the 1993 rebranding. “I had everything an active roper needed, and I thought the name conveyed, ‘if you need it, we’ve got it.’”
About that same time, he secured a vanity 1-800 number, a popular move before the internet existed, and before long callers were burning up the 1-800-GOROPIN line to place orders. This led to the creation of a catalog in 1994, which still captivates customers today with fall and spring editions.
In 2003, Isham built the NRS Training Facility to host horsemanship and training clinics and offer others what the Gaspersons gifted him in his youth — an on ramp to rodeo and the Western lifestyle.
Throughout his career, Isham has always thoughtfully considered not only how to sell product but also how to move beyond the transaction and create experiences for his customers. After 26 years at the FM 51 location, Isham created NRS Ranch in 2015, a 400-plus-acre property south of Decatur that’s home to today’s incredible NRS retail store, a feed store, the e-commerce warehouse, the training and event center, and a trailer dealership, NTS Trailer Source. Often referred to as the Bass Pro Shop of the Western world, it draws customers from across the country as well as locals who have been dedicated to the brand since day one.
Along the way NRS added locations in Granbury, Weatherford and Wickenburg, Arizona. In 2025, NRS acquired Rod’s Western Palace in Columbus, Ohio, one of the Midwest’s largest Western retailers, and this led NRS to become the official retailer of the All American Quarter Horse Congress. NTS Trailers, owned by three partners, is the largest trailer dealership group in the country, with 10 dealerships across six states.
As NRS has grown, Isham has also prioritized sponsorships, lending support to the U.S. Team Roping Championships, World Series of Team Roping, National Barrel Horse Association and National High School Rodeo Association. He also supports numerous local causes and organizations.
Cade Isham, David’s son and president of NRS, said his dad is “the most visionary, big picture, big risk taker you’ll ever meet.”
“People who know him in business know he’s super intense and super passionate,” he said. “But behind the scenes he’s unbelievably intentional with me and my siblings and the way he communicates with each one of us, and he does the same thing with our employees. His kindness and generosity are unmatched.”
Looking to the future
David and Karen Isham. Submitted photo
A highlight of the Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Isham was sharing dinner and a night out with his family — wife Karen, Cade and his wife, Blair; and daughters Jaci Christian and husband, Brian; Katie Huddleston and husband Matt; and Gracie Bennett and husband Caleb. Cade joined the family business 10 years ago, starting as manager of the Granbury store and working his way up, before being named president in 2024. Gracie is the men’s clothing department buyer, and her sisters have also previously worked in the business.
Cade said the night was a fun celebration, and it provided a unique perspective on his dad’s career.
David Isham’s induction ceremony was cause for celebration for family, friends and Wise County community partners. From left to right: Cade and Blair Isham, Caleb and Gracie Bennett, Karen and David Isham, Katie and Matt Huddleston, Jaci and Brian Christian. Photo submitted
“He’s always been my hero, so from a hall of fame standpoint that was obvious to me,” he said. “But it was humbling to see how proud others were — our employees, vendors and industry leaders, everyone that we navigate this lifestyle with. Obviously, he’s the guy I get to know and love, but it was cool to see how obvious it is to everyone else.”
As the family marks 11 years of business at NRS Ranch, the Ishams’ plans include a major expansion of the campus with construction possibly starting in early 2027.
“We need to double the amount of square footage for the Western store itself,” David Isham said. “Our customer currently only sees half the boots we have, and the other half are in the warehouse.”
The warehouse will also be expanded, so it can hold more inventory to support an ever-growing e-commerce business, and the wild success of the feed store means it needs more space, too. Isham fondly refers to the project as NRS 2.0.
“It’s been a great career in what is an unbelievable community,” Isham said. “I just want people to know how much I think of Wise County and Decatur. This is the most amazing area full of amazing people with a world of opportunity.”
He acknowledged that some folks worry the continued growth will ruin this rural corner of the world, but he said to remember that the move-ins are those families with a dream to move to a smaller town, have a little piece of land and send their kids to smaller schools, a story similar to his own.
“People think of me as an OG Decatur person, but I was the 10-year-old little boy who moved to Decatur in 1975 and was part of the growth that people tend to frown at,” he said. “Just keep in mind, you never know who that little family is going to be and what contributions they’ll make to the community.”
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