When Ruby Mullens, Johnnie’s wife, received a telegram from Reno, Nevada, citing the death of her husband on June 23, 1934, she was shocked, to say the least. Was this someone’s idea of a sick joke? When she left Johnnie thirty minutes before, returning to their hotel room in Silver City, New Mexico, he was busy as an arena director for their annual rodeo. He looked very alive and very healthy. The telegram, from the authorities in Reno, was only the first of numerous telegrams to follow sending condolences to his ‘grieving widow’.
Ruby immediately went back to the rodeo arena to be assured he was still active. Just the way she left him. When he was told of the telegram he turned the entire situation over to Silver City Sheriff to solve as he was way too busy with his arena duties. It seems that a man traveling to Reno picked up a hitch-hiker who said he was Johnnie Mullens, the rodeo contestant, promoter and arena director of multiple rodeos across the United States and Canada. He went on to tell the driver many convincing lies about his accomplishments. While driving through the town of Wadsworth they were in a terrible wreck and the hitch-hiker died without regaining consciousness. The driver told the authorities his passenger was Johnnie Mullens the rodeo great. Within a week or so most newspapers had picked up the story and explained the mistaken identity. But many of Johnnie’s rodeo friends didn’t hear the correction for a long time. Often Johnnie would arrive at a rodeo and a friend would walk up and show how happy they were to see he was alive. Of course, some of his buddies couldn’t resist calling Ruby “the ‘Widder’ Mullens”.
Johnnie Mullens was born in Granbury, Texas, on August 27, 1884. His father died when he was eight years old and he traveled to Indian Territory where his older brother was the head ramrod of a big cattle operation. The youngster, called ‘Urchin’ by his big brother learned everything about being a cowhand and broncobuster. He stayed in Indian Territory and grew up there. He made mistakes while learning his trade, but he never made the same mistake twice. He had listened to all the cowhands that had come and gone and knew every big cattle ranch from Montana to Texas by reputation. Cowboys often boasted that some had good food, others had good horses, but few outfits had both. When he became a man he was ready to move on to a new place. Mullens always favored the outfit with the best horses.
He moved to New Mexico where he worked for several outfits including the John Cross, JAL and the Diamond A. He rode broncs, roped wild steers, heeling calves for branding, whatever they needed. After a few years he eventually made his way back north and worked in South Dakota and eventually worked for the XIT Ranch, which originated in Texas, but had vast herds of cattle in Montana. Their outfit was between the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers and they shipped out of Fallon. Johnnie’s account of getting large herds of cattle across the river to Fallon was not easy. There was no bridge and they had to swim, as did the cowboys that herded them. When the last shipments were ready there would be ice on the edges of the river and it would have to be broken to allow the cattle to jump in and swim across. He said, “The cowboys getting ready for this”operation deep freeze” would pull off their boots and clothes, in the event their horse got down in the water. Sometimes they wouldn’t even go to the fire until the job was done. Talk about cold, that was it!”
After a few years up north he decided he’d had enough cold weather and drifted back to New Mexico and was rehired at the JAL ranch where he stayed for three more years. The Miller Brothers of Bliss, Oklahoma, came to the JAL and bought four thousand steers to ship to their ranch in Oklahoma. That was the year, 1905, the Millers started their 101 Wild West Show. They were looking for cowboys and wanted Johnnie to join them but he wasn’t ready to make such a change.
He went to a Cinco de Mayo rodeo in Juarez, Mexico, in 1907, and got a taste of being a rodeo contestant. He was so thrilled with the experience of competition everything he’d done before was set aside and he knew he’d found the life he’d been looking for. He joined the 101 Wild West Show and rode broncs, did fancy roping and trick riding and roped steers. Also, with the show was Tom Mix. They became good friends. One year the Millers closed their show early and Tom and Johnnie finished the year with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Later he and Tom were with a smaller wild west show, but it was wilder and through it they began making western movies. Two of the films were; Ranch Life in the Great Southwest” and “Two Boys in Blue”.
Johnnie traveled far and wide, but with much common sense, always choosing rodeos that paid good money. Competition never bothered him and whatever he won was saved or spent wisely. He never drank much or gambled, although he would buy a round of drinks for his friends from time to time. When necessary he would stop and work on a ranch for awhile.
Johnnie’s horse savvy was exceptional and he began selling outlaw broncs from ranches to rodeo promoters or Wild West shows. He would buy them cheaply and sell them for a good profit. He established a reputation as a good rodeo manager due to his horse sense and the ability to judge the types of steers to be used for roping and bulldogging.
In Calgary, four men decided to create the biggest and best rodeo held anywhere in 1912. By unanimous vote Johnnie was hired to handle all the livestock for the event which was to be called the Calgary Stampede. Guy Weadick was hired to handle the office, publicity, parade and such. There was $100,000 in prize money which drew the best cowboys rodeo had to offer. The stock was the best money could buy. It was a total success and for the next five years Johnnie was in charge of the Calgary Stampede stock.
During World War I Johnnie worked for a company that had contracts to furnish horses to French, English, Italian and United States government. Three men ran 150 horses through inspection daily, which included riding each one to determine soundness. He did this for four years. Later in life he would boast there wasn’t a man alive that had ridden more horses in their lifetime than he had counting his bronc riding on ranches, rodeo competitions and inspecting horses for the war effort.
He was arena manager for Tex Rickard when he put on the World Series Rodeo at Madison Square Garden for several years during the early 1920s. Meanwhile he still rode bucking horses and roped. His competition included men like Henry Grammer, Clay McGonigal, Joe Gardner, Ed Echols, George Weir and Fred Beeson. He also handled the famous string of bucking horses belonging to Richard Ringling of Ringling Brothers Circus at White Sulphur Springs, Montana, where the Ringling ranch was located. Richard was not a circus man he much preferred the rodeo world and often put on rodeos using his stock. When Ringling died, Mullens bought the entire string of horses and wild steers, which at the time were considered some of the best in the country.
Mullens helped as arena director for many rodeos all over the country including Bozeman, MT for eight years; Tucson, AZ for thirteen years; the Sesquicentennial of Philadelphia World’s Fair rodeo for five weeks; the El Paso Kid’s Rodeo for thirteen seasons; Deer Lodge, MT; Roswell, NM; San Antonio and Midland TX; and many more.
He continued working as an arena director until the mid-1960s.
He then went to work for the Green Cattle Company at their ORO Ranch, near Prescott, Arizona. The owner, Charlie Green, said of Mullens, “It isn’t how far and how long he rides. It’s what he can do in the time he’s riding the range that counts. Johnnie is an amazing man.” In 1971, at the age of 87 he retired and lived with his daughter in California. He died in 1978 just short of his 94th birthday.
The rodeo world was blessed to have this multi-talented cowboy for another forty-four years after the mistaken announcement of his death in 1934. With all his abilities and responsibilities in the arena he served the world of rodeo well.
Some material for this article came from: True West Magazine article entitled Indestructible Johnnie Mullens, by Walt Coburn, November-December, 1966; Hood County Texas Genealogical Society, Mullens Families, by James Vance Maloney; and Who’s Who in Rodeo by Willard Porter.
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