COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Seven-time World Champion Dan Mortensen was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame this morning, taking his place alongside Casey Tibbs, the only other man to win six world championships in saddle bronc riding, the sport's signature event.
Mortensen was joined in the six-man induction class by legendary stock contractor Erv Korkow, 1934 Triple Crown Champion Leonard Ward, 1985 World Champion Bull Rider Ted Nuce, 1969 World Champion Steer Roper Walt Arnold and Ace Berry, the only cowboy in PRCA history to win two National Finals Rodeo average titles in both a roughstock event and a timed event.
"It is a true honor to stand with this group and be part of the Hall of Fame," Mortensen said. "Every time I've walked through the ProRodeo Hall of Fame it's sent shivers down my spine. It is here where the great traditions of the sport are honored and I am proud to be a part of that."
Korkow and Ward, both deceased, were represented at the ceremonies by family members. Jim Korkow, Erv's son and business partner who continues operation of Korkow Rodeos in Pierre, S.D., to this day, made the acceptance speech for his father. Ward's great niece, Doris Basile, of Broomfield, Colo., represented the Ward family.
Six-time World Champion All-Around Cowboy Larry Mahan emceed the induction ceremonies.
Mortensen, 40, and Tibbs share the ProRodeo record for most saddle bronc riding world championships with Mortensen winning his six gold buckles in 1993-95, 1997-98 and 2003. He was the all-around world champion in 1997, edging Joe Beaver by slightly more than $4,000, and qualified for the NFR 16 times in his 17 full seasons as a PRCA member. During his final world championship season of 2003, Mortensen became the first roughstock cowboy in PRCA history to surpass $2 million in career earnings and he remains fifth on the all-time list with $2,555,252. An 18-foot bronze statue of Mortensen is the centerpiece of the Montana Wall of Champions outside Metra Arena in Billings, Mont.
"I was never that concerned with my achievements when I was still competing," Mortensen said. "I was too busy getting down the road to the next rodeo. Now, with time to reflect, the achievements are great, but I know there is no way I could have ever achieved any of what I did without the support of my family and friends.
"I started to compete when I was 11 years old and came up through youth, high school, college and amateur programs. It's all a learning process and this is a very humbling sport. About the time you think you've got it figured out, you're pulling your face out of the dirt."
Ward had his greatest year in 1934 when he won 16 rodeos in bronc riding, steer decorating, bull riding and bareback riding. He won the saddle bronc riding, bareback riding and all-around world championships – the second cowboy to ever win three gold buckkles in the same year, following Clay Carr. Ward continued to compete at a high level until he suffered a badly broken leg at the 1937 California Rodeo in Salinas, Calif. Ward left the sport for good at age 38 in 1941 to take a construction job on Midway Island, near Hawaii, where he was captured by the Japanese and held prisoner for 45 months. After his release, Ward returned to ranching and construction work in Oregon until his death on Feb. 15, 1985.
Nuce, 48, was the 1985 world champion bull rider and qualified for the National Finals Rodeo a record 14 consecutive years (1982-95); he shares the record for total appearances (also 14) with Wacey Cathey. The PRCA Rookie of the Year in 1980, just a year out of high school, Nuce competed in his first NFR at 21 and was as consistent as anyone of his era, finishing as reserve world champion four times, in 1986-88 and 1991. He won two gold medallions for the United States in the bull riding and team competitions in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta.
"I went to one of Larry Mahan's schools when I was starting out," Nuce said, "and he told me if I kept in improving like he had seen me do at the school, that one day I could become a world champion. Gary Leffew's message, at his camps, was all about having a positive mental attitude. He wanted you to believe, believe, believe. Those were important things to hear for a young guy. In 1985 all my dreams came together."
Although he didn't compete full time until he was 25 years old, Arnold qualified for the National Finals Steer Roping 19 times (1965-67, 1969-72, 1974-82, 1984-86), a number surpassed only by Guy Allen and Arnold Felts in steer roping history. Arnold, 70, won the world championship in 1969 and finished as reserve champion three other times (1971, 1978-79), missing out on the '71 title by just $538 to Olin Young. He won the NFSR average title twice (1965 and 1978) and competed in team roping at the NFR in 1966 and '68. He served as the PRCA's steer roping director from 1974 to 1977.
"Somebody asked me when I was a little boy what I was going to be when I grew up," Arnold said, "and I told them 'a world champion roper and a rancher.' This was always the life I wanted."
Just 15 years, 11 months old when he qualified for the NFR the first time in 1962, Berry remained a fixture there into the mid-1970s, competing at both ends of the arena. He qualified for the NFR in team roping 14 consecutive years (1962-75) and six years in bareback riding (1967, 1969-73). Along with Phil Lyne, he is the only man to win NFR average titles in a roughstock event and a timed event in the same year. Berry won the 1972 NFR team roping title with John Miller and the bareback riding with what was then a rodeo record 685 points, the same year that Lyne won the average in bull riding and tie-down roping. Berry, 62, also won NFR average titles in team roping in 1967 and in bareback riding in 1971.
"There are no words to describe what this means to me," Berry said. "There are so many people to thank, starting with my mother (Bonnie). She couldn't be here today because of her health, but she has always been my biggest supporter, from when I was a boy to the present day. I also want to thank my (late) father who taught me how to rope, Sonny Tureman and Jim Houston who helped me get better as a bronc rider, all of my team roping partners, especially John Miller, who trusted me to rope with him at the NFR. And also my wife (Rene) of 32 years. You can just imagine how many re-ride stories she's had to hear."
After a decade of producing amateur rodeos, Korkow joined the PRCA in 1958 and formed Korkow-Sutton Rodeo Company with fellow South Dakota stock contractor James Sutton Sr. They had stock in every National Finals Rodeo from its inception in 1959 through the dissolution of their partnership at the end of 1968. Thereafter Korkow and his son, Jim, operated Korkow Rodeos. They lay claim to being just one of three stock contracting companies to have had bucking stock at all of the first 50 NFRs. The only year that Korkow Rodeos does not show in the stock lists for the NFR is 1982, the year in which they auctioned five of their top horses late in the season, after they had already been accepted to the rodeo in Oklahoma City. Korkow received the 1970 PRCA Award of Merit, was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1992 and was twiced honored with an Erv Korkow Day in his home state. Korkow died on Nov. 25, 1993.
"Raising horses, helping young people and his own family were the three great loves of my dad's life," Jim Korkow said, before asking a family group of about 50 to stand and be recognized. "We are all so proud for him to be recognized like this."
The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductees are selected by a committee of former contestants, PRCA officials and rodeo experts. More than 150 individuals are nominated each year and selection is based on contributions to the sport of professional rodeo in any of seven categories: contestant, contract personnel, stock contractors, rodeo committees, livestock, notables and lifetime achievement.
Including this year's inductees, 212 people, 25 animals and 16 rodeo committees have been enshrined in Colorado Springs.
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