Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
A Tribute to The Biggest Little Show in the World
SISTERS RODEO PRESENTED BY
Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce City of Sisters • The Nugget Newspaper & Participating Advertisers Celebrating the heritage of Sisters Rodeo By Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief It seems awfully strange to roll into June without the prospect of the Sisters Rodeo. It took a global pandemic to keep the 80-year-old institution in the chutes, forcing the board of directors of the all-volunteer outfit to cancel one of Sisters’ premier events. But rodeo culture is nothing but resilient. If you get bucked off, you pick yourself up, beat the dirt off your chaps, and start looking to the next ride, when you will make the eight seconds. Sometimes you don’t even get the opportunity to get bucked off. Rodeo actually has a built-in protocol for getting another crack at a score when things go wrong through no fault of the rider. When a horse or a bull doesn’t perform, when it lingers in the chute or fails to buck, the judges
have the option of offering a cowboy a re-ride. Sisters Rodeo crowds are pretty certain that their cries and cheers can influence that decision, and there have been more than a few times when the stands shook with the chant: “Re-ride! Re-ride!” Sisters Rodeo may never have made it out of the chutes in 2020 thanks to COVID-19, but surely there’s a 95-point ride still ahead — if we can just get a re-ride in 2021. So, here’s to Sisters Rodeo: The Nugget Newspaper and the community celebrate the heritage of a grand Sisters event, and an organization that gives our town character and identity and supports the community in so many ways. Let’s hear it Sisters…. RE-RIDE! RE-RIDE! RE-RIDE!
PHOTO BY PHOTO BY CODY RHEAULT
JERRY BALD
OCK
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Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Mary Olney is Sisters Rodeo Queen Sisters Rodeo Queen Mary Olney won’t miss out on her year representing the venerable institution — she’ll just have to wait a year. The Warm Springs rider will reign again in 2021. Olney was chosen at Sisters Rodeo grounds from a group of highly qualified cowgirl competitors on September 22, 2019. John Leavitt, who heads up the queen selection committee, told The Nugget that the Rodeo has already determined that she’ll be back in the saddle for the 2021 events. Mary is the niece of Warm Springs Chief Delvis Olney, Sr. She was raised in a rodeo family. Her father was a rough-stock rider and her three brothers are all bronc and bull riders. Even her grandmother, Catherine Watah, was a bareback rider. “I was raised by some of the toughest cowgirls in the Northwest,” Olney
explained, “They instilled in me a love for animals, rodeo and the Western way of life.” Sonia Heath, Mary’s mother, dreamed that Mary was chosen as Sisters Rodeo queen. “I couldn’t have had a better daughter than the one I have,” Sonia said. “She herself is a dream for any mother of daughters.” The queen, a graduate of Madras High School, has served on student council and was a member of National Honor Society and FFA. She played soccer and softball, and participated in cheer. The petite 18-year-old rides Dixie, her 5-year-old bay mare, who performed nearly flawlessly in the riding drill. In her speech, Olney said, “Now, I’m not sure if there’s something in the lemonade, or it’s just the surrounding atmosphere, but there is a closeness that you can feel
right when you step through the front gate. When you attend Sisters Rodeo, you feel you’re part of a family.” Her youngest brother, Josh, said that his sister is “always able to smile. Even when she doesn’t feel like it, she smiles. She is so friendly and wants to make other people happy.” Grandmother Catherine repeated such perception of her granddaughter. “Mary is so friendly, happy, and fun-loving,” she said. “Other people feel good just being around her.” Friends in attendance supported these statements. Ronnie, a family friend, said, “She is dedicated, strongwilled and has a wonderful personality.” Delia, an older friend, said, “She’s an awesome cowgirl, sweet, and anything she wants to do she does well.” Olney plans to attend Tulsa Welding School to become a certified welder,
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Sisters Rodeo Queen Mary Olney will reign again in 2021. but her long-term goal is to be a pediatrician. “I want to save some
DOES YOUR CAR HANDLE LIKE A BUCKIN’ BRONCO?
Sisters Rodeo supports students Two big things happen in Sisters in June: The Sisters Rodeo — and the celebration of the Sisters High School graduating class. The Sisters Rodeo supports students in Sisters through the Sisters Rodeo Association Scholarship. The Association offers scholarships that may be used at an accredited trade technical or vocational school; two- or four-year college or university. The scholarships are to be awarded to Sisters High School graduates with financial need, but who may not be eligible for tuition assistance programs, who have exhibited a commitment to the Sisters community through their volunteer involvement, have shown a good work ethic in their school and community, and have demonstrated an attitude and aptitude to be successful in post-high school educational choices. This year ’s recipient of the Sisters Rodeo Association Scholarship was Gracen Sundstrom. Gracen is a multi-sport athlete and honor roll student.
money for school so I’m not starting my chosen career in huge debt,” she explained.
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Gracen Sundstrom is the 2020 recipient of the Sisters Rodeo Association Scholarship.
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We look forward to the return of the Sisters Rodeo in 2021!
Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Sisters Rodeo creates lifelong memories By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief
Sisters Rodeo is the highlight of the year for thousands of people. Many have built lives around it. Sisters Rodeo Association President Curt Kallberg lives in Sisters in large part because of the Sisters Rodeo. In the mid-to-late 1980s, back when he was young and limber as the Ian Tyson song goes, he was a participant in one of the most thrilling — and risky — events in the “Biggest Little Show in the World.” “We lived over in the Valley,” Kallberg recalled. “And we’d come over here and wild horse race.” In the Wild Horse Race, teams vie to get a wildly uncooperative horse saddled and get one of the team aboard to race him bucking and jigging around a barrel. The Wild Horse Race opens the Rodeo and it’s usually a chaotic scene with far more cowboys crawling up out of the dirt to limp away than there are in a saddle. And it’s addicting. “(Sisters) was about the crown jewel of wild horse racing,” Kallberg said. “We never could win, but we’d come year after year. It was kind of a pilgrimage to the Sisters Rodeo. If you did one
rodeo, you did Sisters. You’d come and camp and it was the best.” Eventually, Kallberg moved here and became a member of the Sisters Rodeo Association. He’s now president, succeeding the longserving and greatly admired Glenn Miller. Tanya Jones is literally a child of the Sisters Rodeo. Her grandfather was Mert Hunking, who was the stock contractor for the Sisters Rodeo for many years before it became a PRCCA Rodeo. “I grew up in that arena, more or less,” she said. “I started carrying the American flag there in 1980.” Jones started barrel racing at Sisters in 1990, and has had many memorable runs in her home arena. She also recalled the epic challenge between the bull Red Rock and champion bull rider Lane Frost in 1988 (see related story, page 14). Red Rock had not been ridden through his career, and rodeo promoters staged a Challenge of the Champions series pitting the undefeated bull and the young champ against each other in an exhibition. Jones had a special connection to Red Rock — he was her grandfather’s bull. And despite his fearsome reputation for mercilessly
unseating riders, Red Rock was a gentle creature. He only turned on the power when he went to work. Jones used to sit on Red Rock in the pasture when her grandfather fed him hay. She admitted that she had mixed feelings about the outcome of the challenge, when Frost stayed on the legendary bull for the full eight seconds of a qualifying ride. “That was a pretty cool experience,” she said. “We were all kind of sad, because we really didn’t want him to be rode, but it was pretty amazing to witness that.” The rodeo is entertainment, and nothing adds to the entertainment more than a talented clown. For years, JJ Harrison kept the crowd in stitches with his antics — and with his athletic dance moves and stunts. Mike Biggers recalled a moment in the 2010 Sisters Rodeo when a bull treated JJ like a soccer ball or hockey puck. After a ride where a tough bull had dumped a cowboy, Harrison taunted the bull into charging him where the clown sat in his protective barrel. The ensuing scene can found on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=r14atdJYpvY Harrison ducked-andtucked into the barrel as the
PHOTO PROVIDED
Tanya Jones was raised in the Sisters Rodeo arena — and rode there as a competitive barrel racer. bull knocked it over, then proceeded to head-butt it over and over till it got a good roll going — across a third of the arena and right through the gate into the chutes. Gooooooaaaaalllll! Such moments of hilarity meld with significant moments like raising record amounts of funding for Sara’s Project, a local nonprofit that fights breast cancer. Legendary Saturday nights on the town in Sisters meld into warm Sunday mornings with family and friends at Sisters Kiwanis Buckaroo Breakfast. It all makes for an event
that brings many people back year after year, decade after decade. For many Rodeo volunteers, the camaraderie of staging the event each year is the highlight. John Leavitt leads the Queen selection committee and participated in the Rodeo for many years as a team roper. He can’t separate out any one favorite memory that stands out from the others. “After 40 years, I don’t know what it would be,” he said. “There’s so many of them. I just love the Rodeo and I love the job I do.”
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Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Rodeo roots stretch back to Spain By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief
Like Bluegrass or jazz music, the sport of rodeo has roots that stretch far back in time, blending a variety of cultural influences to create something uniquely all-American. The very name “rodeo” speaks of Spanish roots. Late-medieval Spain was one of the premier equestrian cultures in history; indeed, it was the Spanish who brought the modern horse to the Americas, as Western singer Ian Tyson recounts in his magnificent anthem, “La Primera”: I am a drinker of the wind I am the one who never tires I love my freedom more than all these things T h e C o n q u i s t a d o r, Comanche and the Cowboy I carried them to glory I am La Primera — Spanish mustang Hear my story
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Bill Pickett invented the sport of bulldogging (steer wrestling).
The Spanish tradition found its fullest expression on the massive ranchos of California, where vaqueros rode among the live oak and swung long, rawhide reatas. In the 19th Century, the Spanish tradition met and mingled with an ancient Anglo-Celtic drover culture that pushed north and west out of the American South, especially Texas. The Texans had already absorbed other Spanish/Mexican influences in the border brush, and they brought them north with massive herds of cattle in the post-Civil War years. Cowboys were made part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show & Congress of Rough Riders of the World, setting the stage for the exhibition of cowboy skills as a performance. But, as the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame notes, “The cowboys in these shows were paid performers and it wasn’t a contest like modern rodeos.” You could get yourself into a scrap arguing over who gets the claim to fame as the first real rodeo in America. Prescott, Arizona, may have the best claim, which is reinforced by The Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame: “It is very hard to trace the first rodeo in America. Many places make this claim including: Sante Fe, New Mexico in 1847, Deer Trail, Colorado in 1869, and Pecos, Texas in 1883. All early rodeos varied greatly by events and most were free to the public. Prescott, Arizona held their first rodeo on July 4, 1888. Much of what we know today in the sport of rodeo grew from the Prescott Rodeo. The committee established the following that still hold true today: prizes awarded, rules for competition, admission charged, cowboys invited to compete and a committee to organize. The events included bronco riding, steer roping and cow pony races. In 1889, the first steer riding competition was held, later this event evolved into
IMAGE COURTESY LEN BABB
Rodeo’s origins lie in practical skills of trail drivers and ranch hands who needed to be able to rope and ride with wild stock in rough terrain. modern bull riding. By 1917, in 1949 the age of 19. He in Livermore, Calif. went to calf roping was added to the was profiled in the 2017 Frost. On June 12 (after both list of events at Prescott.” award-winning documentary cowboy and bull had traveled Rodeo events grew out “Floating Horses.” all night to Oregon), the fight of ranching skills — roping; Larry Mahan, born in continued in Sisters, where bucking out a rank horse. But Salem, Oregon, was a six- Red Rock was originally some of them were stunts. time world champion in the from. It was the last ride of Riding a steer or a bull has 1960s and ’70s, and he was the night, and the adrenaline no practical ranching appli- among the first modern stars and anticipation was thick by cation, but it’s not hard to of the sport, parlaying his the time Frost nodded. The imagine how that got started. fame as a roughstock rider crowd cheered them both on. Hall-of-Famer Bill Pickett into a boot collection and “It was an atypical leftis credited with the creation clothing line. hand delivery for Red of the event that would be Hall of Fame barrel racer Rock, but Frost hung on and known as bulldogging and Charmayne James took fought the bull all the way now is called steer wrestling. Rookie of the Year honors in to the whistle. The cowboy “Legend has it that Pickett 1984 at the onset of a long described it as one of the best resorted to biting the lip of a and astoundingly successful rides of his life. ‘I’ve made recalcitrant steer to wrestle career. Her trail led through a couple of 91 point rides it to the dirt to get it into the the Sisters Rodeo season in my life,’ said Frost at the corral,” the Pro Rodeo Hall after season. time, ‘and this one felt a good of Fame recounts. “Pickett Other legends have com- three or four points higher.’ moved from ranch work into peted here, from champion Frost, just 25, was killed the show arena in the 1890s, roper Joe Beaver to cham- a year later at the venerwhen he and his brother pion bull riders like Ty able Cheyenne Frontier Days began the Pickett Brothers Murray and Lane Frost. rodeo, when the bull Takin’ Bronco Busters and Rough F r o s t c o n t r i b u t e d a Care of Business plowed into Riders Show that toured fairs moment that will live forever his back, breaking several and rodeos. In 1907, Pickett in Sisters Rodeo folklore ribs, which punctured the was hired as a cowhand on when he rode the previously cowboy’s heart and lungs as the 101 Ranch in Oklahoma unridden bull Red Rock in a he fell to the arena dirt. and participated in the Miller seven-rodeo “Challenge of At 80 years old, Sisters Brothers’ 101 Ranch Wild the Champions” exhibition Rodeo is part of a long and West Show. He worked on in 1988. historic tradition — not only the ranch when he was not As the Professional Bull of sport, but of a way of life traveling with the Miller Riders Association (PBR) that grew out of the workBrothers for more than 25 recounts: ing of livestock in a rugged years. He died April 2, 1932, “Frost and Red Rock bat- landscape, where grit and after being kicked in the head tled each other back-to-back determination are the keys to while breaking a colt at the June 11-12. The first event survival and success. ranch. He was later honored by the U.S. Postal Service, who featured Pickett on a stamp as part of its Legends of the West series.” Rodeo has produced many legends and stars, including World Champion Casey Tibbs, who won the world
Every year we look forward to June and Sisters Rodeo...
You don’t have to be 80 to be cowboys & cowgirls!
HAPPY 80TH ANNIVERSARY SISTERS RODEO See ya next year!
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Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Rustlin’ up cowboy grub By Jodi Schneider Correspondent
Cowboys on chuckwagon in the late 1800s and at the beginning of the 20th century mostly ate beef, beans, biscuits, dried fruit and coffee. Occasionally, a type of bread known as pan de campo (or “camp bread”), which was cooked on a cast-iron skillet was also available. It was sort of like a biscuit version of cornbread. These, along with a little bit of sugar, were the staples of the chuckwagon pantry. After spring roundups in the 19th century, cowboys herded their cattle out on the trail on a cattle drive heading to a cowtown with a railroad station where the cattle could be corralled and loaded. To herd cattle on a long drive (such as Texas to Kansas) a crew of 10 or more cowboys was needed. And most ranch owners wanted their cowboys fed well so that they would stay healthy along the trail. The crew also included a cook. But as cattle drives increased in the 1860s cooks found it harder and harder to feed the 10 to 20 men who tended the cattle. That’s when Texas-Ranger-turned-cattlerancher Charles Goodnight created the chuckwagon. Herding cattle on the trail would often last two or more
months moving cattle miles each day, with some drives lasting up to five months. Goodnight, knowing the importance of daily meals for his crew, had an idea. He took a surplus army wagon made by Studebaker and added a large pantry box to the wagon rear with a hinged door that laid flat to create a work table. The cook would then have everything he needed at arms-length. The larger pots (which included a cast-iron Dutch oven), cast-iron skillets, and utensils would be carried in a box mounted below the pantry called the boot. The Army wagon merely was a light supply wagon of that period with Goodnight’s added design creating the invention of the chuckwagon. The cook, often known as “Cookie,” managed the wagon and performed all the needs for the campsites along the cattle drives. He was one of the most wellrespected members of the crew. Chuckwagon cookies were the lifeblood of cattle ranches that dotted the Old West frontier like a cowboy tapestry. You might be surprised how well cowboys were fed after the chuckwagon arrived on the scene. Chuckwagon staples had to travel well and not spoil.
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Cowboy Cookies
1/2 cup margarine 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 1 cup sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups uncooked oatmeal 1 (12-ounce) package chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream margarine, shortening, sugar and brown sugar in mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in separate bowl. Stir flour mixture into dough until combined. Add oatmeal; mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until done. (Bake for 10 minutes for soft cookies.) Let cool on wire rack. The list included flour, sourdough, salt, brown sugar, beans, rice, cornmeal, dried apples and peaches, baking powder, baking soda, coffee and syrup. Fresh and dried meat were essential to the cowboy diet, providing protein and energy for their exhausting work. Their dried meat was like modern jerky but drier, not as heavily seasoned, lightweight and nonperishable. The meat was cooked into stew, soup or added to chili beans. Fresh beef was readily available, but cowboys also hunted wild game and fished in streams along the trail and during roundups. The cook used bacon grease to fry everything, but bacon also served as the main meat when supplies ran low.
Beans made up the bulk of a cowboy’s protein intake. Since beans were readily available, there were loads of simple recipes that were shared along the cattle trails of the American West, including chili, mashed beans and bean soups. Cooked overnight in a Dutch oven, beans would last for many meals. Coffee was one of the few luxuries given to cowboys on long trail rides. The enamelware coffee pot was large, holding at least 20 or more cups. Cowboys relied on coffee to keep them alert and warm in the wilderness. The cowboys rose from their bedrolls, put on their hats and boots, and straggled over to the chuck wagon for their morning coffee. On July 4, 1936, the
Willamette Valley town of St. Paul, Oregon held its first rodeo. Lasting four days, the rodeo included a parade, a western art show, and a barbecue cook-off. The rodeo cowboy’s fare consisted of mainly beef, with beans and sourdough bread and canned vegetables and plenty of coffee, and maybe a cowboy cookie for dessert. They say that cowboy cookies originated back in the 1800s and were a popular treat for cowboys to enjoy while out on the trail, kind of like an old-fashioned power bar. Now, there’s little to no evidence that this is true in any way. After all, the chocolate chip cookie itself wasn’t even invented until 1938. But cowboy cookies are still a delicious treat.
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Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
‘Biggest Little Show In The World’ started in 1910 By Sue Stafford Correspondent
For the past 79 years, nothing has derailed the Sisters Rodeo — until this year, the 80th. The cowboys and cowgirls who travel every year to Sisters the second weekend in June to compete in the rodeo, all got bucked off this year by the toughest bronc — COVID-19. Whenever early cowboys and ranch hands gathered to socialize, some kind of contests with animals were usually involved. The first record of a rodeo in Sisters was detailed in the local history book, “That Was Yesterday” (available from the Three Sisters Historical Society). The authors wrote, “Jesse Scott recalls a bucking contest that was held in 1910 on Fir and Adams streets. This used to be the old ball diamond. There was no corral. The wild horse was snubbed up to the saddle of one horseman, the contestant got on the wild horse and the horse was turned loose… There was no admission charge (for spectators) and no entry charge (for participants). The spectators watched from any vantage point which they considered safest.” In a second entry, the authors relayed a story about another early rodeo held in the vicinity of Main and Oak streets about 1922: “This rodeo was sponsored by the Commercial Club. The women of the group served dinner in the schoolhouse at noon on the day of the rodeo. This rodeo consisted of races, bucking contests and bull riding. The money raised by the dinner and the rodeo was to be spent on promoting the town of Sisters.” Since the first formal rodeo in 1942, much about the rodeo has remained unchanged, although the location of the rodeo grounds has moved a number of times. The first two years, the rodeo was held on the Creighton place, which adjoined property that now houses the Sisters airport. Twenty head of horses were rounded up from the wild herds roaming the countryside, and pastured at the original Black Butte Ranch, for use in bareback and wild horse riding events. Over the years, a number of local stockmen provided livestock and, nowadays, professional stock companies supply the animals. An added feature of the second rodeo was a barbecue dinner served at noon at the rodeo grounds. In addition to the regular rodeo crowd, many Army soldiers who were on maneuvers in the
area training to enter World War II, attended both the rodeo and barbecue. After two years on the Creighton place, a rodeo association was formed and incorporated in 1944. Following the purchase of ground adjoining the city on the northwest (near present day Hoyt’s Hardware & Building Supply), the association and many of the local citizens did the carpentry on the grandstand and prepared the arena. Lumber for the corrals, chutes, bleachers, and 2,500 grandstand seats was donated by Maurice Hitchcock, association board member and owner of the Sisters mill. The association continued to put on shows there until 1956. The rodeo weekends usually began with the Queen’s Ball on Friday night in the high school gymnasium when the rodeo queen was crowned. Saturday morning was the rodeo parade down Cascade Avenue. In the early years there was a horse show for locals at the rodeo grounds featuring riding skills and children’s pony races prior to the afternoon’s rodeo. Novelties included barrel races, relay races, wild-cow-milking contests and pony-express races. One highlight was the chariot races. Rodeo clowns, some with pet donkeys and one with a chimpanzee who played in Tarzan movies, and bull fighters who entertain and protect the cowboys, have always been popular with the fans as are the special performers like the trick riders, precision equine drill teams, and the One-Armed Bandit. A buckaroo dance was held Saturday night at the high school gym (sometimes known to get a little rowdy) followed by the Buckaroo Breakfast Sunday morning. The rodeo program Sunday afternoon followed the same pattern as Saturday’s. In 1955, Sisters rodeo fans were introduced to the Brahma bulls imported from Mexico. The program that year described them this way, “Brahmas are fast as deer, mean as wolves, and can jump as though their legs were a combination of springs and India rubber.” Several years ago an evening of Xtreme Bulls was added on Wednesday night of rodeo week. There are now four rodeo performances and no organized dances. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 8138 and their Women’s Auxiliary sponsored the rodeo in 1956 and 1957 after making needed repairs and constructing new concession stands. The money made those two years went toward the purchase of the Sisters Cascade Theater.
PHOTO COURTESY THREE SISTERS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Some members of the 1944 Sisters Rodeo Association. Left to right: Lewis Luckenbill, Ellis Edgington, Maurice Hitchcock, Pete Leithauser, Charles Boardman and Carl Campbell. The rodeo court and queen, usually young women in their teens and twenties, have represented the rodeo since the beginning. They are now selected based on their horsemanship, speaking ability, and presentation, whereas in the first years, the girls competed for the title by selling raffle tickets for a steer. The most tickets sold earned the queen’s crown. One year, in 1961, the court was made up of Sisters girls 10, 11, and 12 years old. Food has always played a role in the rodeo, including concession stands on the rodeo grounds and the Buckaroo Breakfast held on Sunday morning on the grounds. The breakfast menu over the years has consisted of fried potatoes, ham and
bacon, hotcakes, eggs and coffee. For a number of years, Ellis Edgington’s pioneer pan bread was always served. In the 1940s and early ’50s, buffalo steak or buffalo burgers were on the menu. With new governmental regulations and the need for costly improvements to the grounds, the decision was made to sell the property with the grandstands and all the buildings. Not wanting to see their rodeo disappear, the citizens of Sisters reorganized, with Homer Shaw as the president of a new rodeo association. For several years in the late 1970s, the rodeo was held on private property with borrowed bleachers and temporary fences. Finally, in 1979, the rodeo found its
permanent home on 33 acres purchased from Carl and Virginia Campbell who were 1940 original rodeo association members. From the very beginning, the planning and execution of the rodeo has always been conducted by a large cadre of local volunteers. To this day, the rodeo is known far and wide as “the biggest little show in the world” because the rodeo purse is the largest one in the country offered on the second weekend of June, making it popular with the best rodeo contestants. For a town of less than 3,000 residents, that’s an accomplishment — with deep roots going back 80 years.
IT’S BEEN A GREAT RIDE!
CONGRATULATIONS, SISTERS RODEO ON 80 YEARS! we look forward to supporting you in 2021!
The Nugget Newspaper
Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Sisters Rodeo enters the big leagues By Sue Stafford Correspondent
The rodeo of 1980 marked the beginning of the modern era in the history of Sisters Rodeo, as they opened their new permanent rodeo grounds, four miles southeast of town off Highway 20. That year there were three rodeo shows, rather than the two of the early days, with an addition of a Friday night performance, which allowed 5,000 more people to experience the excitement of rodeo. They still had both Friday and Saturday night dances at the elementary school gymnasium as well as the Buckaroo Breakfast on Sunday morning, the wild horse race, and the wild animal scramble. Rabbits and chickens were released in the arena to be captured by the children. They were allowed to keep the animals they captured. The arena had been purchased three years earlier at cost by Sisters’ John Leavitt, long time team and calf roper and proprietor of the then Leavitt’s Western Wear store. Leavitt in turn sold the arena equipment to the rodeo association, with his being paid out of revenue generated from the “Biggest Little Show in the World.” Leavitt went on to serve as Rodeo Association president in 1990 and ’91 and again in 1997 and ’98. The entire spring of 1980, right up to rodeo weekend, work parties were held every Saturday, starting at 8 a.m., in order to finish the construction of the arena fence. That first rodeo on the permanent grounds set a high bar for all the years to follow. They enjoyed near perfect weather and arena in perfect condition. Record crowds attended each day with standing room only on Saturday and Sunday. Contestants from
all over the United States competed for about $20,000 in prize money. From 1980 forward, success seemed to breed success as the rodeo kept growing in prestige and recognition. In the early 1980s, Sisters joined the International Professional Rodeo Association. World champions in the IPRA competed every year in Sisters. By that point, the Sisters Rodeo Association had about 60 members and an experienced group of volunteers. The year 1988, the first time Glenn Miller served as association president, the association attained the big prize — acceptance of membership in the highly soughtafter Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association — where they joined the likes of St. Paul and Pendleton rodeos. This distinction was an indication of the impressive reputation Sisters had built over 50 years of quality rodeo. Since that time the association has continued to improve the quality of the physical rodeo grounds. The land near the entrance gate to the grounds has been meticulously manicured to provide shaded areas of lawn where contestants are able to camp with their horses and motorhomes. Not that long ago, the Plaza Level seats were added directly above the chutes providing an eagle’s eye view of the contestants and animals. “Miller’s Place” provides food and drink on the Plaza. A fourth rodeo performance on Saturday night was added and about six years ago they added the Wednesday night Extreme Bulls show. The current available seating capacity is in the neighborhood of 7,200 since the construction of the Plaza Level seats. In 2009, Sisters Rodeo, as a member of the Columbia
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Glenn Miller, center, served many years as Sisters Rodeo Association President and has been a guiding force in making the Sisters Rodeo “The Biggest Little Show in the World.” River Circuit of rodeos throughout the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, was recognized as the Rodeo of the Year. It has also been featured in The New York Times and on The Late Show with David Letterman, as well as numerous local programs. The quality of the rodeo stock procured, and the size of the purses offered every year by the Sisters Rodeo, attracts the best in the sport. The Rodeo offers the richest purse in the nation for the second weekend in June and the second highest in the nation for the entire month of June. World champions return to our small town year after year. With nearly 200 dedicated members who support the rodeo in numerous meaningful and necessary ways, the Sisters Rodeo Association from its earliest days forward
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
A dedicated all-volunteer association handles every chore, from maintaining the Rodeo grounds to actually managing the big event.
has been a valuable member of the community by promoting Sisters and the rodeo, making Sisters a destination that attracts visitors again and again — visitors who eat in our restaurants, stay in our lodging, and shop in our stores. In addition to the members and volunteers, a great deal of credit for the continued success of the rodeo over the last 80 years is owed to the dedicated leadership of rodeo presidents and board members and their passion for the rodeo. Glenn Miller, local contractor, has faithfully served the rodeo for 40 years, 20 years as the board president from 1999-2019 and two previous years as president in 1988 and ’89. The former association president cited the
opportunity to meet so many interesting people whom he really enjoyed and respected as one of the reasons for his longevity with the association. “What I did with the rodeo was so far away from my everyday construction business, it was a nice change,” he said. Miller credits the continued success of the rodeo to the continuity of members, volunteers, and leadership, allowing the whole organization to run like a well-oiled machine. The rodeo’s absence from this year’s summer calendar will leave a big hole in Sisters, but no one doubts the organization’s resilience. The community will be back for the 80th Sisters Rodeo June 9-13, 2021!
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Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Film will capture life and legacy of buckaroo artist By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief
“I learned to draw as soon as I could hold a pencil,” Len Babb The Nugget last year. “My father taught me how to paint a horse when I was about six or seven.” Len Babb’s life as a Western artist and buckaroo will be turned into a documentary film — at the hands of a crew of Sisters artists. Sisters writer Craig Rullman conceived of the project, which carries the working title, “Running Iron: The Len Babb Story.” Rullman will write and direct; Sam Pyke of Hill Shadow Pictures will film the piece, which will have a soundtrack created by Mike Biggers and Jim Cornelius. Rullman and Pyke headed down to the Murphy Ranch in Paisley to begin filming last weekend. They are initially working on a trailer that will act as a vehicle to raise funds to complete the project. “I’m trying to put out a culturally significant documentary film that reflects the life of a big-outfit cowboy who’s also an accomplished artist,” Rullman said. Rullman worked for several years as a buckaroo on big horseback outfits in northern Nevada, and he feels a strong connection with Babb and his art. “(Babb is) just a good man, whose life is very quiet, very calm and very productive on a lot of fronts,” Rullman said. “I think it has value, especially in an era that is so partisan, so divided. Len’s work transcends all of that.” He believes that Babb’s story “fits beautifully in the tradition of Teddy Blue Abbott and Charley Russell.” Sisters has played host to several of Babb’s one-man art shows, organized by his nephew Lance Richardson and his wife Rebecca, who own and operate Richardson Log Homes in Sisters. Rebecca Richardson told The Nugget that she and the whole family are very excited about the project. “Craig is a gift to Len in so many ways,” she said. The two men have a strong camaraderie and share a passion for the landscape and the buckaroo life. “There’s nobody I’ve ever known that would be more perfect for doing this for and about (Len),” Richardson said. “I just think he’s the perfect man for the job — and I think he’ll take so much pleasure out of it, too, which makes it even more special…. The season of Len’s life is also timing-perfect for a project such as this.” Rullman and his team are actively raising funds for the project. A GoFundMe campaign can be accessed at https://www.gofundme.com/f/
len-babb-movie-project. “I had a guy come and stick a check on my truck window, which was kinda cool,” Rullman said. The Richardsons are providing a Len Babb print for donors of $100 and are working on a special reward for contributions of $500 or more. (Direct donations to Figure 8 Films may also be dropped off at The Nugget.) “You can’t make a movie of any quality on the cheap,” Rullman acknowledged. Quality is what he’s after. “I want to debut this thing at the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada,” he said. “That’s its true home.” The film will feature Austin-based photographer John Langmore, who produced the book “Open Range: America’s Big-Outfit Cowboy” (Twin Palms Publishers 2018); Sisters author and Western Heritage Wrangler Award-winner Larry Len Peterson; and five-time PRCA World Champion steer wrestler Luke Branquinho. “It’s always guys like Len that rodeo cowboys tip their hat (to),” Rullman noted. Rullman first met Babb
when he was asked to interview him for a story in The Nugget. “I really wanted to go meet him,” Rullman recalled. “It was a big honor to meet him. And it just so happened that we really hit it off.” Rullman’s artistic ventures have generally centered around the written word, although he has always had an interest in photography. He decided that he wanted to tell Babb’s story in film because the art and landscape lend themselves to a visual medium. And he wants as many people as possible to meet Len Babb. “I think it presents an opportunity to reach a wider audience,” he said. “More people are watching films than reading books.” Rullman is excited to bring a diverse array of Sistersbased talent together to fulfill the vision. “I like pulling things together and building teams,” he said. The key member of the team is Pyke. The cinematographer and producer grew up in Sisters and has built an impressive portfolio
IMAGE COURTESY LEN BABB
Len Babb’s art evokes the classic era of the American Cowboy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. of outdoor films through Rullman said. his company Hill Shadow Filming will take place on Pictures (www.hillshadowpic- the ranches where Len Babb tures.com). continues to work on horse“Having a guy with that back even into his 70s, and in kind of background and expe- the spaces where he displays rience is just irreplaceable,” his Western art.
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SISTERS RODEO PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
Len Babb and Craig Rullman at one of Babb’s art exhibitions in Sisters.
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Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Rodeo is sport, entertainment, cultural heritage rolled into one Rodeo is a unique sporting culture. It’s not a game with a winner and a loser, and the contestants have to pay entry fees and are only paid with prize money for placing successfully. It’s not an invented ball game — the events that a rodeo is comprised of evolved out of everyday work activities of ranch hands and drovers, and part of rodeo’s purpose is to honor and preserve that ranching legacy. And the entertainment component — a rodeo clown and intermission specialty acts — are a major part of the action. As the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association lays it out: “Professional rodeo action consists of two types of competitions — roughstock events and timed events — and an all-around cowboy crown. Each competition has its own set of rodeo rules and order of events.” In the roughstock events — bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding — contestants are scored by judges. The rider’s performance and the animal’s performance are equally important. As PRCA notes: “To earn a qualified score, the cowboy, while using only one hand, must stay aboard a bucking horse or bull for eight seconds. If the rider touches the animal, himself or
any of his equipment with his free hand, he is disqualified. The timed events are steer wrestling, team roping, tiedown roping, barrel racing and steer roping; cowboys and cowgirls compete against the clock, and against each other. Many of the events can clearly trace their lineage to practical ranching practices, like roping or working the kinks out of a cranky horse (see related story, page 14). Others owe their existence to the wild, daredevil spirit of the young men who turned the cowboy into an American icon. Steer wrestling is a little wild, but bullriding is just plain crazy. As PRCA notes: “Bull riding, which is intentionally climbing on the back of a 2,000-pound bull, emerged from the fearless and possibly foolhardy nature of the cowboy. The risks are obvious. Serious injury is always a possibility for those fearless enough to sit astride an animal that literally weighs a ton and is usually equipped with dangerous horns. Regardless, cowboys do it, fans love it and bull riding ranks as one of rodeo’s most popular events.” In fact, bull riding is so popular that in recent years, the Sisters Rodeo has added a
PHOTO BY CODY RHEAULT
Bull riding is perhaps rodeo’s most popular event — spinning off stand-alone competitions. Wednesday night event titled XTreme Bulls dedicated solely to watching cowboys trying to stay aboard for a few seconds as a ton of muscle and attitude bucks and spins in the dirt of the Sisters Rodeo arena. It’s not an even competition: There are some sessions where not one rider stays on a bull for eight seconds. And that’s part of what makes it all so exciting. While nothing rocks the arena like bull riding, for some folks the true essence of rodeo is in watching the teamwork of horse and rider in the
roping events. Team roping is a ballet of header and heeler. Tie-down rewards perfect timing and coordination. “A cowboy’s success in tie-down roping depends in large part on the precise teamwork between him and his horse,” PRCA notes. “The calf receives a head start that is determined by the length of the arena. One end of a breakaway rope barrier is looped around the calf’s neck and stretched across the open end of the box. When the calf reaches its advantage point, the barrier is released. If the roper breaks the barrier before
the calf reaches its head start, the cowboy is assessed a 10-second penalty.” A cowboy has to be quick on his feet to get to the calf, then dexterous and quick in getting it tied down securely. The horse has to keep the rope taut so the calf can’t slip it. Sisters Rodeo has hosted legendary ropers like Hall-ofFamers Joe Beaver and Fred Whitfield showing the speed, grace and equestrian teamwork that makes rodeo events special — and keeps people coming back to Sisters to see it all unfold again.
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Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
N U G G E T F L AS H BAC K
PHOTO BY DEVERE HELFRICH
Jim Bickers riding Billy Be Damned at 1948 Sisters Rodeo.
Photo sparks memory of ‘outlaw horse’ The photo on page 2 of The Nugget in the March 27 edition sparked a memory for the Goodwin family of Sisters. The photo depicted saddle bronc rider Jim Bickers coming off of a horse named Billy Be Damned during the 1948 Sisters Rodeo. An alert reader thought that horse once belonged to Ted Goodwin. His son Jim confirmed it. “With the picture blown up, it was easy for Dad to recognize his old mount,” Jim Goodwin reported. “Dad was hoping the left side of Billy’s face would have been visible because there was an L7 brand on his jaw. Dad said some horses which were branded on the jaw became ‘foolish about the head,’ but that was not the case with Billy Be Damned. “Here’s the story as best as Dad could recall it: A classmate owed a third party $18 and gave Dad Billy Be Damned, and Dad made some arrangement to pay the third party the $18. Dad was working on the Melvin Weberg ranch in Suplee for $1.50 a day at the time. It was 1939. Dad always claimed it took
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three guys to ‘ear him down’ while Dad got on him. That story was confirmed years later at a branding at Jim Wood’s Aspen Valley Ranch when Les Robertson, who was a young boy at the time, said he witnessed the exhibition. Dad rode Billy from Prineville to Suplee to get him out to Weberg’s ranch (75 miles). Eventually, Billy calmed down enough to let Dad get on him without assistance, but as Dad put it ‘he was just a wild horse,’ having literally been rounded up in the wild. “Dad left Billy and all his tack with his dad when he went to The University of Oregon in 1940. His dad promptly sold Billy Be Damned and the tack, ostensibly to the local rodeo stock contractor who was well known in the Upper Country as the guy who would buy ‘outlaw horses.’” Apparently, Billy Be Damned continued to be an outlaw — one that was hard to stick to, inside the arena and out.
CELEBRATE SISTERS RODEO’S 80TH ANNIVERSARY BY ADDING TO YOUR WESTERN MEMORABILIA!
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Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
COLORING CONTEST Prizes courtesy SweetEasy Co. formerly BJ’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream ($25 gift card) and Paulina Springs Books ($15 gift card).
Entries need to be returned to The Nugget by Sunday June 14 in the dropbox to right of the front door at 442 E. Main Ave.; or by mail to The Nugget Newspaper, PO Box 698, Sisters, OR 977759. Prizes awarded to two winners age 10 and under. Entries from students 11 and older accepted for exhibition only. All entries will be hung in the windows of The Nugget, visible from the street for passersby to enjoy during the month of June. Some may be selected for printing in The Nugget or inclusion on social media. Only first name and age will be included on display or in publication. Entries must also include contact phone or email to be considered for judging. First Name _______________________ Age _____
Long-time rodeo clown J.J. Harrison loves being a part of the Sisters Rodeo! ARTWORK BASED UPON PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK.
Last Name _________________________________ Phone or email _____________________________
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Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Top left, DeVere Helfrich; right, Cody Rheault; bottom left, Jerry Baldock with J.J. Harrison.
HATS OFF TO RODEO PHOTOGRAPHERS! Rodeo photography requires a good eye and a steady nerve to capture explosive action in the arena. The Nugget’s coverage of the Sisters Rodeo — including this heritage edition — would not be possible without the contributions of ace rodeo photographers, including the historic work of the Dean of Rodeo Photographers DeVere Helfrich and his wife and partner Helen. For many years, Gary Miller was a key contributor and we also tip our hat to Jerry Baldock and Cody Rheault.
The Nugget Newspaper brings “A Tribute to The Biggest Little Show in the World, Sisters Rodeo” with financial support from the City of Sisters and Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce, and participating advertisers. Historical photographs and data generously provided by Three Sisters Historical Society. And thanks to photographers Jerry Baldock and Cody Rheault for amazing photos from their archives.