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Old Fort Days are
having their 2nd Annual Old Fort Days
Spring Reunion for cowboys and cowgirls that have
taken part in previous rodeos at Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Dates are May 24, 25 & 26th.
On the 24th, Saturday, come and
visit with old friends in the hospitality room, then
attend the finals of the Old Fort Days World’s
Richest Barrel Racing Futurity. On Sunday, 25th, Spend the day visiting the city,
then at 5
PM a reception for everyone at the Spring Reunion will
be held at the new Exhibition Building at Kay Rodgers
Park. Drinks,
dinner and dancing.
On Monday, 26th, the Rodeo Parade
begins at 10 AM, Rodeo begins at 7:30 PM, and rodeo
tickets and parking passes, nametag and meal ticket
provided. Those interested in attending please call 479-452-2184
WAR! Everyone
is glued to the television, often watching first-hand
the events happening in Iraq. As a rodeo historian I have learned that in the early 1940s,
as we entered WWII many cowboys volunteered, some were
drafted. Some
rodeos had to be canceled during wartime because there
weren’t enough competitors left in the area to hold
an event. But
the government encouraged rodeo committees and
producers to continue to hold rodeos where ever they
could BECAUSE THEY WERE ALWAYS SUCH SUCCESSFUL AND
PATRIOTIC GATHERINGS.
Some cowboys would travel to a rodeo in their
uniform and compete, others sent overseas would hold
rodeos in strange places, using whatever animals were
available. Harry
Rowell, a successful businessman and originator of the
Rowell Ranch Rodeo in Dublin, California, which is
still happening, paid for and sent the magazine, Hoofs
& Horns, to all servicemen at no charge to the
soldier. It
was a great morale booster to those in combat.
Hoofs & Horns was the predecessor to the
ProRodeo Sports News and the only magazine that
reported what was happening in the rodeo cowboy world.
It existed from the early 1930s through the
1970s when it finally ceased being published.
I attended the Star of Texas Rodeo in Austin,
Texas, recently, since war was declared and I can
attest that rodeos are still patriotic.
No one likes war, but to define it in ‘cowboy
language’ - when a disease gets in to your herd, if
you don’t eradicate it, you lose the whole herd.
The United States of America, the greatest
country in the world, is merely eradicating the disease - SADDAM, SO LONG!
Cowboys have always been some of the first to
‘step up to the plate’ and defend our country.
In 1944, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Quirk, of
Woodstown, New Jersey, received a letter from
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt which said, in
part: “My
attention was recently called to the fact that you had
nine sons in the Armed Forces of the United States,
and as Commander-in-Chief, I take this opportunity to
extend to you my heartiest congratulations.”
The letter went on to say, “As the parents of
eight children who are serving their country and one
(Robert) who has given his life for his country, you
stand as a real inspiration to the parents of all our
soldiers and sailors.”
Mr. and Mrs. Quirk had twenty children in all.
Their boys were all very active in the summer
rodeo in Woodstown, “Cowtown”, and Louis, Frank,
Robert and Milton were rodeo cowboys that traveled the
circuit for many years.
Now Louis and Frank reside in Fort Worth,
Texas, other siblings still live in the Woodstown/Pilesgrove,
New Jersey area.
The Quirks had fourteen children in all that
served in the war effort.
What a special contribution to the United
States of America!
Gordie Peer ‘hangs his hat’ in Okeechobee,
Florida, when he’s not on the road performing.
He hosted a varied group of western arts
enthusiasts, who performed and enjoyed the camaraderie
of others interested in these arts, from across the
country in January on his small ranch.
Peer performed in Wild West shows in the 1940s
until they ‘disappeared’ from the entertainment
world. Since
then he has continued entertaining audiences at Fairs
and special programs across the country.
His talents vary from trick roping including
horse catches, whip manipulating, and gun spinning and
quick draw. During
the popularity of the movie cowboy Peer was asked by
Clayton Moore, the Lone Ranger, to teach him the art
of gun spinning.
This launched a friendship between the two that
continued until Moore died.
Peer also was close friends and instructor to
Lash LaRue, the movie hero, always dressed in black
clothing, that could make a whip do miraculous things.
He also is gone, however, Peer is still “on
the road” and will be appearing in North Carolina,
Branson, Missouri, Arkansas, and other locales in a
western show. Thanks
to Peer the younger generation interested in pursuing
this waning art can get phenomenal instruction from
one of the best.
Whether it is gun-handling, whip cracking,
tomahawk throwing, or trick roping, Peer is still a
fabulous entertainer.
When asked his age, his standard answer is,
“Next question!”
The World Championship Rodeo Bullfights were held in
Ada, Oklahoma, on April 11 and 12.
The fighting bulls were the result of Rex
Dunn’s breeding program and each and every bull gave
the fifteen competing bullfighters a challenge.
Two go-rounds, plus the top five entertained
and thrilled a packed house.
Andy Burrell, of Canyon, Texas, won the event.
The One-Armed Bandit, John Payne, entertained at the
Ada, Oklahoma Bullfights.
His performance is fast, thrilling and
downright scary!
He rides his horse fast, jumps on the bed of
his truck, then on to the top of his long stock
trailer, and runs that horse from one end to the
other, stopping on a dime.
Meanwhile he is cracking a bullwhip and herding
three huge steers around the arena AND to the top of
the trailer. If
Payne is chosen as the “Best PRCA Act of the Year”
many more years, and he should, he’ll have to get a
longer trailer just to advertise it!
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