The Ketchpen Winter/Spring 2018

Winter/Spring 2018

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For members of the Rodeo Historical Society at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

High Flyin’ 50th RHS celebrates 50 years of preserving rodeo’s legacy 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend coverage

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Winter/Spring 2018

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On The Cover

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Features Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend

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Relive all the 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend excitement

How It All Began, Part II Image courtesy Dickinson Research Center, 81.023.02487.

Photographs by Ferrell

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Rodeo photographer Ferrell Butler’s nearly 14,000 negatives are housed in the Dickinson Research Center

The Class of 2017

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Meet the 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductees and the Ben Johnson and Tad Lucas Memorial Award Recipients Named simply Dick Griffith Over Car, this photograph’s title belies the undeniable skill needed to accomplish this feat.

Taken on April 6, 1947, in Safford, Arizona, by legendary rodeo photographer Devere Helfrich, this image shows another legend at work: Dick Griffith. Inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1984 (see p. 15), Griffith was World Bull Riding Champion for four consecutive years (1939 – 1942) and one of the Cowboys’ Turtle Association’s (CTA) original founders. As evidenced by the cover photograph, Griffith was also a skilled trick rider. Born in Canton, Oklahoma, in 1913, he began trick riding at age 6, and went on to join the 101 Ranch Rodeo.

The CTA’s director of bull riding from 1937 – 1942, Griffith retired from trick and bull riding in 1954 to begin coaching his family’s trick riding troupe. He died in 1984.

Photography at top (left to right) by Hymer Photography; courtesy Dickinson Research Center, 1094.06.009.; courtesy Dickinson Research Center, 1998.008.3637.; by Hymer Photography; by Hymer Photography.

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Continuing the look back at RHS’ first 50 years, this installment focuses on the 1970s to the mid-’80s

The Ketchpen | Winter/Spring 2018

Columns President’s Message

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Digest

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Calendar

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Preserving Rodeo Heritage

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RHS Board of Directors

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Landscape of Giving

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Special Farewell Message

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Rodeo Weekend Donors

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Empty Saddles

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National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

President’s Message

www.ownbeyphotography.com

Greetings RHS Members

Dave Appleton RHS Board President

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s I sit down to write this message, I have just returned from the 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. This was the 50-year anniversary celebration, and wow! What a wonderful time for rodeo fans and the Rodeo Historical Society (RHS) alike. Honoring those who have shaped the history of our beloved sport while also enjoying the camaraderie of fellow rodeo athletes and fans is always an annual highlight, and this event was no exception.

The Rodeo Hall of Fame Class of 2017 consists of an unrivaled lineup of rodeo greats. Inductees include Phil Lyne, Junior Garrison (1938 – 2017), Ted Nuce, Tom Miller, Bunky Boger, Ed LeTourneau, DVM, and James “Hyde” Merritt (1922 – 1983). Kelly Riley received the Ben Johnson Memorial Award and Karin Rosser was the Tad Lucas Memorial Award recipient. (For more on the Rodeo Hall of Fame Class of 2017, turn to page 22.) For Rodeo Hall of Fame nomination, individuals must not only be rodeo champions inside the arena, but also champions of rodeo outside the arena – showing a dedication to furthering the sport and passing on knowledge and skill to rodeo’s next generation. Each of these honorees, I am proud to say, has done their utmost to preserve and promote the sport of rodeo in their own way.

I would like to thank outgoing RHS President Sharon Shoulders for presiding over a wonderful Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend, and for her tireless efforts these past two years growing the RHS membership and bringing a spotlight to the traditions of rodeo. Also, a special thank you to those who made the 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend such a success, including Justin McKee for his voiceover work on the inductee videos, RHS Coordinator Andee Lamoreaux, and all the National Cowboy Museum staff for putting on such an exceptional Rodeo Weekend.

As incoming RHS Board of Directors President, it is an honor to follow in the footsteps of Sharon and the other past Presidents. My goal is to honor those who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of rodeo while also embracing the future and continuing to grow the RHS membership base.

The RHS celebrates those who are the foundation of rodeo while promoting the future of the great sport. I encourage every member to purchase gift RHS Memberships for friends and loved ones. If you know someone who is involved in rodeo but is not an RHS member, ask them to join and invite them to the 2018 Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend at the National Cowboy Museum. If you have not attended previous Rodeo Weekends, do yourself a favor and come – you will then understand why it is so important to be a member and become involved. Also, nominate someone who you feel deserves to be recognized in the Rodeo Hall of Fame, or donate auction items for the 2018 Rodeo Weekend.

Let’s all do what we can to give back to the sport that has given us so much.

Dave Appleton RHS Board President

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RODEO HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Photography courtesy STATE magazine.

Natalie Shirley Named Museum President and CEO The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Board of Directors recently appointed Natalie Shirley, previous Oklahoma State University – Oklahoma City President, as the organization’s new President and CEO, effective January 15, 2018.

“The Board of Directors is delighted that Natalie Shirley will lead the Museum into its next stage of growth for years to come,” said the Museum’s Chairman of the Board, Lynn Friess. “As a native Oklahoman with strong community ties and a storied history of prominent leadership roles, Natalie was a clear choice when selecting the most qualified candidate for the position.”

Shirley will serve as the first woman in the role since the Museum’s founding in 1955. She will lead more than 125 staff and 200 volunteers to continue preserving and interpreting the evolving history and cultures of the American West for the education and enrichment of the Museum’s diverse audiences.

“The opportunity to serve as President and CEO of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is one that truly embodies everything I stand for,” Shirley said. “For me, this role is about engaging our community and sharing the story and values of the American West with the world. The Museum is a place for all generations to learn, explore, and gain a deeper understanding of our Western heritage. It is my honor to build upon the Museum’s established legacy.”

Shirley’s prior experience includes concurrently serving as the OSU-OKC President and as the Oklahoma Secretary of Education and Workforce Development. From 2007 – 2011, Shirley served in Gov. Brad Henry’s Cabinet as Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce and Tourism where she was the liaison between the Governor, five major state agencies, and more than 30 small agencies, authorities, and institutions. During this time, she also served as the Executive Director of the Department of Commerce – the state’s leading economic development agency.

In addition to her new role at the Museum, Shirley serves on the United Way board as well as several business boards including the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Executive Committee, Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau, State Chamber of Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma State Fair board. She also serves on the Jasmine Moran Children’s Museum Board of Trustees. Shirley graduated from Oklahoma State University and earned a law degree from the University of Oklahoma. She has six children and is a member of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.

Museum’s Year-End Successes During 2017, the National Cowboy Museum experienced a trend of positive accomplishment throughout the institution.

Highlights included:

• 61 items were added to the permanent collection in 2017, including paintings, firearms, and cowboy gear, including 42 works by Western artist Tom Lovell and his contemporaries;

• The Museum organized and/or hosted seven temporary exhibitions featuring more than 360 items;

• The Dickinson Research Center (DRC) reached an audience of nearly 900,000 individuals through articles written by staff and published in Oklahoma Humanities, True West, and STATE magazines;

• The Museum’s Development Department had 100 percent event underwriting in 2017;

• More than 275 Museum memberships were sold during Chuck Wagon, a 16 percent increase over the previous year; • Annie Oakley Society Luncheon attendance increased 30 percent; • Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend was attended by more than 400 guests; • Group tours increased 43 percent over the past two years;

Photography by Hymer Photography.

• A 72 percent increase in public program participation since 2015; • During the Express Employment Professionals’ Cowboy Christmas Ball, the family of Natalie “Nixie” Coffman presented the Museum with a bequest of $350,000 from the late Coffman’s estate.

Nixie Coffman’s family and estate trustees present a check for $350,000 to Museum Board Chairman Lynn Friess during the 23rd annual Cowboy Christmas Ball.

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The Ketchpen | Winter/Spring 2018

2018 Calendar Of Events Through April 1, 2018 Cartoons & Comics: The Early Art of Tom Ryan Continues Acclaimed Western artist Tom Ryan (1922 – 2011) spoke often in his later years about those who inspired him: N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Frank Reilly, even Rembrandt.

But a composition book and a handful of sketches from the Museum’s Dickinson Research Center reveal another Cartoon. Tom Ryan, c. 1945, drawing. Tom Ryan Collection. Dickinson Research Center, National influence — cartoons and comic strips. Dating from 1936 Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. 2002.032.6.

– 1945, the small drawings provide a snapshot of Ryan’s high school and Coast Guard years. Cartoons & Comics: The Early Art of Tom Ryan is the first of two exhibitions that explore different aspects of Ryan’s history.

Through May 13, 2018 Life and Legacy: The Art of Jerome Tiger Continues August 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the passing of one of Oklahoma’s most celebrated artists: Jerome Tiger. Having painted for only five years prior to his death, Tiger still managed to produce hundreds of works of art and won numerous awards. Today, he is recognized as one of the greatest The Coming Weather. Jerome Tiger (Muscogee/Seminole), 1967. The Arthur and Shifra Silberman Collection, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. 1996.27.1013.

Native American artists. To honor this anniversary, the Museum is producing an exhibition of his selected works from its permanent collection.

February 9 – May 13, 2018 Unlocking the Vault: Mysteries and Marvels of the Museum Museums typically exhibit only a very small percentage of their collections. In the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s vast holdings, specific pieces, for one reason or another, are rarely on view. This exhibition presents a variety of items that are seldom “out of the vault,” and gives the visitor a unique look at why, what, and how museums collect.

February 9 – May 13, 2018 Do You See What I See? Painted Conversations by Theodore Waddell Much of what the National Cowboy Museum’s visitors see and expect in experiencing art is largely influenced by the artists who paint and sculpt in what is considered an expression of “realism.” This exhibition redirects the visitor’s attention to the importance of what they do not see on the canvas, and the opportunity to see something different in the same painting each time it is viewed.

April 13 – 14, 2018 Western Heritage Awards® Established in 1961, the Western Heritage Awards honor the legacy of men and women for their works in literature, music, film, and television. The evening includes the induction of individuals into the Hall of Great Western Performers and the Hall of Great Westerners, and continues Photography by Hymer Photography with the presentation of the Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award, given to an individual for their unwavering commitment to the American West’s future. The 2018 Western Heritage Awards is unique in that the Museum will also honor Philip Anschutz with the inaugural Western Visionary Award. All award recipients receive a Wrangler, a bronze sculpture of a cowboy on horseback.

Reservations are required; visit nationalcowboymuseum.org/westernheritageawards.

Rodeo Historical Society

Editorial Staff Content Management Blaine Smith

Graphic Production Carolyn Seelen Blaine Smith

Institutional Archivists Holly Hasenfratz Kera Newby

Contributing Writers Dave Appleton Kera Newby Sharon Shoulders Blaine Smith Gail Woerner

Contributing Photographers Walter Bowman Ferrell Butler Ralph R. Doubleday Bern Gregory Devere Helfrich Hymer Photography Edward F. Marcell Ownbey Photography Carolyn Seelen Jan Spencer

Photography Donors Cowgirl Hall of Fame Dickinson Research Center Dr. Ed LeTourneau Family Miss Rodeo America, Inc. Kenneth Morris Family Kelly Riley Family Karin Rosser Family Cleo Crouch Rude Family STATE magazine

Society Coordinator Andee Lamoreaux

For information on these and all other Museum happenings, visit nationalcowboymuseum.org/event.

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Rodeo Historical Society

Preserve the Future of America’s Rodeo Tradition 2018 Rodeo Historical Society Board Of Directors Dave Appleton, President, Texas John McBeth, Vice President, Texas Doug Clark, Oklahoma Mike Hudson, Texas Larry Jordan, Texas Bryan Painter, Oklahoma Kelly Riley, Texas Cotton Rosser, California Sharon Shoulders, Oklahoma Rodeo Committee Bobby Norris, Chairman, Texas Gilbert Aguirre, California Steve Beneto, California Dr. Billy Bergin, Hawaii Butch Bratsky, Montana Dr. Scott Calhoon, Oklahoma Robert A. Funk, Oklahoma Mike Ingram, Arizona Dr. John Jameson, Oklahoma Lincoln Lageson, California Nadine Levin, Maryland Dan Lindstrom, Nebraska Gordon Whitener, Tennessee Jerry Winchester, Oklahoma John W. Wroten Jr., Texas

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odeo is an American West staple with a history spanning more than 150 years. From the early ranches with competitive cowhands, to crowd-filled arenas cheering on the cowboys of today, the Rodeo Historical Society (RHS) exists to preserve these stories of the past and present. Recognizing the importance of rodeo’s story, its beginnings, and the desire to ensure this unique Western tradition is kept alive for future generations, the RHS aims to protect rodeo’s history in all areas.

The RHS parallels the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s efforts to promote the sport through education, exhibition, and preservation efforts. RHS supports the acquisition of artifacts for the Museum’s American Rodeo Gallery, featuring interactive exhibitions and historical artifacts that bring to life the story of rodeo for visitors. In addition, the RHS shares rodeo’s history in The Ketchpen magazine,

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Natalie Shirley, President & CEO

a biannual publication featuring compelling articles and mesmerizing pictorials on the rodeo of yesterday and today.

To supplement these efforts, the RHS’ Oral History Project collects interviews, biographies, and stories from rodeo cowboys and cowgirls nationwide in an attempt to archive the history of rodeo in a way never done before. This ambitious Oral History Project makes available a unique repository for authors, historians, and others interested in learning more about rodeo’s history.

Your membership also supports the annual Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend, a special event designed for rodeo enthusiasts from around the world to gather, celebrate, and honor the best of the sport. Your RHS membership places you in the middle of the action.

The RHS cannot do all of this without your help! By joining, you help guarantee rodeo remains an integral part of how America remembers the West.

Your RHS membership includes: • Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee voting privileges • Two issues of The Ketchpen magazine per year • Free admission to the National Cowboy Museum for two

Board of Directors Officers Lynn Friess, Chairman, Wyoming Roger Simons, Vice Chairman, Oklahoma Everett Dobson, Secretary, Oklahoma Linda Mitchell Davis, Treasurer, New Mexico Lance Benham, Immediate Past Chairman, Oklahoma

(Upgrade to an All-Around membership and receive admission for six)

*Gift memberships for friends and family are always available.

To learn more about joining the Rodeo Historical Society today, please contact: Trent Riley, Membership Manager triley@nationalcowboymuseum.org (405) 478-2250 ext. 251

Society Coordinator Andee Lamoreaux

You can help preserve rodeo’s history and guarantee its future by purchasing an RHS membership today!

Visit nationalcowboymuseum.org/rodeo 6

The Ketchpen | Winter/Spring 2018

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend 2017 Photography by Hymer Photography and Carolyn Seelen

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he National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and Rodeo Historical Society (RHS) were again the proud hosts of Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend, held November 10 – 11, 2017, at the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Held to honor the men and women whose efforts have ensured both the history and the future of rodeo are preserved for generations to come, Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend culminates with the induction of a new class of rodeo’s greatest champions and staunchest supporters into the prestigious Rodeo Hall of Fame.

This year, Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend was celebrated in conjunction with the Small Works, Great Wonders ® art sale held each winter by the National Cowboy Museum. As the photographs on these pages show, the 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend resulted in a packed house and a joyous time for rodeo fans of all ages.

RHS Board member Bryan Painter (l.), Kendra Santos, and PRCA Gold Card Announcer John Shipley.

Barb Shipley (l.) and 2015 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Bob Feist.

2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Ted Nuce’s sons Wyatt (l.) and Westyn.

Festivities began with the Rope ‘N Ride Reunion, held Friday evening, November 10, in Prosperity Junction, the Museum’s recreated Old West town. This informal cocktail reception gave attendees a chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones, and proved to be a great way to begin the weekend celebration.

Gordon (l.) and Craig Cathey, sons of rodeo photographer James Cathey, with wives Pat (l.) and Barbara.

National Cowboy Museum Board member Nadine Levin (l.) with fellow Board member Art Nicholas and his wife, Catherine.

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Rodeo Historical Society

With Prosperity Junction’s Old West charm offering a backdrop to the evening’s celebration, the official start to the 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend proved to be an occasion not to be forgotten.

R.E. (l.) and Martha Josey, 2011 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee, with RHS Board member Doug Clark.

The family of James “Hyde” Merritt made a strong showing of support for the rodeo legend’s induction into the Rodeo Hall of Fame.

From left: National Cowboy Museum Board member Dan Lindstrom and his wife Deb enjoy the Rope ‘N Ride Reunion with fellow Board member Butch Bratsky and his wife Shannon.

From left: Museum Emeritus Director Mel Potter, Dilton Emerson, Jackie McEntire, and Pat Emerson reminisce as they take in the charm of Prosperity Junction.

Saturday morning, November 10, began with the Tad Lucas Reception honoring 2017 Tad Lucas Memorial Award recipient Karin Rosser. After, the Museum and RHS presented the Rodeo Inductee Panel Discussion moderated by RHS Board President Dave Appleton. The Museum Store also hosted book signings by renowned rodeo photographer Jerry Gustafson and trick rider and roper Virginia Reger, who appeared with her biographer, Elaine Fields Smith.

Kelly Riley (l.) with Tad Lucas Memorial Award recipients (from left) Arlene Kinsinger (1995), Kendra Santos (2011), Martha Wright (2000), Liz Kessler (2009), Karin Rosser (2017), and Sharon Shoulders (2005).

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The Ketchpen | Winter/Spring 2018

2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductees (from left) Tom Miller, Ted Nuce, and Ed LeTourneau participate in the Inductee Panel Discussion.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Saturday evening featured the Champions’ Dinner, Hall of Fame Induction, and the Benefit Auction. Held in the Museum’s Sam Noble Special Events Center, the festivities were emceed by 1998 Tad Lucas Memorial Award recipient Pam Minick and RHS President and 1988 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Dave Appleton. Prior to the ceremonies, attendees perused and bid on a host of rodeo memorabilia and other items in the silent auction, with proceeds benefitting the RHS. Following the invocation by Ellen Roth and presentation of the colors by the Oklahoma Veterans Affairs Color Guard, Cadlyn Smith sang the National Anthem, accompanied by the Changing Winds Cultural Society Indian Princesses. Later in the evening, a live auction of several big-ticket items – including a Savage rifle, a trip to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, a Quarter Horse donated by Tee Cross Ranches, and a roping chute donated by Priefert – was held, with former state Rep. Don Armes serving as auctioneer. Proceeds from the live auction also benefitted RHS. Top: The Changing Winds Cultural Society Indian Princesses perform the National Anthem using sign language.

Left: Ellen Roth leads the invocation (l.); Cadlyn Smith sings the National Anthem.

Below: The Oklahoma Veterans Affairs Color Guard presents the American flag (l.); Quarter Horse donated by Tee Cross Ranches for the evening’s Live Auction.

Bottom (from left): Outgoing RHS President Sharon Shoulders (l.) and Museum Board Chairman Lynn Friess; Silent Auction items; Auctioneer Don Armes.

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Rodeo Historical Society

Finally came the moment for which everyone was waiting; the reason for the entire Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend festivities: the Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony. First came the presentation of the Tad Lucas Memorial Award to Karin Rosser, wife of RHS Board member Cotton Rosser, and the Ben Johnson Memorial Award to RHS Board member Kelly Riley. These award presentations were followed by the Rodeo Hall of Fame Ceremony, honoring the induction of rodeo greats Bunky Boger, Junior Garrison, James “Hyde” Merritt, Tom C. Miller, Ted Nuce, Directors’ Choice Ed LeTourneau, DMV, and All-Around Champion Phil Lyne (an in-depth look at each honoree begins on page 22). The Rodeo Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony was a chance for individuals of all walks of rodeo life to come together to celebrate some of the greatest heroes of the sport, and to celebrate rodeo heritage. Make plans now to be part of this wonderful celebration in 2018!

Clockwise from above: Three rodeo legends: Charlie Sampson (l.), Ted Nuce (c.), and Cotton Rosser; the Rodeo Hall of Fame crowd; Ed LeTourneau (standing at r.) and family are joined by supporters Larry Mahan (seated, l.) and Bob Feist (standing, c.); Emcees Dave Appleton and Pam Minick; Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Tom Miller and Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Calli Newman; Tad Lucas Memorial Award recipient Karin Rosser (l.) is congratulated by Sano Blocker, granddaughter of Tad Lucas.

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The Ketchpen | Winter/Spring 2018

All images courtesy the Dickinson Research Center.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Champion bulldogger Mike Hastings, Cheyenne Frontier Days, c. 1930, Ralph R. Doubleday, 2004.026.2.

How It All Began, Part II The History of RHS: 1970-1985 To read Part I of Woerner’s overview of the Rodeo Historical Society’s founding and history, see the Spring/Summer 2017 issue of The Ketchpen.

By Gail Woerner

That year, Tad Lucas was voted second President of RHS by a landslide. One of the most versatile cowgirls in rodeo, Lucas took the new organization by the reins, handling her leadership role with the same sense of responsibility as with her rodeo career. Growing the RHS membership remained a priority.

Freckles Brown was chosen as Man of the Year in 1970. Unaware of this honor, as it was traditionally announced at the RHS Luncheon during the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Oklahoma City, Brown checked into his hotel room and suddenly collapsed with a massive gastric hemorrhage. While hospitalized, Brown required seven blood transfusions before being released to attend the Luncheon. A five-event man in his early rodeo days — who, five years earlier at the 1967 NFR, rode 8 seconds atop the “unrideable” bull Tornado — his friends began calling him the “Unsinkable Freckles Brown.”

Rodeo great Tad Lucas, who was voted second RHS President in 1970, on Juarez, c. 1925, Ralph R. Doubleday, 81023.28842-05.

The Rodeo Hall of Fame’s 1970 honoree was Ed McCarty of Chugwater, Wyoming, who not only rode broncs, but also collected them. McCarty and Verne Elliott were producers for most of the major rodeos in the country from 1917 – 1934; McCarty died in 1946. Eddie Curtis, who was the 1971 honoree, won many All-Around titles including four Madison Square Garden championships, and later judged there for five years; he died in 1965. Bill Pickett, known for his unique way of bulldogging, was inducted in 1972.

He worked for the Miller Brothers 101 Real Wild West Show and performed all across North America, South America, and England until his death in 1932.

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y 1970 the Rodeo Historical Society (RHS) was 5 years old.

In 1973 Elliott was chosen. Born in 1890 in Colorado, he entered the Cheyenne Frontier Days in 1907 roping and riding roughstock. He and McCarty produced the first indoor nighttime rodeo in Fort Worth in 1918, the first Denver National Western Rodeo, and took rodeos to London in 1924 and 1934. Elliott died in 1962.

Mike Hastings, the Iron Man of Steer Wrestling, was the 1974 honoree. His first rodeo in Laramie, Wyoming, led to a 30-year career in rodeo, including being a bronc scout. He died in 1965.

Rodeo Hall of Fame inductees Ed McCarty (1970) and Verne Elliott (1973) with Great Bucking Horse honoree Midnight, c. 1930, 193036.115mu.

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Rodeo Historical Society

Champion bronc rider Bertha Blancett, one of three female rodeo pioneers inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1975, c. 1915, Edward F. Marcell, 2004.287.

Bronc rider Fannie Sperry Steele, 1975 Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee, at the Winnipeg Stampede, 1913, Edward F. Marcell, 2004.273.1.

Champion roper Lucille Mulhall, inducted in 1975, at Walla Walla Frontier Days, 1914, Edward F. Marcell, 2005.195.

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The Rodeo Hall of Fame made a major change in 1975 when it elected its first living honoree: Ike Rude, a steer-roping phenomena. Born in 1894 in Mangum, Oklahoma, Rude began competing at age 16. He was the World Champion steer roper in 1941 and 1947 and runner-up in 1948. His major wins included the Pendleton Round-Up Sam Jackson Trophy in 1931 and 1936 and the J.O. Selman Trophy at the Woodward, Oklahoma, rodeo in 1928, 1940, and 1942. In 1956 he won the Cheyenne Frontier Days Steer Roping Championship at age 62.

Receiving a standing ovation, Rude — on horseback — was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the 1974 NFR. RHS Secretary Flaxie Fletcher resigned her position the end of 1974, and in 1984 she was honored with the RHS Person of the Year medallion. George Williams, an RHS founding member, took her place as Secretary. A former saddle bronc rider and Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA) director, Williams became editor of Rodeo Sports News following an injury, and he traveled to many foreign countries as a rodeo representative. Thus, the Fletcherproduced Extra newsletter previously sent to RHS members became, under Williams’ watch, The Wild Bunch magazine. As Williams explained, “The first publication devoted to rodeo was The Wild Bunch, in 1915, edited

by Homer Wilson, who rodeoed, promoted rodeo, and had a string of bucking horses. Wilson was pretty sage about rodeo.”

In 1975 RHS Board member Clem McSpadden started the “World’s Richest Roping” at Bushyhead, Oklahoma, which brought competitors as well as spectators from across the country.

The competition also included a juried Western art show. In 1983 it became the Labor Day Pasture Roping. McSpadden and his wife, Donna, always donated a portion of the proceeds to RHS.

Everett Bowman statue unveiled at the Museum in 1977, Bern Gregory, 1999.025.1369.11A.

Harry Knight, 1985 Rodeo inductee, at Cheyenne, 1963, Devere Helfrich, 81.023.22027-05.

Everett Shaw (l.) and Gene Pruett (r.), 1965, Devere Helfrich, 81.023.27492-11.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

a qualifying ride atop him in 1920 — was added, and 42 South Dakota stock growers attended his induction.

Both No Name (also called Fox) from Canada, purchased by Pendleton Round-Up, and Trail’s End, were also added to the Great Bucking Horses roll.

Rodeo stars (l. to r.) Ruth Roach, Rube Roberts, Vera McGinnis, Bea Kirnan, Gordon Jones, and Nowata Slim Richardson, 1924 London Rodeo, Mrs. Grant E. Ashby Collection, 2001.048.0011.

In May of 1975 the Board of Directors of what was then known as the National Cowboy Hall of Fame formed a panel of experts to help induct the founders of rodeo into the Rodeo Hall of Fame. This panel of experts — whose rodeo careers all began before 1929, the year official records were first kept — included Fay E. Ward, Jerry Armstrong, Chuck Walters, Willard H. Porter, and Phil Meadows. The panel’s findings were submitted to the RHS Board of Directors for their approval, with final approval made by the Hall of Fame Board. (This process, it should be noted, did not affect the RHS honoree selection.)

Johnnie Mullens, an expert on “outlaw” horseflesh and one of the all-time best arena directors. Finally, the panel recommended three of rodeo’s foremost pioneer cowgirls be inducted: Bertha Blancett and Fannie Sperry Steele, both still living at the time, and Lucille Mulhall, who by then was deceased.

Steamboat was added to the roll of Great Bucking Horses in 1975, and the RHS’ Wyoming delegation unveiled in the Museum Gardens a bronze plaque in its memory. The following year, Tipperary — with 80 victories to his credit before Yakima Canutt made

Bullet, a roping horse that made more than $70,000 for his owners Bob Crosby, King Merritt, and Ike Rude, plus other riders, joined the Celebrated Cow Ponies, as did Poker Chip, Dale Smith’s roping horse, in 1980. In 1982 Little Blue, a bulldogging horse owned

by Slim Whaley and ridden by many, was honored.

Freckles Brown was elected as the RHS President in 1976 (he was reelected to this position in 1983), and Fay E. Ward was chosen as RHS Man of the Year. The Rodeo Hall of Fame inductees that year included, as the living honoree, Canutt, bronc rider and steer wrestler, and three deceased honorees: Tex Austin, producer of many rodeos; J. Ellison Carroll, champion steer roper; and Jackson Sundown, outstanding bronc rider.

Through the efforts of George Williams, a statue of Everett Bowman, Cowboy’s Turtle Association’s (CTA)

The panel’s recommendations resulted in the induction of five deceased honorees: C.B. Irwin, a steer roper with ideas for improving Cheyenne Frontier Days, Wild West shows, and more; “Booger Red” Privett, an early-day bronc rider and showman; Clay McGonagill, one of the earliest cowboys to make a living by bronc riding and “fairgrounding” steers; Vincente Oropeza, a Mexican charro trick and fancy roper who spent 16 years with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show; and Guy Weadick, Calgary Stampede originator in 1912.

The panel also recommended the induction of one living rodeo founder:

Alice, Turk, and Margie Greenough (center, l. to r.), with Sylvester Roan (l.) and Hippy Burmister (r.), 1977, Bern Gregory Collection, 1999.025.1370.02.

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Rodeo Historical Society

Brennan, 1904 bronc-riding champion at Cheyenne; and Jesse Stahl, the best black bronc rider of all time.

Bronc rider Hughie Long, an original CTA founder and 1985 Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee, Chicago World’s Fair Rodeo, 1933, 1985.053.11.

first President, was unveiled at the National Cowboy Museum in 1977.

Although Williams left RHS at this time, his passion for gathering rodeo’s history — both physically and verbally — was evident. RHS membership also increased during Williams’ tenure from 260 to 945. Though The Wild Bunch ceased publication in July 1977, it returned February 1980 with Willard H. Porter as publisher and a front page announcing the 1979 inductees: Andy Jauregui, rodeo producer, as the living honoree, plus deceased inductees Joe Gardner, a born horseman; Harry

Another major change in the rules of Rodeo Hall of Fame deceased honorees was made when Everett Shaw died in November 1979. Previously it was required that recipients be deceased five years prior to being honored. The 1980 list of inductees included Shaw, outstanding World Champion roper; and Ken Roberts, World Champion All-Around, also deceased; while the living inductees were Gene Pruett, winning bronc rider; and Herman Linder, a top bronc man.

Also in 1980, a rare medal engraved to Tillie Baldwin, “World’s Champion Lady Trick Rider — The Stampede, Winnipeg 1913,” was donated by the Slate family for permanent exhibit at the National Cowboy Museum. In 1982 a trophy belt of eight rectangular silver pieces, won by Harry Brennan as 1902 Champion Roughrider of the World, was donated to the institution.

More than 600 people attended the 1981 Rodeo Hall of Fame induction ceremony to celebrate deceased honorees Everett Colborn, rodeo producer, and Mabel Strickland,

1976 Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee Tex Austin (second from r.) leading a procession of cowboys and cowgirls down a city street, c. 1924, RC2006.076.493.

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1976 Great Bucking Horse honoree Tipperary, ridden by Les Johnson, 1956, Devere Helfrich, 81.023.11263.

trick rider, bronc rider, and roper; and living honorees Toots Mansfield, champion calf roper, and Nowata Slim Richardson, famed Wild West and rodeo cowboy.

The back page of the February 1983 issue of The Wild Bunch advertised Willard H. Porter’s Who’s Who in Rodeo, a newly published book by the National Cowboy Museum and RHS including Rodeo Hall of Fame honorees and PRCA All-Around Champions.

The 1983 Rodeo Hall of Fame honorees were Alice, Marge, and Turk Greenough, roughstock riders; Richard Merchant, 1920s calf roper; Hub

Jackson Sundown, 1976 Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee, on Long Tom, 1914, Walter S. Bowman, RC2007.095.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

1985 Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee Sam Garrett roping at Tex Austin’s Rodeo, Yankee Stadium, N.Y., c. 1924, Ralph R. Doubleday, RC2006.076.0292.

Whiteman, steer wrestler; and Dick Truitt, 1939 Steer Roping Champion.

In 1984 ballots were sent to RHS members to vote. Twenty names were listed on the ballot; the four chosen were Jim Eskew, Jr., trick roper and competitor; Dick Griffith, World Champion bull rider and trick rider; Hughie Long, CTA originator; and John McEntire, World Champion steer roper. In 1985, the Rodeo Hall of Fame inductees included Carl Arnold, roping champion; Sam Garrett, trick roper

Bulldogger Bill Pickett, a 1972 Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee, with the 101 Ranch Real Wild West, c. 1925, 36.012mu.

and competitor; Chuck Sheppard, roper; Harry and Maggie Rowell, rodeo producers; Vera McGinnis, trick rider and more; and Harry Knight, broncriding producer.

By the mid-1980s, disagreements arose on how the RHS could best conduct the business of collecting and preserving rodeo’s history. This, unfortunately, resulted in the group’s membership splitting for a time, despite both sides striving for the same result.

This and much more of RHS’ history through the 1980s and into the 1990s will be covered in the next issue of The Ketchpen.

Gail Woerner has been an RHS member for 30 years, has written five books on the history of rodeo, and has become a rodeo historian. She has been RHS’ Oral History Project Chairman since its inception in 2003. She lives with her husband, Cliff, in Austin, Texas.

Chuck Sheppard, 1985 Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee, on Happy Landing, Eugene, Oregon, 1953, Devere Helfrich, 81.023.08729.

Winter/Spring 2018 | The Ketchpen

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Rodeo Historical Society

Bernis Johnson on #55 (Kinney Bros.), Beeville, Texas, 1962, by Ferrell Butler. Image courtesy of Dickinson Research Center, 1998.088.6853.

Photographs by Ferrell

By Kera Newby

F

errell Butler used photography

to capture the drama and excitement of rodeo. He grew up participating in the sport in local competitions near Mesquite, Texas, and in 1960 he decided to start taking pictures of events while waiting to compete. Being a contestant and a photographer quickly became too much, and Butler turned all of his focus toward photography.

As a traveling photographer in the 1960s and 1970s, it was a challenge 16

to make prints. For the first few years, Butler photographed a rodeo, traveled home, and developed the images.

As his career grew and his travels took him farther away from Texas, it became counterproductive to only have a darkroom in one location.

He converted a trailer into a mobile darkroom and hitched it to his pickup truck. In it he processed images and made prints at the rodeo site for anyone to purchase.

The Ketchpen | Winter/Spring 2018

During the span of his 14-year career, Butler produced images that told rodeo’s story. His nearly 14,000 negatives are preserved in The Donald C. and Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Kera Newby is the Digital and Manuscript Archivist at the Museum’s Dickinson Research Center. Her love of history, art, and culture drive her to preserve the records of the American West.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Bill Kornell riding The Bad #69 (Steiner), Mercedes, Texas, 1966,

by Ferrell Butler. Image courtesy of Dickinson Research Center, 1998.008.7001.

Benny Reynolds on Topsy Turvy (Inman), Fort Worth, Texas, 1965,

by Ferrell Butler. Image courtesy of Dickinson Research Center, 1998.008.1438.

Don Huddleston steer wrestling, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1971,

by Ferrell Butler. Image courtesy of Dickinson Research Center, 1998.008.2809.

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Discover new winter apparel from The Museum Store

American-made apparel and accessories from Pendleton Woolen Mills make every adventure one to remember.

Shop in store and online at The Museum Store.

Monday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, Noon – 5:00 p.m.

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The Ketchpen | Winter/Spring 2018

Always open online at store.nationalcowboymuseum.org

Rodeo Historical Society

Memorial Gifts & Honorariums

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum® is supported through memberships and private and corporate donations. Thank you to these donors who designated memorial gifts to the Rodeo Historical Society.

In Memory of...

Landscape of Giving Rodeo Historical Society memberships and donations make it possible for the organization to fulfill its mission to preserve and promote the history of rodeo.

Donations of $250 or more are recognized on the Donor Wall at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Thank you to these 2017 donors.

$10,000 and Above Mr. & Mrs. Wyatt W. McCrea

Buff Douthitt Jane Douthitt

Imogene Veach Beals Donna Jobe

Jim Koch Flying U Rodeo

Nancy Klein Marvin A. Klein

Jim Stone Flying U Rodeo

Clark McEntire Jackie McEntire

Harry Vold Flying U Rodeo

Imogene Veach Beals Pat N. Ommert

Hadley Barrett Flying U Rodeo

Imogene Veach Beals Peggy Robinson

Mr. Marvin A. Klein

T.J. Walters Flying U Rodeo

Winston Bruce Cotton & Katharine Rosser

Mrs. Kaye Nelson

Gretchen Johnson Flying U Rodeo

Leon Adams Veach Saddlery Co.

$500 – $999

Bill Stephens Flying U Rodeo

Harry Vold Karen Vold

Imogene Veach Beals Judy Hancock

Trenton McGeorge Arlene Weldon

Dellora A. & Lester J. Norris Foundation $5,000 – $9,999 Justin Brands, Inc. $1,000 – $4,999 Mr. Phil Lyne

Mr. Gordon Cathey Mr. Larry Jordan Mr. & Mrs. Cotton Rosser Ms. Katharine Rosser U.S. Law Shield of Oklahoma, LLC *As of 12/5/2017

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The Ketchpen | Winter/Spring 2018

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Special Farewell Message

www.ownbeyphotography.com

Nominations Critical to RHS’ Future

Sharon Shoulders Outgoing RHS President

T

wo years ago I began my tenure as Rodeo Historical Society (RHS) President by telling you why the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum (the original Cowboy Hall of Fame) is so important to me. I end my presidency by emphasizing why the National Cowboy Museum should be of utmost importance to everyone who cares about preserving rodeo history — and all of Western history — in this historic place on Persimmon Hill.

We can preserve that history by keeping memberships current and continuing to seek new inductees for the Rodeo Hall of Fame.

Not all inductees have walls of plaques or collections of buckles and trophies. Some have made major contributions to rodeo and the Western way of life in other ways of importance, but we cannot recognize them unless RHS members submit applications for consideration.

Hopefully, if you have someone to nominate for induction into the Rodeo Hall of Fame you downloaded a nomination form from the website and submitted it before the December 31, 2017, deadline to be considered in 2018. If you did not submit in time, please do so for the following year.

RHS is in great hands under the leadership of new President Dave Appleton and Vice President John McBeth, as well as dedicated RHS Board members Doug Clark, Mike Hudson, Larry Jordan, Bryan Painter, Kelly Riley, Cotton Rosser, and myself. You may direct anything RHS related to RHS Coordinator Andee Lamoreaux.

Under the leadership of newly appointed President & CEO Natalie Shirley and Museum Board Chairman Lynn Friess, the National Cowboy Museum is moving forward in expansion planning with goals to enhance the Museum’s visibility and rodeo’s history. I know we all want to be part of this growth.

It has been my great pleasure to work with such loyal RHS and Museum Board members, and a hardworking staff that sincerely cares about the future of all aspects of our beautiful Museum. Merely saying “thank you” seems inadequate for all you have done, but I do thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart.

Now, let’s get busy on 2018!

Sharon Shoulders Outgoing RHS President

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Rodeo Historical Society

Rodeo Hall Of Fame Class Of 2017 Inductee Photos by Hymer Photography

T

he Rodeo Historical Society’s 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend was once again an undeniable success! Held at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum November 10 – 11, Hall of Fame Weekend featured an exceptional class of inductees into the Rodeo Hall of Fame: Bunky Boger, Junior Garrison, Dr. Ed LeTourneau, Phil Lyne, James “Hyde” Merritt, Tom C. Miller, and Ted Nuce. The Tad Lucas Memorial Award recipient was Karin Rosser and the Ben Johnson Memorial Award recipient was Kelly Riley.

Read about these amazing individuals who were honored during the 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend on the following pages.

The Rodeo Historical Society Board of Directors encourages members to submit applications for consideration for next year’s Rodeo Hall of Fame inductions. This is considered the highest honor bestowed on rodeo professionals.

Applications should exhibit affiliation with the

Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association or its predecessors, including the Rodeo Cowboys Association, Cowboys’ Turtle Association, Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, or its forerunner, the Girls Rodeo Association.

Candidates should have a significant record of rodeo participation on a national level or have made an impact on professional rodeo. Additional consideration is given for demonstrating exemplary character both in and out of the arena, training of other rodeo participants, or providing service to the sport.

Applications must include original photographs and be postmarked

by December 31 to be considered for the following year. The official form can be downloaded from nationalcowboymuseum.org/rodeo.

The RHS Board of Directors will review each application thoroughly and select a slate of nominees.

Rodeo Historical Society members elect the group to be honored. Become an RHS member today and help choose the 2018 inductees into the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy Museum.

For more information, visit nationalcowboymuseum.org/rodeo 22

The Ketchpen | Winter/Spring 2018

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Bunky Boger “I’m truly grateful to the National Cowboy Museum and to the members who voted for me. I’m honored to be here among so many people who have contributed to this wonderful way of life.”

T

hough known for the decades he spent in the arena as a bullfighter and entertainer, 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Bunky Boger began competing in bull riding and steer wrestling. Growing up in the 1930s in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Boger dreamed of the cowboy life. This dream was helped along by childhood trips to Wyoming to stay with friends for the summer. As a teenager, he competed in local rodeos for extra money. Soon, however, the bullfighters caught his attention. Boger figured he could make more money distracting every bull than trying to stay atop a single one each go-round. From there, Boger began a career in entertainment that has spanned decades, and which today finds him still crisscrossing the country.

A fixture at rodeo arenas throughout the country, Boger’s bullfighting skills earned him a spot working the barrel at the 1975 National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He also started a comedy act featuring a cast of animals he trained himself.

Boger’s act eventually included various animals such as dogs, chickens, blanket appaloosa, miniature Brahman bulls, and a barren of mules. Perhaps his most well-known performer was Cody the buffalo. Cody became Boger’s biggest draw, with the duo gaining international attention and even making an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman.

As Boger’s act evolved, he was given the chance to accompany the circus. This eventually led to Boger and his wife, Connie, participating in fairs throughout the country. Each fair season, the couple takes their business, Animal Specialties, on the road, beginning in Florida early in the year and ending the season in Washington.

While Boger no longer works in rodeo, his life is not too far removed from those days on the circuit. Now in his late 80s, he still spends a good deal of his time on the road hauling livestock.

With Connie – whom he met at the Deadwood, South Dakota, rodeo in the early 1970s – by his side, the couple enjoy teaching those who may not otherwise learn the importance of agriculture and the rural lifestyle.

Of course, Boger still has plenty of memories from his rodeo days, including his first visit to the National Cowboy Museum. “My first exposure to this Museum was sometime in the late ‘60s,” he recalled during his speech at the Rodeo Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

“I’d worked a rodeo in Texas the Fourth of July and was scheduled to work the rodeo in Hinton, Oklahoma, for Jiggs and Elra Beutler.

We got to Hinton before the rodeo was supposed to start, and some of us commented over coffee the next morning on how the new museum that was open on Persimmon Hill in Oklahoma City was a worthwhile stop.” After feeding the livestock, a group of them headed to the National Cowboy Museum. “I was very impressed with the facility,” he said, “and commented at that time that this was going to be a great tribute to our way of life and the people who had made it happen.”

During his comments, Boger thanked his wife, three sons, and daughter, as well as Dilton and Pat Emerson, Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee George Doak (2001), and Joel Faulk, who were instrumental in nominating Boger. In addition to also thanking his neighbors and those who have helped him with his act, he also paid touching tribute to the animals that helped him “look good to an audience” over the years.

Finally, Boger recognized two rodeo icons: Rodeo Hall of Fame Members Clem McSpadden (1989) and Jim Shoulders (1955). “I know they’re both looking down on us tonight. Jim was a mentor, helped me a lot – I worked a lot of Jim’s rodeos everywhere. And Clem helped me improve my presentation, made it so much better.

They did a lot for a lot of people in the rodeo business.” He also thanked the men’s spouses, Donna McSpadden and outgoing RHS President Sharon Shoulders, “for sharing your husbands with the rest of us in this business. They helped everybody, helped the whole business.

“I appreciate the numerous, longtime friends I’ve made,” Boger said in closing.

“Thank you for coming across the country to be here tonight.”

Bunky Boger with the Kajun Kid, 1962, Rusk, Texas, Rodeo.

Photography by Ferrell Butler, courtesy the Dickinson Research Center.

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Rodeo Historical Society

Junior Garrison “When I think of my dad, three words come to mind: First, ‘Dedication’; second, ‘Admiration’; third, ‘Determination.’ When these words came to me, I didn’t realize the first letters actually spell ‘Dad’.” —Junior Garrison’s daughter Jamie Kay Ellis

J

ames “Junior” Garrison did not grow up in a rodeo family.

Born February 5, 1938, it was not until high school that the Marlow, Oklahoma, native was first introduced to roping. Garrison was attending a high-school girlfriend’s family get-together when he witnessed his first goat roping. After his own roping attempts prompted laughter, he was determined to learn. He traded a pig for a horse named Pluto, and in short order Garrison was a skilled goat roper.

By 1963, Garrison was a full-time calf roper.

One year later, at age 26, he qualified for the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Los Angeles, California, which would be his first of 10 trips to the finals (1964 – 1971, 1975, and 1977). At the 1966 NFR in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Garrison edged out Rodeo Hall of Famer Dean Oliver (1963) by a little less than $100 to win the average and the World Calf Roping Championship. In 1968, he won the NFR average in the calf roping, finishing with 128.6 seconds on nine head. Two years later, in 1970, he won his second World Tie-Down Roping Championship.

Garrison also made history on August 5, 1967, at Evergreen, Colorado, when he roped a calf in 7.5 seconds, a recordbreaking time earning him a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for more than a decade. In 2014, he was named Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo Living Legend.

Following his rodeo career, Garrison raised and trained Thoroughbreds and roping horses on his ranch outside of Rush Springs, Oklahoma. He also taught a long list of cowboys and cowgirls tips to improve their roping and riding. He was also a man of great faith, and put much effort into introducing friends and loved ones to Jesus Christ.

father’s behalf, Garrison was present in spirit for the occasion that meant so much to him.

In describing her father, Ellis settled on three words she believes best describe this Rodeo Hall of Fame roper: dedication, admiration, and determination.

“Dedication is one thing I believe my dad had more of than any other person I have ever met in my life,” Ellis said.

“It didn’t matter what is was: if he was roping, driving a bread truck, roping goats, my dad was 100 percent dedicated to whatever he was doing.”

According to Ellis, her father also had “great admiration for the people in his life that helped him, that taught him, and that loved and supported him.”

Finally, determination. “Any of you that know my dad knew that if he got something in his mind, there wasn’t much you could do to get it out,” she said. “My dad took it to the next level with many horses where other people could not. He just wouldn’t give up.”

According to Ellis, these traits were most pronounced when it came to Garrison’s faith. “At my dad’s funeral service, several people got up and spoke about how he had affected their life or about a story that they had done together, but more people got up and told about how he forever changed their life when he introduced them to Jesus Christ,” Ellis said.

In 2017, when Garrison and his family learned he was to be inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame, he was determined – despite failing health – to cross the stage and accept his medallion. Sadly, Garrison died before the Rodeo Hall of Fame celebration.

But, according to Garrison’s daughter, Jamie Kay Ellis, who spoke on her

Junior Garrison, August 1965, at the Sidney, Iowa, Rodeo.

Photography by Devere Helfrich, courtesy the Dickinson Research Center.

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“Once again, there are those three words – because of his dedication, he brought people to know the Lord, and because of his admiration and determination for the Lord, he wanted to be better and to bring his friends up that ladder with him.”

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National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

James “Hyde” Merritt “We are most proud of Hyde because of his drive and determination. He was an idea man, visionary, and promoter. We loved and respected him, and we are proud that he is being inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame.” —Family of Hyde Merritt

T

hough James “Hyde” Merritt passed away 35 years ago, his impact on rodeo continues to be felt to this day. The son of World Champion Steer Roper King Merritt, himself a Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee (1977), it is true that Hyde Merritt never claimed a world championship title. Yet, Merritt – who many refer to as the “Godfather of Steer Roping” – did as much for rodeo and the preservation of the Western way of life as any single man before or since.

Born in Federal, Wyoming, on May 24, 1922, Merritt was exposed to rodeo at a young age. In the early 1940s, Merritt attended the University of Wyoming on a rodeo scholarship, where he was key in establishing the school’s first college rodeo. At the outbreak of World War II, Merritt joined the service and trained as a bombardier. He flew 31 missions over enemy territory; on the 31st, his aircraft was shot down over Belgium and three crew members died. According to his son, Chip, upon his return stateside Merritt was sent to a small hospital in Washington. There, he found a local stock contractor who let him work cattle, and who loaned him a horse for a local rodeo; Merritt subsequently won the calf roping.

In 1947 Merritt co-founded The Rodeo News, where he served as editor from 1947 – 1949. Merritt then became West Coast editor of Western Horseman magazine and, later, Quarter Horse News magazine’s editor.

Merritt was a founder of both the Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain Quarter Horse associations, and was known for raising quality Quarter Horses of his own. He was a respected rodeo contractor and promoter, and he produced the King Merritt Memorial Steer Roping in Laramie, Wyoming, every year beginning in 1953. It was through Merritt’s efforts that pari-mutuel betting was brought to Wyoming in 1967.

Merritt is also credited with helping save the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR) when in the early 1970s it had no home.

Seeing Merritt’s success with the King Merritt Memorial Steer Roping, and knowing the stock, hard work, and leadership Merritt would provide, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) board asked Merritt to help host the NFSR in Laramie. He agreed, providing the NSFR a home for the next 10 years and placing it back on solid footing.

Speaking at their father’s Rodeo Hall of Fame induction, Merritt’s daughter, Heidi, and sons, Chip, Randy, and Lory, shared how their father demanded much from his children, but gave much in return.

“Hyde taught us our work ethic and showed us how to have fun at the same time,” Chip said on behalf of the Merritt family. “I remember walking our horses home from a long day, and our father would ride ahead and hide in the trees.

We’d come along and he’d jump out and scare us. We worked hard – he was a taskmaster, and we did what he said – but we also played hard.

Merritt joined the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA) in 1945 and competed in calf roping, steer roping, and team roping at rodeos including Cheyenne and Pendleton. In 1950, he was instrumental in forming the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), which today remains the governing body for collegiate rodeo. He also helped write the NIRA’s bylaws.

“Our mother, Dede, was beside our father every day, and we were, too.

We did everything horseback, and they taught us the cowboy ways,” he said. “Whether he was contracting, producing, or competing, our father was passionate about promoting rodeo, and he was a man who represented the Western way of life.”

Hyde Merritt steer roping, July 1960, Cheyenne Frontier Days, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Photography by Devere Helfrich, courtesy the Dickinson Research Center.

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Rodeo Historical Society

Tom C. Miller “I just want to thank my mom and dad for instilling in me the work ethic that they put in me. I want to thank my wife and family for putting up with me and the many good friends that made it possible.”

S

ince the 1970s, the name Tom C. Miller has been synonymous with bronc riding. Born in Rapid City, South Dakota, on December 27, 1948, Miller has been involved in nearly every aspect of rodeo – from competing in college and professionally, to serving as an instructor, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) judge, and committee member – with saddle bronc as his event of choice.

Miller attended Black Hills State College in Spearfish, South Dakota. There, he led a rodeo team that dominated national collegiate rodeo in the early 1970s.

Competing at both ends of the arena, in 1970 Miller was the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) All-Around Champion. Hoping to repeat in 1971, Miller contacted his good friend, current RHS Vice President John McBeth, asking to train for the college finals at his bronc-riding school. McBeth, a 2013 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee, put him on six of the best horses in two days. “He gave me confidence, made me think I could do anything,” Miller said, “and I went to the college finals and won the bare[back]s, won the [saddle] broncs, and I won the All-Around at the finals and for the nation that year.”

Miller then competed professionally, becoming Badlands Circuit Saddle Bronc Champion four years in a row (1977 – 1980). He qualified for the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) six times, winning the Saddle Bronc average title in 1975, 1979, and 1981.

served as a saddle bronc instructor for three decades, and continues mentoring young saddle bronc riders today.

“Who’d ever thought I’d be here?” he asked during his induction into the Rodeo Hall of Fame. The short answer: anyone who watched his career throughout the years, including those who he thanked during his speech including McBeth, traveling partners Jim Willuweit, Richard Bahm, Jim Hunt, Lonnie Hall, and Bobby Brown, as well as Clem McSpadden, who Miller said “gave me a lot of encouragement, and I was blessed to know him.”

Finally, he thanked his parents, relating a story about his father.

“When I got out of college my dad said, ‘Well, Tom, are you going to rodeo or are you going to come back to the ranch? Because if you’re going to rodeo, I think I’ll just sell this ranch.’ Boy I loved it there,” Miller said, “so I went home for three years.”

The third year, after the calves were shipped and the cattle in winter pasture, Miller told his father, “You better sell the ranch. I’m going to go rodeo, it’s something I just have to do.” His father replied, “Tom, I’ll keep the ranch for a year and if you don’t go to the [NFR] you come home, throw that saddle in the corner, and we won’t talk about this anymore.”

When the PRCA started requiring rough-stock riders to either judge one rodeo or pay a $50 fine, Miller began his 20-year career as a PRCA judge. He judged at the NFR five times, with the saddle bronc contestants themselves selecting him as judge three of those appearances. Miller also served on the PRCA Rules Committee for four years and the PRCA Humane Committee for two.

Thankfully, Miller did not quit.

He was later able to take over the ranch and continue a rodeo career worthy of induction into the Rodeo Hall of Fame.

A Casey Tibbs Foundation Honoree in 1994 and Black Hills State University Hall of Fame Inductee in 2011, Miller

Tom Miller on Action Cat, 1976, National Finals Rodeo, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Photography by Bern Gregory, courtesy the Dickinson Research Center.

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The following winter of 1975, Miller made it to the NFR. Leading in the average, Miller had just gotten off his last horse when he was surprised by his father, who said to him, “Damn, Tom, you can’t quit now, can you?”

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National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Ted Nuce “I am humbled and honored. I’m proof that dreams still come true.

This is a very exciting moment for me.”

W

hat is the secret to Ted Nuce’s stellar rodeo career? Frankly, there is no secret at all – Nuce is eager to share his philosophy with young bull riders and anyone who has goals they wish to achieve: positive thinking.

Born in French Camp, California, on January 19, 1961, while just a few weeks old Nuce was adopted by John and Alberta Nuce. At age 5 he decided he wanted to be a cowboy, and soon after his parents bought him a pony he rode bareback daily. According to Nuce, riding that pony bareback is what helped develop his balance.

When Nuce was 10 he met J.D. Gaar, owner of a nearby horse stable. Gaar taught him to rope, break colts, and, at Nuce’s request, ride old roping steers. After riding atop his first steer, Nuce knew he found his calling.

Nuce attended Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Larry Mahan’s (1966) bull riding school. The 15-year-old made a good showing at the school, particularly on his last bull, Pluto, which had been to the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). “I was able to stay on him,” Nuce said at the 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame induction, “and when I was walking back to the bucking chutes Larry came up to me and said, ‘You keep improving the way you have this week and someday you might be a champion.’ Well, you can just imagine what that did to my confidence,” he said, “my hero telling me maybe I could be a champion.”

Armed with this confidence, Nuce then attended the school of another World Bull Riding Champion, Gary Leffew. There he was introduced to the philosophy of Psycho-Cybernetics – positive-thinking visualization strategies – which he continues to practice today.

the California Circuit, and just one year after graduating high school was named PRCA Rookie of the Year.

The following year, at age 21, Nuce competed in his first NFR, qualifying for the NFR bull riding a record 14 consecutive years. He also achieved an NFR record 18 go-round wins in the bull riding.

Nuce became traveling partners with Rodeo Hall of Famer Charles Sampson (2008), the year Sampson won the World Bull Riding Championship. “In 1982 Charlie just had a phenomenal year,” Nuce said. “I thought, ‘Man, if Charlie can do it, I know I can do it.’ So my next goal was to be the World Champion.”

Three years later, in 1985, Nuce won the World Bull Riding Championship. He also became Reserve World Bull Riding Champion in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1991.

At Calgary, Alberta, in 1988, the Olympics held a Command Performance Rodeo in which Nuce won a gold medal for bull riding and a gold medal for the U.S. team victory.

Three years later, Nuce was one of a small handful of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) original founders. In 1994, he won the PBR World Finals, and, upon his retirement in 1996, he was inducted into the PBR Ring of Honor.

Today, the Nuces raise their two sons – Wyatt and Westyn – in Stephenville, Texas; instilling in them a love of the Western lifestyle. Nuce is also passing to them the positive mentality that helped him reach his goals.

“I’m programming our boys for success,” he said. “I tell them every day, we’ve got to find your passion – we’ve got to find that thing that you can’t put down.

“Because that,” Nuce said, “is what I feel got me here today.”

Nuce competed in junior and high school rodeos throughout

Ted Nuce on Kodiak, 1987, Memphis, Tennessee, Rodeo.

Photography by Bern Gregory, courtesy the Dickinson Research Center.

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Rodeo Historical Society

Phil Lyne

All-Around Champion

“The guys I got to meet from Texas to Canada, and from the East to West Coast, Australia, the friends I’ve made … . One of the biggest enjoyments I get when I go to a team roping is to look and see the guys I haven’t seen in 20 years.”

K

nown as a “cowboy’s cowboy,” Phil Lyne is soft-spoken, but only because he is comfortable letting his record do the boasting.

And an amazing record it is, including Rookie of the Year; five World Championships in three different categories including two in the All-Around; a Reserve World Bull Riding Championship; and average titles in two events, among a host of other highlights.

As Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Larry Mahan (1966) once attested, Lyne “fools you because, without any showmanship, he just plain gets the job done.”

Born in 1947, Lyne grew up on the family ranch at George West, Texas, where he learned to rope and cowboy from his father, Joe Rufus, who himself was a fine calf roper. Lyne entered his first rodeo at age 4.

In high school, Lyne was the Texas Youth Rodeo Association (TYRA) Calf Roping Champion four times, All-Around Champion twice, and Bareback Riding, Steer Wrestling, and Bull Riding Champion in 1965. He won the 1965 National High School Championship Calf Roping and was second in the All-Around.

In college – financed using rodeo scholarships – Lyne was part of the Southwest Texas State College 1968 National championship team and the Sam Houston State University 1969 championship team. During his freshman and sophomore years, Lyne was National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) Reserve AllAround Champion. During his junior and senior years in college (1968 and 1969), he won the NIRA Calf Roping and All-Around Championships.

The 1969 RCA Rookie of the Year, Lyne finished 1970 third in the All-Around rankings. In 1971 he began a major push to clinch the All-Around. That year he competed in 112 rodeos and earned prize money in every category.

Heading into the Finals $2,000 ahead, 28

Lyne roped a calf in a record-setting 8.5 seconds – an NFR record that stood for 10 years – on his way to the World Calf Roping and All-Around Championships.

Again pursuing the All-Around in 1972, Lyne flew thousands of miles commercially, entering 126 rodeos. He faced competition from Mahan, who was the World AllAround five consecutive years until an injury ended his 1971 season.

By the end of 1972, Lyne set a new RCA single-season earnings record and claimed consecutive World All-Around and Calf Roping Championships. At the NFR he won the average in tie-down roping and bull riding, ending the season as Reserve World Champion Bull Rider.

After the 1972 season, Lyne announced his retirement. He married his wife, Sarah K., in 1973 and the couple settled down to run cattle and raise two girls, Amanda and Samantha.

Yet Lyne was not finished with rodeo. In 1979 he began steer roping part time, and soon was back at the NFR. He won the steer roping average in 1983 and 1986, becoming the first to win the NFR average in three events. Lyne then won the 1990 PRCA World Steer Roping Championship despite competing on a part-time basis.

“It’s really a great honor,” Lyne said during his induction.

He also spoke about his grandchildren, who are beginning to follow their parents and grandparents into the arena. “I’m not quitting rodeo. I just get to sit back in the seat and watch the grandkids now,” he said, “so it’s pretty good.”

Pretty good, indeed.

Phil Lyne on 119, 1972 National Finals Rodeo, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Photography by Ferrell Butler, courtesy the Dickinson Research Center.

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National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Ed LeTourneau Directors’ Choice

“The biggest thanks to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and Rodeo Historical Society for this great honor bestowed upon me. This is the best of my lifetime. It can’t get any better than this.”

W

hen Dr. Ed LeTourneau graduated high school in 1953, his mother asked what he planned to do with his life. Considering he wanted to be like his brother, Ray, a talented bull rider, LeTourneau said he planned to be “just a cowboy.”

Born in San Francisco on September 18, 1935, LeTourneau learned to rope and ride on his uncle’s ranch.

He entered his first rodeo at age 13.

Initially he competed on barebacks and broncs, but bull riding soon interested him.

With high school behind him, LeTourneau assumed rodeoing full time was his next step. His mother, however, shared a different opinion. “I want you to go to college and get an education,” she said.

Undeterred, LeTourneau decided perhaps he could attend college and rodeo. “As it turned out,” he said during his 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame induction, “I did win enough to pay for eight years of college and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.”

LeTourneau first attended California Polytechnic State University, then transferred to a junior college for preveterinary sciences. In the fall of 1957, he joined the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA). The following year, he was accepted into the veterinary program at the University of California-Davis.

Attending college during week and traveling to rodeos on weekends, it was common to see LeTourneau huddling behind the chutes studying. Yet, he made it work – between 1958 and 1961, LeTourneau won the bull riding at Calgary, Cheyenne, Pendleton, Portland, and Salinas. In 1958 he qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in bull riding and bareback. In 1961 he

qualified for the CNFR again in bull riding, winning the average and national runner-up.

LeTourneau qualified for the first-ever National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in 1959, finishing second in the average and fifth in earnings for the year. In 1961 he qualified a second time, finishing fifth in the average and seventh for the year.

LeTourneau graduated veterinary school and married his wife, Frankie, in 1962, but he was far from finished with rodeo. In 1964 LeTourneau was stepped on by a bull and sustained a broken back. In 1966 he returned to competition, traveling with Rodeo Hall of Famer Larry Mahan. LeTourneau qualified for the NFR again in 1967, but a shoulder injury kept him from competing. Still, he finished the year 11th in earnings.

Though LeTourneau figured his rough stock days were over, in 1980 he was contacted by Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Bob Cook (2005), who asked him to participate in the National Senior Pro Rodeo Association (NSPRA).

LeTourneau made the NSPRA Finals in Las Vegas in 1981.

After an 8-year hiatus, he became a four-time NSPRA World Bull Riding Champion (1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994) while also winning the Bull Riding Finals in 1991 and 1992. He took his final ride atop a bull at age 64.

A member of the Oakdale, California, High School Athletic Hall of Fame, the U.C. Davis Athletic Hall of Fame, and the NSPRA Hall of Fame, he served on the NSPRA Board of Directors, headed the NSPRA Cowboy Crisis Fund, and has also been a great supporter of local 4-H and FFA groups, to whom he provides no-cost veterinary services.

Though LeTourneau’s rodeo career casts a long shadow, when asked how he wants to be remembered, he simply stated, “for giving back to society.”

Ed LeTourneau riding a bull at age 62, 1998, Rifle, Colorado.

Photography by Jan Spencer, courtesy the LeTourneau Family.

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Karin Rosser

Tad Lucas Award “The best things in life are the people we love, the places we’ve been, and the memories made along the way. This will truly be one of the top memories I have.”

E

very year since 1990, the family of famed early-day rodeo great Tad Barnes Lucas has bestowed the Tad Lucas Memorial Award upon one female rodeo standout. Known for exhibiting a fearless attitude in the rodeo arena, Lucas was an All-Around contestant for four decades, competing in trick riding, bronc riding, and relay racing. Considered the “First Lady of Rodeo,” Lucas’ globe-trotting career resulted in national and international championships for eight consecutive years.

Above all, Lucas was known for being a fierce, yet fair, competitor who was a professional both inside and outside the arena. Though she lived boldly and took risks, she had an extraordinary talent backing her, and never lost her incomparable sense of humor.

According to Mitzi Lucas Riley – daughter of Tad Lucas and herself a Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee (1995) due to a trick-riding career that began in her youth – the Tad Lucas Memorial Award was established the year of Lucas’ death (1990) as a way for the Lucas family to “do something we thought she would like.” Through an endowment Lucas left to the National Cowboy Museum (a place, Riley said, “that meant so much to her”) and the Rodeo Historical Society (RHS) (which “she helped put together,” Riley said), the Tad Lucas Memorial Award recognizes an outstanding Western woman who is a champion in her field of work and demonstrates the same creative spirit, zeal, and Western values Lucas exhibited throughout her life.

As Riley noted, the Lucas family is very particular about those it chooses to receive the award. “We get the cream of the crop,” she said. “We’ve had competitors, we’ve had journalists, we’ve had photographers, we had a saddlemaker, it’s been very diverse. They’ve all had that same love of rodeo, their sport, and want to promote it.”

For 2017, the Lucas family chose an honoree who epitomizes the values and lifestyle of Lucas, and who fits naturally among the long list of exceptional women who have received the award in years past: Karin Allred Rosser.

Karin Allred was born in Pasadena, California, to Bob and Sidona Allred. Early on, Rosser’s father – who bred and raised race horses – instilled in his eldest daughter a love of horses, livestock, and the outdoors. As a toddler, the young girl rode Shetland ponies.

Photograph courtesy the Rosser Family.

As she grew, she was introduced to the Pony of the Americas (POA) and then Quarter Horses. Rosser excelled in Western and English Riding competitions, and in 1973, as a Utah Junior Quarter Horse Association charter member, she was elected the group’s first president. She was a member of the first team from Utah to compete at the American Junior Quarter Horse Show in Amarillo, Texas. She also competed as a barrel racer and queen contestant in amateur rodeos, and in 1974 was crowned Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo Queen, Miss Rodeo Utah, and runner-up to Miss Rodeo America.

Karin and Cotton Rosser with daughter Katharine.

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National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

With the Miss Rodeo America scholarship money Rosser earned, she attended Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where she pursued a degree in fashion merchandising.

During her reign as Miss Rodeo Utah, Rosser traveled to rodeos throughout the state. At one rodeo she met the “King of the Cowboys,” Flying U Rodeo stock contractor and 2009 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Cotton Rosser.

The two married in 1978, and immediately Karin took on a pivotal role not only managing Cotton’s Cowboy Corral, Rosser’s retail Western store in Marysville, California, but also in the world of comprehensive rodeo production.

She quickly received her Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) timer card and PRCA secretary card, and for nearly 40 years has been secretary or timer at rodeos small and large throughout California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

As an integral part of the Flying U Rodeo production team, Rosser is not only confined to the rodeo office, but also has mastered music and spotlight production, oversees building crews, hosts rodeo committees, assists with wardrobe and flag presentations, washes and saddles horses, feeds livestock, and accomplishes any other tasks needed. She Karin Allred as Miss Rodeo Utah, 1974 then helps move the entire operation down the road, all to be done again at the next rodeo. She does this all – while also caring for her husband and family – with grace, class, and charm.

If this seems like a lot for anyone, consider that she also makes time to help her community. She is involved in local Chamber of Commerce and community projects, and is active in her church. She is a member of H.A.N.D.S., an elite women’s service group offering moral and financial support to individuals involved in rodeo past and present, as well as the Cowboy Reunion group. She and Cotton support FFA, 4-H, and high school rodeo clubs, and host schoolchildren on tours of the family ranch.

All of this makes clear why Sano Blocker, Tad Lucas’ granddaughter, said, “Tonight’s honoree would surely make my grandmother proud. Like Tad, she is always looking for new frontiers to conquer. ... We could think of no one more deserving to keep Tad’s legacy and love of rodeo alive. On behalf of our mother, Mitzi, Kelly Riley, and myself, we are all honored to present the 2017 Tad Lucas Award to Karin Rosser.”

When receiving the Tad Lucas Memorial Award, Rosser said “I am humbled and honored to accept this award, and to join the long list of past recipients who I have admired and respected. A very special thank you to Mitzi Riley and her family for honoring women of rodeo and the Western lifestyle. I cannot express how grateful I am to my family and friends for their unending support and love. … When you love what you have, you have everything you need. I salute this year’s honorees, each of whom have made incredible contributions to rodeo and our Western way of life.

“Museums like the National Cowboy Museum are the windows of our past. We must help them do all they can to honor and preserve the legends of the West for future generations. Thank you all very much.”

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Kelly Riley

Ben Johnson Award

“To receive the Ben Johnson Memorial Award is a moment much greater than me.”

I

f you said rodeo is in Kelly Riley’s blood, you would not be wrong. His parents – Lanham and Mitzi Lucas Riley – are both Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductees (1993, 1995), as are his grandparents, Buck (2002) and Tad Lucas (1968), and his uncle, Doyle Riley (1998).

As a child, Riley spent summers traveling as his father competed in rodeos throughout the West. Many of Riley’s fondest memories are of adventures “behind the chutes” at various summertime rodeos.

While attending Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, Riley served as President of the Tarleton Rodeo Club. Prior to graduating in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in economics, he traveled to Europe with Rodeo Far West, a group that produced and performed rodeos in France, Italy, and Switzerland. He also spent a summer with Howard Harris III’s weekly Cowtown Rodeo in Woodstown, New Jersey, where he received hands-on experience in rodeo production and marketing.

Following college, Riley worked for his father starting colts and training roping horses. However, he reserved summers to compete on the PRCA rodeo circuit. He also gained valuable experience working for rodeo contractor Harry Vold.

In 1977, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company tapped Riley to be the assistant team manager for the Winston Rodeo Awards program. In this role, he was immersed in the relatively new field of sports marketing and sponsorships. Four years later, Riley was made team manager of the Winston Rodeo Series. In 1986, he was named team manager of the Winston Racing Series and the R.J. Reynolds’ NASCAR program; then two years later he became team manager of the Camel GT Series, a prototype endurance racing competition.

Returning home of Fort Worth, Texas, in 1990, Riley established and managed Justin Boot Company’s event marketing department. He married Pat Weatherford in 1996, then served a brief stint in 1999 as the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association’s director of development.

Returning to Justin Boots, he spent the next 15 years as the event marketing manager for Justin affiliate Tony Lama before retiring in 2015.

Photography by Jan Spencer; courtesy the Riley Family/Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

Aside from Riley’s rodeo experience, however, he was chosen as the 2017 Ben Johnson Memorial Award honoree because of his positive impact on the sport and those around him. Presented annually since 1998, the Ben Johnson Award is given to an individual who epitomizes Johnson’s lifestyle and creates a positive image for rodeo and the Western way of life. The recipient must also have youth or community involvement.

A native Oklahoman whom 2016 Ben Johnson Memorial Award recipient Jack Roddy called “the epitome, to me, of what a cowboy should be,” Johnson was the Team Roping World Champion in 1953 and winner of an Academy Award in 1971. Johnson was known for his down-to-earth attitude, sense of humor, and support Kelly Riley (r.) with stock contractor Harry Vold, a 2009 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee, 1984, Cheyenne Frontier Days, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

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Photography courtesy the Riley Family/Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

of children’s charities through the Ben Johnson Pro Celebrity Team Roping Competition.

Like Johnson, Riley has made an impact both inside and outside the arena. He has spent countless hours supporting rodeo heritage. He serves on the board of directors for the Southwestern Exposition Livestock Show and Rodeo in Fort Worth; he has served as President of the National Cowboy Museum’s Rodeo Historical Society (RHS) and is a current RHS Board Member; and he is a member of the Rancheros Visitadores horsemen’s group in Santa Barbara, California.

Riley has long served youth and the community as well, acting as mentor to a number of aspiring ropers and horsemen and serving on the Tarleton State Alumni board of directors, where he encourages student participation in rodeo and agricultural activities. He led the development of an equine program at Camp Crucis Episcopal Church Camp, which introduces youth to the Western way of life. Finally, Riley was instrumental in developing the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund, which provides financial assistance to athletes injured in professional rodeo.

Kelly Riley horseback with mother Mitzi Lucas Riley

To understand the scope of Riley’s impact, PRCA Gold Card announcer John Shipley, who presented Riley with the Ben Johnson Memorial Award, asked several rodeo friends to describe Riley in just a few words.

According to Shipley, RHS Board Member Mike Hudson and past RHS President Christie Camarillo both described Riley as “classy, kind, and knowledgeable.” 2015 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Bob Feist described him as “professional,” adding Riley was “the guy who achieved the impossible by keeping everybody happy all the time.” Rodeo photographer Sue Rosoff called Riley “picky, but generous.” Announcer and 2007 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Bob Tallman said Riley has “gotten more done behind the scenes for the Western way of life than any other individual ever.” National Cowboy Museum Board Member John R. Wroten described Riley as the “ultimate living, breathing example of the Code of the West.”

In accepting the honor, Riley related how, in the mid-1970s, he was with his father at the Houston Rodeo when Ben Johnson walked through the crowd and greeted Lanham, who introduced Riley to Johnson.

“I’ll never forget that moment,” Riley said. “Ben Johnson was a larger-than-life hero, Academy Award-winning actor, stuntman, World Champion cowboy, and I was meeting him. So, for me, some 40 years later, to receive this award named in honor of a man I’ve always greatly admired is almost unimaginable.”

In his remarks, Riley thanked his wife, family, and friends for their support.

He then encouraged each attendee to join the National Cowboy Museum and RHS as a way to celebrate Western heritage.

Riley closed with a quote from Ben Johnson regarding working with infamous film director John Ford. “That John Ford, I worked with him for 6 years. If you’d listen to him you could learn something. The last words Ford said to me were, ‘Ben, always remember to stay real.’”

“Mr. Johnson,” Riley said, “thought that was pretty good advice.”

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Rodeo Historical Society

Thank You!

To all those who generously donated items or services for the 2017 RHS Live and Silent Auctions

Doug and Linda Clark Jim Clements Chris Cox Andrew Faulhaber Bob Feist Clyde and Elsie Frost Rocki Gorman John Wayne Enterprises Martha Josey Richard Lamoreaux Julie Asher Lee Nadine Levin Bill McRobinson Bill Nebeker Bobby Norris Mel Potter Kelly and Pat Riley Cotton and Karin Rosser Kathryn Russi Sharon Shoulders Red Steagall Dave Stocklein Veach Saddlery Don Weller Jack Wells Gail Woerner

To donate items for the 2018 Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend Live and Silent Auctions – benefiting RHS – contact RHS Coordinator Andee Lamoreaux at alamoreaux@nationalcowboymuseum.org.

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National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF THE DICKINSON RESEARCH CENTER

Leon Adams

Photography courtesy Miss Rodeo America, Inc.

Leon Adams, a 2004 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee who received numerous Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Specialty Act of the Year awards, died October 30, 2017, on his ranch in Stuart, Oklahoma. He was 87 years old.

Born on July 3, 1930, in Stuart to

Tanya McKinnon Bartlett Tanya Lynn McKinnon Bartlett, 1996 Miss Rodeo America, died September 13, 2017, in Mountain Green, Utah. The 42-year-old wife and mother battled a rare form of cancer.

Born on September 18, 1974, in Logan, Utah, she was the only child of Ross and Debra McKinnon. She

NATIONAL COWBOY & WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM®

Lawrence and Faye (Martin) Adams, as a young boy Adams first learned Roman riding when taking his father’s horses to and from the fields each day. By age 12 he had his first paying job inside the rodeo arena. Soon after graduating from Stuart High School in 1948, Adams embarked on a nearly 60-year career as a trick rider, consistently adding to his repertoire until retiring from the arena in 2005 to devote time to family and cattle ranching.

Already established as a specialty act, steer wrestler, and calf roper when Adams married Vicki Herrera in 1970, the duo went on to perform as a husband-and-wife animal act at rodeos across the globe. This act included performances by Apache and Geronimo, the first Brahma bulls trained to perform as a Roman riding act, along with bulls jumping over

a Cadillac convertible and through burning hoops, and a team of six horses ridden Roman style.

In addition to being inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2004, Adams won the PRCA Specialty Act of the Year Award in 1982. Vicki received the PRCA Specialty Act of the Year Award in 1984, and the husband-and-wife team won the PRCA Specialty Act of the Year Award together in 1987 and 1997. In all, the Adamses were nominated for the PRCA Specialty Act of the Year Award for 19 consecutive years. Both Leon and Vicki Adams were inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2008.

Adams is survived by his wife Vicki; daughter Kerri Fields and her husband Lance; son Winford Adams and his wife Patricia; and grandchildren Jadee Hall, Zayne Goode, and Levi Adams and his wife Britni.

married husband Matthew Bartlett on June 8, 2002, in the Salt Lake Temple.

The couple’s son Bridger was born on July 21, 2012.

Graduating as valedictorian of her Rich High School Class of 1993, she attended Utah State University where she studied bio-veterinary medicine. In 1995, McKinnon Bartlett was crowned Miss Rodeo Utah; in 1996, she was named Miss Rodeo America. “I am a cowgirl born and raised on a cattle ranch. The Western way of life is my life and my heritage,” she said after being crowned Miss Rodeo America.

“On behalf of professional rodeo and the Miss Rodeo America Pageant, I will talk to the press and the media, sponsors, and fans and give whatever help and assistance I can.”

Following a year spent traveling

the country as Miss Rodeo America, McKinnon Bartlett returned to Utah State University, where she graduated cum laude in 1998. She then pursued her doctorate at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, receiving a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 2002. She returned to Randolph, Utah, to practice veterinary medicine and opened her own practice, Equine Edge, in 2005. According to her family, however, none of her professional accomplishments were as great an honor as being her son Bridger’s “Momma.”

McKinnon Bartlett is survived by her husband Matthew; her son Bridger; her parents Ross and Debra (Dickerson) McKinnon; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins with which she shared a close relationship.

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Rodeo Historical Society

Imogene Veach Beals Imogene Veach Beals, a former Rodeo Historical Society (RHS) Board member at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, died October 10, 2017, at her home in Colcord, Oklahoma. She was 96 years old.

Born July 5, 1921, in Trenton, Missouri, Veach Beals was the daughter of Monroe and Alta Brown Veach. In 1919, her father founded the Veach

Winston Bruce Winston Bruce, a 2007 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee, died July 10, 2017, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He was 79 years old.

Born on a ranch outside of Stettler, Alberta, on October 27, 1937, Bruce took to rodeo as a young man, learning to ride broncs from his father Laurence Bruce, a stock contractor and bronc rider.

At age 17 Bruce won his first Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) Novice Saddle Bronc Championship, which he repeated the following year in 1955. In 1957 and 1958, Bruce was 36

Saddlery Company of Trenton, which is still family owned and operated today.

Veach Beals married Charley Beals in 1940, and the two were the owners and operators of Veach Saddlery Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from 1945 to 1984.

The two had one daughter, Donna Kay. Charley died in December 1994.

Aside from her RHS duties, Veach Beals was the past president of Veitch National Historical Society as well as a noted rodeo historian who contributed to several books and publications on the subject. In 2001, she was honored with the Tad Lucas Memorial Award at the Rodeo Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Both her father and husband were Rodeo Hall of Fame inductees, with Monroe Veach being inducted in 1993 and Charley Beals being inducted in 2010.

Veach Beals is survived by her

daughter Donna Kay Clark and husband Duke; grandsons Derek Clark and his wife Toni, Doug Clark and his wife Linda, and Drew Clark and his wife Darbi; great-grandsons Chase Clark, Tyler Clark and his wife Catherine, and Drake Clark; great-granddaughters Chelsea Roberts and her husband Reece, Darcy Good and her husband Billy, and Dally Kay Clark; sisters Peggy Veach Robinson and Letty Veach McAlister; sister-in-law Edith Beals Letterman; and many nieces and nephews.

the CPRA Saddle Bronc Champion.

In 1959, on his parents’ wedding anniversary, he won the saddle bronc riding at the Calgary Stampede.

Bruce qualified for the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in saddle bronc riding 10 consecutive years (1959 – 1968), winning the World Saddle Bronc Riding Championship in 1961. He was reserve World Saddle Bronc Riding Champion in 1959 and 1965.

Following his retirement from bronc riding, Bruce began a career with the Calgary Stampede, bringing him equal recognition to that received as a bronc rider. In 1969 he was named assistant arena director of the Stampede, and soon became the Calgary Stampede’s rodeo manager and arena director. Serving in these roles until his retirement in 2002, Bruce is credited with transforming the Calgary Stampede into the internationally known spectacle it is today.

In addition to his 2007 Rodeo Hall of Fame induction, in 1989 Bruce became the first Canadian inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, the Appaloosa

Hall of Fame, and the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

Bruce is survived by his daughter Christie Bruce; son Laurence Bruce and his wife Chiyomi; grandchildren Zoe Todd, Alexandra Bruce, and Josh Bruce; brothers Duane Bruce and his wife Peggy, and Clayton Bruce and his wife Diane; and numerous nieces and nephews.

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National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

James “Junior” Garrison

Photography courtesy the Kenneth Morris Family.

Two-time World Calf Roping Champion James “Junior” Garrison, a 2017 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee (see page 24), died August 12, 2017, in Marlow, Oklahoma. He was 79 years old.

Born February 5, 1938, in Marlow, Garrison was not introduced to roping until high school. Soon after attending his first goat roping, Garrison traded a pig for a horse named Pluto, and from there he made history. By age 25, he was a full-time calf roper. One year later, in 1964, Garrison qualified for the NFR, his first of 10 NFR qualifications including consecutive trips from 1964 – 1971, and qualifications again in 1975 and 1977.

Kenneth Morris Kenneth Morris, a Cowboys’ Turtle Association (CTA) bull rider and World War II veteran, died April 15, 2017, in Watts, Oklahoma. He was 94 years old.

Morris was born December 22, 1922, in Westville, Oklahoma, to Bert and Kate Morris. When Morris was 3 years old his father died, leaving his mother to raise five boys alone. Under

In 1966 Garrison won the NFR average in calf roping and the World Calf Roping Championship. In 1968 he again won the NFR calf roping average, and in 1970 won his second World Calf Roping Championship. In 1967, Garrison roped a calf in 7.5 seconds, earning a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for more than a decade.

Following his championship rodeo career, Garrison raised and trained horses on the ranch he shared with his wife Ruth outside of Rush Springs, Oklahoma. He also shared his roping expertise with a long list of novice ropers, helping transform many average ropers into champions themselves.

Yet, even more important to Garrison than roping was his Christian faith. As his daughter Jamie Kay Ellis revealed in her speech during Garrison’s recent induction into the Rodeo Hall of Fame, “My dad had read the Bible cover to cover more times that I can count. He didn’t always do what religion in our society says is right. But I do know that he believed in God and believed that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and died on the cross so that we can live.”

Ellis recalled Garrison once saying, “My biggest fear is when I’m climbing that ladder to heaven, I do not want to pass my friends coming down and them ask me, ‘Junior, why didn’t you tell me?

Why didn’t you make me see heaven?’”

Perhaps even more than all the people he helped become better ropers, Garrison dedicated himself to helping others find a better life by introducing them to Jesus Christ. And, although he died before the Rodeo Hall of Fame inductions in November 2017, according to Ellis, Garrison was there in spirit.

Preceded in death by his wife Ruth and daughter Jeana, Garrison is survived by his daughter Jamie Kay, granddaughter Oakley Kay, and a host of close friends and protégés.

the guidance of his uncles, Morris learned the cattle trade: buying, selling, hauling, and butchering.

A true patriot, Morris served during World War II in the U.S. Army 300th Combat Engineers, surviving five major European campaigns including the Normandy Invasion and Battle of the Bulge. During the Vietnam War, he served on the Adair County Selective Service Board. Into his late 80s he placed American flags on the graves of veterans for Memorial Day. He was a lifetime member of Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, VFW Post 3698, and American Legion Post 104. Over the course of 59 years, he attended each 300th Combat Engineers Reunion in Dallas and Tyler, Texas.

In 2016, he was one of only seven veterans able to attend.

As a member of the CTA and, later, the Rodeo Cowboys Association

(RCA), Morris competed as a bull rider at various rodeos. With his Circle 6 Rodeo stock business, he was a contractor for rodeos in the four-state Oklahoma/Arkansas/Kansas/Missouri region for three decades. An RHS member, he regularly rode his horse into his 80s, until an accident forced him to give up riding.

In addition to stock contracting, Morris worked long hours running Morris Locker Plant and Grocery, hauling and trading livestock, and ranching. Yet, he also made time to be a loving father to his daughters while assuming the role of surrogate father and mentor to several young boys. He is survived by his wife Gerri; daughters Judy Trucker, Gayle Mullin, Joy Walker, and Jan Hopper; stepsons Brad Guffy and Lonnie Guffy; and more than 60 grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.

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Rodeo Historical Society

Jerry Olson

Photography courtesy the Cleo Crouch Rude Family.

Jerry Olson, a 2015 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee who is one of only three individuals to appear at the NFR both as a contestant and a specialty act, died September 13, 2017, in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. He was 81 years old.

Born November 22, 1935, in Sturgis, South Dakota, Olson grew up on ranches and entered his first rodeo at age 12. As a young man he competed

Cleo Crouch Rude Cleo Crouch Rude, widow of 1974 Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Ike Rude, died May 31, 2017, in Wilson, Oklahoma. She was 99 years old.

Born April 14, 1918, on the JP Ranch near Buffalo, Oklahoma, she was the fifth child of George and Amy Crouch.

Her father, a rancher, founded the rodeo at Doby Springs, Oklahoma, one of the first rodeos in the northwest part of the state. While attending the rodeo, Ike Rude met Cleo Crouch. The two were married on November 18, 1937.

Once married, Cleo accompanied Ike as he competed in rodeos throughout the United States and at Calgary, 38

in bareback riding and calf roping, but eventually gave up bareback riding, saying he was too big to be competitive.

Around this time, Olson’s family – led by his father, LaRue Olson – started an animal act that came to include Roman riding. Olson and his father were also well known for their buffalo act, in which they would ride the animals around the arena and into a trailer. Olson went on to be named PRCA Specialty Act of the Year in 1983, and served two terms (1972 – 1986) on the PRCA’s executive council representing specialty act performers.

In 1953 Olson began his bullfighting career when the bullfighter his father scheduled for a rodeo failed to show.

He found success as a bullfighter, even being selected to man the barrels at the 1973 NFR. Throughout his career, Olson continued competing in the arena.

Nicknamed the “Big Swede” due to

his 6-foot, 3-inch, 235-pound frame, Olson’s bronc-riding days may have been long past him. Yet, his size and speed helped him excel as a steer wrestler, and in 1969 he competed at the NFR in steer wrestling.

Yet, no matter the activity – steer wrestling, clowning, or performing with his specialty acts – Olson’s ultimate goal, he once said, was the same: to make people happy. Judging by his accolades, he succeeded. In addition to being inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame, Olson was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame, the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center, and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

Olson is survived by his wife Fern; sons Jerry Wayne Olson and his wife Judy, and Lonny Olson and his wife Sharon; daughter Vickie Tope and her husband Troy; eight grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Canada. In the late 1940s and early 1950s Cleo was instrumental in establishing “tent cities” when the pair arrived at rodeo grounds. During this era, many rodeo contestants traveled with small tents and, upon arriving at a rodeo, would form a campground close to the arena. Soon after Cleo started this trend, many cowboys and their wives followed suit.

From 1937 – 1950, the Rudes’ life and home were on the road even after the arrival of their two children, Bill and Sammie. When the children became school age, the Rudes limited their travels, with Ike working at ranching jobs so the children could attend school. Through the children’s school years, the family lived at Newhall, Calipatria, and Brawley, California; Buckeye, Arizona; Pendleton, Oregon; and Buffalo, Oklahoma.

With Cleo’s support, Ike pursued his love of roping and horse training.

He won three World Steer Roping Championships (1941, 1947, and 1953), claiming his final title at age 59. At age 77, he won the calf roping

at Matador, Texas, and came in second in the team roping. Ike also owned and trained Baldy, considered one of the greatest roping horses ever known.

When Ike retired from rodeoing, the Rudes settled in Mangum, Oklahoma, Ike’s hometown. In 1975 Mangum renamed the street the Rudes lived on “Ike Rude Avenue.”

Cleo was an active member of the Central Christian Church at Mangum. After Ike died in 1985 following 48 years of marriage, Cleo moved to Enid, Oklahoma, and attended the Central Assembly of God Church. In 2007 she moved to Ardmore, Oklahoma, to be close to her daughter.

Cleo is survived by her son Bill Rude and his wife Willa; daughter Sammie Compton; grandsons Troy Compton and his wife Alicia, Jeff Rude and his wife Amy, and Mick Rude and his wife Mindy; two stepgranddaughters Tracy Leger and Tiffany Martin and her husband Jason; and 13 great-grandchildren.

The Ketchpen | Winter/Spring 2018

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Est. 1984 | Guthrie, OK January 16 - 17 19 - 20 February 3 9 - 11 13 -17 17 March 1 2-3 2-4 2-4 8 - 11 16 - 18 23 - 25 April 13 - 15 20 - 22 27 - 29 May 3-6 10 - 12 25 - 28

SIMON BUCKING STOCK SALE KICKER ARENACROSS NATIONALS & MUD BOG SHOW TRUCK AND TRACTOR PULL & NO LIMITS MONSTER TRUCKS LAZY E RED DIRT CLASSIC - WORLD SERIES OF TEAM ROPING LANCE GRAVES INTERNATIONAL BARREL RACING CHAMPIONSHIP LANCE GRAVES INTERNATIONAL BARREL HORSE SALE TEC PRO - AM TEAM ROPING CUCKWAGON COOKOFF CINCH TIMED EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD JR. IRONMAN CHAMPIONSHIP SOUTHWEST REINED COW HORSE ASSOCIATION SHOW (MAIN & LE2) USTRC OKLAHOMA WINTER CLASSIC TEAM ROPING LAZY E MOUNTED SHOOTING CLASSIC BARREL BASH U.S. TEAM PENNING ASSOCIATION SPRING ROUND UP OKLAHOMA/KANSAS BORDER BASH RODEO LAZY E RED DIRT REINING JR. MOTO X SUPERCROSS CHRIS NEAL’S FUTURE STARS CALF ROPING WWW.LAZYE.COM (405)| The 282-RIDE (7433) Winter/Spring• 2018 Ketchpen

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2018 Rodeo Hall of Fame Weekend Each year, the Rodeo Historical Society (RHS) hosts a truly unique Hall of Fame Weekend dedicated to honoring rodeo champions who have played a significant role in keeping the legacy of rodeo alive today and passing down time-honored traditions to the next generation.

The Hall of Fame Weekend Champions’ Dinner has become a favorite among those who appreciate the opportunity to gather and celebrate their heroes’ inspiring messages.

RHS members select award recipients who demonstrate undying determination, a passion for excellence, and character.

Weekend events include:

Rope ‘N Ride Reunion Cocktail Reception Rodeo Champions’ Dinner and Awards Ceremony Live and Silent Auction RHS Membership Meeting

Check the website this spring for event dates and other information:

nationalcowboymuseum.org/rhs 1700 Northeast 63rd Street • Oklahoma City, OK 73111 • (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org