Historic rodeos are the lifeline of rodeo. They began in the days when there was
very little continuity from one rodeo to the next, and you might say, “they invented the
rodeo wheel”. These special cowboy & cowgirl competitions continue to encourage the
best in rodeo to keep coming to their event year after year and that is a huge task.
Especially a town as small as Pendleton which has only 15,000+ residents until RoundUp
Week when it grows to 55,000 people or more. There are few rodeos in the country that
can boast such longevity – Prescott, AZ since 1888; Cheyenne Frontier Days began in
1897; Pendleton held the first RoundUp in 1910; Calgary Stampede up Alberta way, in
Canada, began in 1912; and Sidney, Iowa, that only boasts a population of 1,000 people
held their first rodeo in 1923.
Each rodeo has its own ‘personality’ and is different in some way than all the rest.
Pendleton lies on the eastern plains of Oregon with its great rolling hills and is
surrounded by large farms and ranches. The beginning, a small bronc riding and roping
competition, evolved into one of the biggest rodeos in the country with the entire
community working together to make it a ‘rootin tootin’ success for everyone.
Pendleton RoundUp has the unique distinction of having an arena of grass. They
didn’t always have a grass arena, but when it became the town’s football field in 1951,
grass was planted. The turf is surrounded by a low fence and race track. How does this
affect the rodeo? Most all rodeos are held in an arena of dirt, which is worked and graded
to the liking of the contestants. The timed events chutes are under the grandstand and
when the stock enters the arena they, and the competitor, run across the race track which
is banked onto the grassy area. The ropers and steer wrestlers are not accustomed to
competing with slippery grass under their mount’s hooves, which can occasionally cause
them to slip or slide. Even the bronc and bull riders compete on grass and it is not
unusual to see the buckers lose footing on the green turf. The first time I witnessed this I
asked a good friend of mine, a local from Pendleton, about the grass and the potential
danger to contestants and animals. His answer was, “It just separates the men from the
boys.” It certainly doesn’t stop the ‘top of the crop’ in professional rodeo from paying
their entry fees and trying to win Pendleton. But it adds an additional challenge that
doesn’t often happen in most rodeo arenas. It’s RoundUp tradition and that’s important.
I recently called some of the past Champions that have won the All-Around at
Pendleton and this is what they had to say about their experience at this eastern Oregon
cowboy contest.
CLARK McENTIRE: “In 1946 I went to Pendleton and almost won the All-
Around then. I was riding Everett Shaw’s horse, Peanut, a roan Joe Hancock horse, for
the steer roping, and Ike Rude’s horse for the calf ropin’. Someone told me I was eight-
tenths of a second behind the winner, Hugh Bennett. I was just an overgrown kinda kid
when I won it in 1947. I was only 19. Someone told me I was the only one who won the
All-Around at 19 years old. I drug a rope around all my life and roped whatever I
needed to rope and didn’t think too much about it the first time I won, because the arena
was plowed up just like most rodeo arenas, but you did have to rope toward the west, into
the sun. That year we had taken the good Fred Lowry horse, Popcorn, there to sell, and I
rode him in the steer roping. Shoat (Webster) ended up buying him. The second time I
won it, in 1957, they had put the grass in the arena and the steers were sliding on the
grass. Gene Pruett, who won the Saddle Bronc Championship there in 1947 and again in
1954 said, ‘I wouldn’t rope one of those steers up here for all the money’ I told him that I
wouldn’t ride one of those sorry broncs for all the money, either.”
Clark McEntire, of Springtown, OK, won the All-Around at Pendleton RoundUp in 1947
and 1957, and won the Steer Roping Championship in 1947, 1957 and 1958. His other
event was Calf Roping. He also won the Rodeo Cowboys Association (predecessor to
the ProRodeo Cowboys Association) World Steer Roping Championship in 1957, 1958,
and 1961.
SHOAT WEBSTER: “I always liked Pendleton, maybe even more than Cheyenne. I
went there with Toots (Mansfield), Troy (Fort) and Clark (McEntire).” Shoat laughed
and said, “Clark said once, ‘If it hadn’t been for me, he’d a won a lot more.’ Winning
Pendleton was pretty special. When I first went there they didn’t have the grass arena,
but when they put grass in the arena it didn’t bother me much as I always liked to lay the
cattle down pretty easy.”
Shoat Webster, of Lenapah, OK, won the RoundUp All-Around in 1949, 1950, 1951
and 1952. He also won the title in Steer Roping in 1949 and 1951, the Calf Roping title
in 1950 and the Bull Dogging championship in 1949. In the RCA he was Steer Roping
Champ of the World in 1949, 1950, 1954 and 1955.
EDDY AKRIDGE: “While I am talking to you (on the telephone) I am looking at the
plaque (The Oregon Journal Trophy) I received for winning the All-Around at Pendleton.
It was the highlight of my rodeo career. I won the Bareback event that year at RoundUp
and Saddle Bronc was my other event. It was quite an honor. I am definitely planning to
be there for the 100th Anniversary.”
Eddy Akridge, of Las Vegas, NV, won the All-Around and Bareback Event at RoundUp
in 1953. He won the Big Four (which was determined by the cowboy who won the most
money at Ellensburg, WA; Walla Walla, WA; Lewiston, ID; and Pendleton RoundUp).
He also won the RCA Bareback Riding World Title in 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1961.
LARRY MAHAN: “Being a young kid growing up in Oregon and going to rodeos
in the northwest, the idea of competing at Pendleton was the ultimate in rodeo at that
time. It was a great inspiration for me as a young boy in those formative years. My
sites weren’t on the National Finals, but on Pendleton RoundUp, which as a youngster I
considered the biggest rodeo in the world. I remember starting out to rodeo, me and my
buddies would pass through Pendleton, stop and stand there and stare at that big arena
and dream of the time we could ride there and win. The first time I competed there, and
stuck my hand in a rigging, was a dream come true. The history and paegentry that is
maintained at Pendleton RoundUp is one of the world’s greatest events revolving around
the history of this country.”
Larry Mahan, of Sunset, Texas, won the All-Around at Pendleton RoundUp in 1967, and
the Bareback Riding event in 1966 and 1969, and the Bull Riding in 1969. In the PRCA
he won the All-Around six times, 1966, ’67, ‘68, ’69, ’70, ’73, and the Bull Riding
Championship in 1965 and ’67.
ALLEN KELLER: “I have lots of fond memories of Pendleton. I got to Pendleton and
entered the steer roping, steer wrestling and cow milking. Then I went out to Severe’s as
I needed some ropes. Ace Berry was staying there in Severe’s bunk house and took a
coil of nylon rope and fixed a couple of ropes for me. He tied the hondo and put a rope
burner in it. Then I got some cotton piggin’ strings from a guy that was making some for
Ike Rude. I thought, ‘If it’s good enough for Ike Rude it’s good enough for me.’ I used
my little sorrel hazin’ horse and at that time I had never ‘tripped’ on him before, but I
won the first go round in the steer roping. I also won quite a bit in the wild cow milking
contest. When all the tallying was done that year (1968) I won the All Around. It was my
25th birthday. There were some awful good-lookin’ gals from Portland and Washington
there at the Let ‘Er Buck Room, but I had to be in Albuquerque the next night for a rodeo.
When I got to the New Mexico rodeo Jim Bob Altizer, Sonny Davis, Troy Fort and all
the great ropers were there. “Who won the steer roping at Pendleton,” they asked? I
just reached in the back of my camper and threw the saddle I’d won in the steer roping
at Pendleton down in front of them. That win helped me get to the National Finals that
year.”
Allen Keller, of Olathe, CO, won the All-Around and the Steer Roping at Pendleton
RoundUp in 1968. He won the RCA Steer Roping Championship in 1972.
Some of the earlier winners that won the All-Around at Pendleton RoundUp
several times, and have gone to ‘that arena in the sky’, were; Yakima Canutt, All-Around
in 1917, ’19, ’20, & ’23; Hugo Strickland, 1918, ’22, ’24 & ’26; Bob Crosby, 1925, ’27
& ’28; Dick Truitt, 1929 & ’34; Ike Rude, 1931, & ’36; Bill McMackin, 1937 & ’39.
This year the RoundUp Association Centennial Committee has invited every event
champion and All-Around champs from the past to attend the 100th Anniversary. There
are special events planned for these former winning invitees from the past, during
RoundUp Week, plus free tickets to each rodeo performance and Happy Canyon.
Each rodeo has their own uniqueness and fans can favor one or love them all.
Frankly, if a rodeo can hold on and boast a hundred years they deserve a ‘hat’s off’ to
everyone that has helped make it last a century. In this column I honor the volunteers, the
Board of Directors and Presidents of RoundUp, the competitors, the spectators, the
performers, the Indians including the RoundUp Chiefs and Tribal Headmen, the
RoundUp Queens and Princesses, the Happy Canyon Princesses, the performers of Happy
Canyon, and the Hall of Fame for the last 100 years.
Can you say that you were there for the 100th Celebration of such a historic
rodeo? I hope so. I’ll see you there. LET ‘ER BUCK!
