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The village of Deadwood, South Dakota, is
nestled in a narrow canyon between the Black
Hills. It has charm, history and attracts
numerous visitors, especially during the summer
months. Earlier this summer it was threatened by
Mother Nature. . . . fire that threatened to
destroy the quaint town. The dry hills and lack
of rain made everyone aware of the possibility
of fire. In fact the day before the fire was
discovered headlines in the newspaper warned
everyone to be extremely careful of fire. As the
raging inferno spread across the hills covering
10,000 acres headed toward Deadwood 13,000
residents and visitors were evacuated in a brief
forty-five minute time span. Mary Kopko,
Director of Adams Museum, located near the
middle of town, said, “I live only two blocks
from the museum and when word came to evacuate
the fire was only two blocks away. It was very
frightening.” Several houses were burned but
there were no deaths or serious injuries.
Fortunately, the following day everyone was
allowed to return and normal routines were
followed, as best they could. Thanks to
dedicated volunteer firefighters of the area,
the forest service, and area residents the
inferno was finally controlled and eventually
put out. The near disaster was not easy to
forget, it was still very vivid on everyone’s
mind. This was the busiest time of the year in
this town filled with casinos and tourist
attractions. Also two weeks later, in addition
to tourists, Deadwood was packed with cowboys
and cowgirls attending the Days of ’76 80th
annual Rodeo,
voted the Best Small Outdoor Rodeo of the
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association the last
four years. A prestigious honor the rodeo
committee, headed by Pat Roberts, President,
works at year round.
The week of the rodeo, exactly two weeks
after the evacuation of Deadwood, a pink
Cadillac convertible, vintage 1970, with Texas
longhorn horns sprouting from the grill and a
colorful longhorn hide draped across the
backseat and trunk, rolled in to town, playing
catch-y tunes as it rolled down Main Street.
Billy McDowell, retired rodeo clown and
bullfighter, was at the wheel and following him
were forty-plus other former arena funnymen. The
Rodeo Clown Reunion had been invited by the
creative rodeo committee to be part of the Days
of ’76 Rodeo and activities.
The Reunion is held every-other year in
different areas of the country in conjunction
with a local rodeo. The purpose is to honor the
former funnymen and cowboy-savers and give them
an opportunity to don their familiar costumes
and make-up and enjoy a few days entertaining
and signing autographs for fans and reminiscing
about “the good old days”.
A few minutes spent with these characters of
yesteryear will have even the most serious and
grumpy person smiling and even guffawing. Their
humor never wanes. The host hotel, The Mineral
Palace, changed their signs and the name,
“Mineral”, was covered with “Clown”. It
was called “The Clown Palace” while the
Reunion was in town Baskets of red clown noses
were offered to everyone who came in their
doors. After both parades the Rodeo Clown
attendees performed in the hotel by painting
faces of children and performing rodeo clown
acts to the delight of everyone.
After the last performance of the rodeo as the
pink Cadillac convertible’s tail lights left
the town of Deadwood, tooting it’s ‘good-bye
for now’ melody, the former rodeo clowns waved
good-bye reluctantly. Residents and visitors had
been able to forget the recent fire for a while
even though the hills above would show the
reminders of the near-disaster for a long time.
But they’ll also remember the funnymen in the
baggy britches and wild hair that brought a
little relief and a few laughs and a good time
to Deadwood. Even though they have retired from
the rodeo arena they never quit entertaining and
enjoying their fans. And it can be truly said,
their fans feel the same way!
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