The stint that Felton Cochran spent working at Voertman's bookstore in Denton while studying journalism at North Texas in the early 1960s unknowingly nodded to his future as a successful bookseller.

Since 1995, Cochran has owned Cactus Book Shop in his West Texas hometown of San Angelo. Its shelves cradle what he claims is the largest collection of Texana and Western Americana literature available for purchase anywhere -- an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 books -- including many high-dollar, first-edition, author-signed volumes.

The place attracts readers and history buffs from throughout Texas and all corners of the country, including such celebrities as Academy Award- and Emmy-winning actor Robert Duvall and legendary Houston Astros and Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan.

The store was born from Cochran's lifelong love of Texas history and books about or related to the subject. "It's such a wonderful, diverse history," he says. "It seems like nearly every day I find something new that I didn't know about Texas."

'Wild' Times

Cochran began amassing his collection of Texana and Western literature while at North Texas from 1960 through 1963. Around that time, he purchased a copy of the book The Wild Bunch by author James D. Horan, about the escapades of train and bank robbers Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. 

Coincidentally, Cochran ran with an admittedly wild bunch himself while attending North Texas. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and, back then, he says, "We were a bunch of rowdies."

Living in a house off campus and in need of extra cash, he and a housemate made regular runs to a Dallas liquor store where they purchased quarts of beer and inexpensive whiskey. The pair brought the booze back to Denton -- which was then a dry city where the sale and possession of alcohol was prohibited by law -- and sold it to their fraternity brothers for a profit. The illegal operation continued for about a year despite the house being raided several times by authorities, he says.

In 1963, Cochran left North Texas after accepting a job at that same Dallas liquor store. The gig eventually led to a 25-year career in sales with several area liquor wholesalers. During those years, he continued building his book collection. After growing tired of running in "the rat race," he gathered his books, returned to San Angelo and opened Cactus Book Shop.

"I love getting up to come to work every day at 83 years old. I love what I'm doing," he says. 

Cochran still purchases books daily to sell at the store, but he doesn't locate titles on the internet. Rather, people bring their used books to him, which he buys and resells. "I've been at this long enough that books I sold Grandpa -- he's died and the second and third generations of the family are bringing them back and selling them back to me."

Felton Meets Kelton 

In the late 1990s, Cochran forged a friendship with prolific Western novelist Elmer Kelton, author of The Time It Never Rained and The Man Who Rode Midnight, among others. Cochran counts those titles specifically among his all-time favorite books, along with the literary classic To Kill a Mockingbird.

Kelton, who resided in San Angelo for decades prior to his 2009 death, frequently signed copies of his books at Cactus Book Shop. Cochran recalls the day that a customer entered the store in search of a signed, first-edition copy of The Time It Never Rained.

"I said, 'Well, we've got that and we've got Elmer here to sign it for you.' He remained a good customer for many years."

In fact, Robert Duvall also stopped in to purchase books by Kelton. And, about a decade ago, Nolan Ryan bought a large collection of signed, first-edition Kelton titles.

"I sell to many collectors," says Cochran, who over the years has compiled a database of customers in 28 states. He continues to send them sales catalogs each month. "I'm proud to say I've got a reputation -- I'm a fair buyer. When people have books to sell that fit my genre, they'll bring them to me."

Occasionally, Cochran sells books to younger readers. About a year ago, he says, a teenage girl came to the store and purchased "a pretty good-sized stack of books. It really did my heart good to know somebody that young was interested in Texas history."