World champions Tierney, Hurley, Burchett and Reeves headline class of nine inductees into ProRodeo Hall of Fame; 16 rodeo committees also earn place in sport's shrine
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - Four rodeo contestants with a total of seven world championships and 56 National Finals Rodeo qualifications head the 2008 ProRodeo Hall Of Fame induction class. Inductees were voted on by the selection committee during a meeting held at the ProRodeo Hall of Fame on April 22nd. This year nine inductees will be inducted including: All-around cowboy, Paul Tierney - contestant; team roper, Bobby Hurley - contestant; steer roper. Shaun Burchett - contestant; saddle bronc rider, Tom Reeves - contestant; the late Feek Tooke - stock contractor; Trails End - rodeo livestock; specialty act performers Leon and Vicki Adams - contract personnel; Duane Howard – notable; and the late Buddy Lytle - lifetime achievement.
Induction ceremonies will be July 12th from 10 AM to noon at the in the garden area of the ProRodeo Hall Of Fame and Museum located in Colorado Springs, CO. Tickets for the induction ceremony and the luncheon that follows are $20 for non-members, $18 for members and $10 for children (6 through 12). The Cowboy Dinner & Ball will be held at 6 p.m. on July 11 at a location yet to be announced.
Inductees:
Paul Tierney, Oral, SD
Paul Tiemey, 56, won his first world championship in tie-down roper in 1979. In 1980 he had a remarkable season that put an end to Tom Ferguson’s six-year reign as all-around champion and become the second rodeo cowboy to surpass $100,000 in earnings during a single season. That year he was second in the tie-down roping standings and fourth in steer wrestling to earn $105,568. He was the reserve all-around champion in both 1977 and 1979, finishing second both times to Ferguson, and was fourth in 1981 behind Jimmie Cooper, Roy Cooper and Ferguson. Seven times Paul rated among the top 10 all-around cowboys before retiring in the late 1980s after suffering a ruptured disc. He qualified for every NFR from 1977 to 1986 with the exception of 1983, nine times in tie-down roping (1977-82, 1984-86) and five times in steer wrestling (1977, 1979-81, 1984).
Bob Hurley, Clarksville, AR
Bob Hurley’s four-year partnership with Allen Bach produced two world championship gold buckles. The first championship came in 1993 as an individual award. The second championship came in 1995 and was shared with Allan Bach due to a rule change calling for crowning a world champion header and heeler instead of just one award for the highest-earning team roper. Hurley, 44 in June, made 12 consecutive appearances in the NFR (1986-97) as a header and 15 overall, forming enduring partnerships with Dennis Watkins, Dennis Gatz and Cody Cowden in addition to Bach. Two of Hurley’s horses, Yellow Bar Smug (1990) and Tres Spiffy Dude (1994), were named AQHA/PRCA Heading Horse of the Year.
Shaun Burchett. (1964-1992)
Taught by his father, Randy, from childhood, Shaun Burchett emerged as one of the most talented young steer ropers the sport had ever seen. Shaun, who called Pryor, OK home, was PRCA Rookie of the Year in 1981 at 17 years old and made his first National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR) appearance just two years later, finishing 14th in the world. He was twice reserve World Champion (1985-86) to ProRodeo Hall of Famer Jim Davis before breaking through to win back-to-back world championships in 1987-88, over Davis. Shaun appeared in nine consecutive NFSRs (1983-91) despite losing his spleen and suffering damage to a kidney in May 1989 when his car collided with a train. He broke the NFSR record with a 9.8-second run in 1990 and was the first steer roper ever to post a time under 9.0 seconds. He did it twice in 1987, with runs of 8.5 and 8.9 seconds. Shaun died in a single-car accident in Sherman, TX, on January 26th, 1992. He was only 28.
Tom Reeves, Ranger, TX
Tom Reeves was the 2001 World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider. As a competitor, he qualified for the first 18 NFRs held in Las Vegas (1985-2002). Six times finishing among the top four in the world. Only Billy Etbauer has more NFR qualifications with 19. Reeves, 43, also earned a silver medallion for finishing second at the 2002 Olympic Command Performance Rodeo in Farmington, Utah, while serving as team captain for the United States. He retired in 2005 with career earnings of $1,745,962, putting him 20th on the all-time list entering the 2008 season. Tom received the ProRodeo Hall of Fame Mentoring Award in 2007 after taking Ranger (TX) College to the National College Finals Rodeo men’s title in his second season as coach.
Feek Tooke (1909-1968)
Feek Tooke hailed from Montana and was raised in rodeo. His parents Earl and Bessie Tooke along with their six children were fixtures in rodeo in the 30’s. In the early 40’s Feek decided to breed horses having the disposition for rodeo broncs. He started by purchasing a registered Shire stud, King Larego, who sired the legendary Prince. He also bought a mean-spirited Arabian saddle horse, the legendary Snowflake. By crossing Prince’s mares to Snowflake and Snowflake daughter’s to Prince with the help of his son Earnest this breeding program has produced more than 6,000 rodeo broncs, passed along to every top stock contractor in North America. From this bloodline came the great broncs: General Custer, Timberline, and Gray Wolf. Since 1987, the majority of National Finals Rodeo champion broncs and PRCA Bucking Horses of the Year award recipients are genetically linked to the Tooke's program, including Angel Blue, Spring Fling, Air Wolf, Commotion, Guilty Cat, Bobby Joe Skoal, Challenger and Cloud Gray. At the 1968 NFR Feek was honored with a special plaque. He received the plaque on horseback and upon leaving the arena collapsed. He was pronounced dead of a heart attack. He was years ahead of his time in breeding bucking broncs and the whole industry has benefited.
Trail’s End – Bucking Horse
The pride of the Oral Zumwalt rodeo string out of Missoula, MT, Trail’s End was the 1959 Bucking Horse of the Year and was three times recognized as the top saddle bronc of the National Finals Rodeo (1959-61). The nearly 1,300-pound Morgan bred sorrel was originally known as Dexter and was a pack horse in the Bitterroot Mountains. Purchased by Oral after the first time he bucked in a rodeo he did so well Oral said “That’s the end of the pack trail for you, old fella.” Thus he became Trail’s End one of the most perfect bucking horses of his time putting the best riders of the era in the dirt during his 11 NFR appearances, including ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductees Casey Tibbs and Guy Weeks. In 1959, Trail’s End was ridden just four times in 13 tries, and three of the cowboys who made it to the eight-second whistle were rewarded with a first-place buckle. He was retired in a ceremony at the 1976 NFR and passed away in 1980.
Leon and Vicki Adams, Stuart, OK
For parts of five decades, the husband and wife trick riding team of Leon and Vicki Adams have been entertaining rodeo crowds with Roman riding on the backs of Brahma bulls, horses dancing on their hind legs and Brahmas leaping through burning hoops. Leon, 77, received the PRCA Specialty Act of the Year Award in 1982, followed two years later by Vicki, 56. They twice won the award together, in 1987 and 1997. Apart from appearing at major rodeos all across the United States, the Adamses have performed in France, Japan, Finland, Mexico and Canada.
Duane Howard, Minnewauken, ND
The term all-around takes on a different meaning when applied to Duane Howard. As a contestant, Howard competed at the highest level of ProRodeo in all three roughstock events. He earned 3 Reserve World Championships in bull riding (1955, 1957 and 1960) and a Reserve All-Around World Champion to Jim Shoulders in 1957. Howard qualified in saddle bronc riding and bull riding at the first two National Finals Rodeos in 1959 and 1960 and winning the bull riding average both years. His competitive career was cut short by injuries suffered at the Cheyenne (WY) Frontier Days in 1961. Howard continued his career in the PRCA serving on the PRCA Board of Directors, as a PRCA pickup man and as one of the first PRCA professional judges (1982-94), working the National Finals Rodeo 11 times.
Buddy Lytle (1941-2002)
One of rodeo’s most respected and well-liked officials, Buddy Lytle helped develop and write the PRCA’s judging handbook, professionalizing the sport. Buddy, who called Byhalia, MS home, became a judge after a competitive career as tie-down roper and steer wrestler. He judged 24 National Finals Rodeos, Cheyenne (WY), Pendleton (OR), Houston, Fort Worth and other top rodeos all over the country. Buddy became a field representative for the PRCA in 2000, training prospective judges and working with accredited judges to help make them better. Despite a quiet battle waged with leukemia over eight years, he kept judging until November 2001 and, even after he was hospitalized, he analyzed judging statistics and watched events on TV. Buddy died April 10, 2002, at age 61.
The Selection Committee voted unanimously at the same meeting to officially induct the 16 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo committees that had previously been honored with special recognition by the PRCA and ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
Those rodeo committees being honored are: (listed alphabetically)
Buffalo Bill Rodeo (North Platte, NE)
Calgary Stampede (Alberta)
California Rodeo Salinas
Cheyenne Frontier Days (WY)
Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo (Pocatello, ID)
Grand National Rodeo Horse & Stock Show (San Francisco, CA)
Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (TX)
La Fiesta de los Vaqueros (Tucson, AZ)
National Western Stock Show & Rodeo (Denver, CO)
Pendleton Round-Up (OR)
Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo (Colorado Springs, CO)
Reno Rodeo (NV)
San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo (TX)
Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show (Fort Worth, TX)
West of the Pecos Rodeo (Pecos, TX)
World’s Oldest Rodeo Prescott Frontier Days (AZ)
In the future, rodeo committees will follow the same nomination and selection process as all other categories of PRCA membership which include rodeo contestants, rodeo committees, stock contractors, contract personnel, rodeo livestock, rodeo notables and lifetime achievement. Since the Hall's opening in 1979, and not including the 2008 class, 197 people and 24 animals have been inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. More than 40,000 people visit the 30,000-square-foot facility that is located adjacent to the national headquarters of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association each year.
