History of Rodeo - Formation of Rodeo Associations

Formation of Rodeo Associations

In 1929 the Rodeo Association of America (RAA) was formed bringing promoters and managers together. It compiled scores from rodeo events at the 50 some rodeos across North America including Cheyenne, Wyoming; Pendleton, Oregon; Calgary, Alberta; and Salinas, California. The RAA sanctioned events, selected judges, and established purse awards and point systems. Their judges documented and determined champions in each event. The new organization was far from perfect. Often, prize money was not as advertised and judging was sometimes unfair.

The RAA inaugurated the first national champions in 1929. However, they didn't include any women's events. Bonnie McCarroll (1897–1929) was killed after being thrown from a bronc at the Pendleton Round-Up. This tragedy initiated a national outcry against women competing in rodeo events.

In 1930, rain spoiled a rodeo at Miller's 101 Ranch in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Turtles came out and someone had an idea to race the turtles instead of horses. With a whopping 10,000 entries, most watched as most of the turtles laid still while just a few plodded along. First place went to the owner of turtle Goober Dust taking home $7,100. Second place took home $1,250. These turtles, however, were not attributed to the Cowboy Turtles Association (CTA) which was started several years later in 1936.

In 1934, the World Series Rodeo arrived in Madison Square Garden. The rodeo offered $40,000 in prizes. The World Series Rodeo promoter, Colonel William T. Johnson, had lost $40,000 promoting a Wild West Show in Texas six years prior and decided to promote his money back. He put on 5 rodeos a year and expected to make $1,000,000, with his contract in New York expected to make $75,000. He estimated losing $6,000 a year to bad loans to cowboys. Johnson was not a member of the Rodeo Association of America but his events offered more prize money and cowboys seemed to find his events the most enjoyable. But by 1939, William Johnson had sold all of his rodeo stock and was not in attendance at the World Series Rodeo. Instead, he went back to ranching after completely selling out of his highly speculative business.

In 1936, however, during the Boston Garden Rodeo, William Johnson refused to add entry fees into the prize money. A group of angry cowboys formed the Cowboy Turtles Association. It was the first association of contestants. They called themselves turtles because they were slow to organize but eventually stuck their heads out.

That same year, Tex Austin, Wild West Promoter, was charged with "permitting an animal to be terrified" when a steer accidentally crashed into the exit gate of the arena.

In 1937, Pete Knight died after suffering from internal injuries after being thrown from the horse "Duster" at a rodeo in Hayward, California. At the time of this death, he had more champion titles and prize money than any other bronc rider in the world.

Walter Cravens, steer rider, was thrown and trampled and died one day later of a punctured lung at the World Series Rodeo in New York City.

By 1939, rodeos attracted twice as many spectators as auto racing and baseball.

In 1940, the Cowboys Amateur Association (CAA) formed in California. Its purpose was to allow amateurs to compete and gain more experience before moving up to the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA). Members were required to move up to the RCA once their earnings reached $500. The CAA also encouraged participation from women in barrel racing and cutting contests.

In 1945, the Cowboy Turtles Association changed their name to the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA) which later in 1975 changed to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).

In 1947, movie star Gene Autry signed a contract to star in the Madison Square Garden Rodeo. He got a salary of $1,500 a day for a 33 day run as a performer.

In 1948, the Girl's Rodeo Association was started by a group of Texas ranch women. Today, the organization has two sister associations - The Professional Women's Rodeo Association (PWRA) and the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA).

In 1949 the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association was formed and grew extremely quickly. The first College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) was held the same year in San Francisco, California. By 1951, the association had 41 participating colleges.

By 1955, it was estimated that there were over 600 rodeos in the country. The Miss Rodeo America pageant was organized with the first pageant held by International Rodeo Management in Casper, Wyoming.

The first National Finals Rodeo was held in Dallas, Texas in 1959. The top 15 money-earners in each event were invited to compete and winnings from the NFR were added to their winnings from the rodeo circuit to determine a world champion. In 1960, the National Finals Rodeo was shown on TV broadcast by CBS.

In 1961, rodeo interest further branched out to include high school students with the formation of the National High School Rodeo Association.

The NFR moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1962 and then settled in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for a 30 year stay from 1965-1984. Since 1985, the event has taken place in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In 1975, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame opened in Hereford. It was subsequently located to a modern, much larger facility in Fort Worth. Many of its inductees have been rodeo competitors.

In 1979 the PRCA established the ProRodeo Hall of Fame located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is the only museum in the world devoted to the sport of rodeo and the rodeo cowboy. The statue in the front of the hall depicts Casey Tibbs riding the bronc Necktie.

In 1987, the National Circuit Finals Rodeo began in Pocatello, Idaho. The top 2 contestants in each event from the 12 different PRCA regional circuits compete for the title of national circuit finals champion for each event. Dodge became a title sponsor for the event in 1991.

In 1989, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame opened in the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth. Many of its inductees have been active in rodeo.

With all of the attention rodeo began to get from the media, animal rights concerns escalated. Friends of Rodeo were formed in 1992 as an organization to protect rodeo. That same year, a group of 20 professional bull riders, each of which contributed $1,000 formed Professional Bull Riders, Inc (PBR) based in Colorado Springs. The organization aims to take one of the most famous events in rodeo into a stand-alone sport. They have flourished and today the Built Ford Tough Series is a 29 city, $10 million tour that attracts more than 100 million viewers on televised events.

The term 'rodeo' (from the Spanish, rodear) means "to surround" or "go around" in Spanish, and was first used in American English about 1834 to denote a "round up" of cattle. Early rodeo-like affairs of the 1820s and 1830s were informal events in the western United States and northern Mexico with cowboys and vaqueros testing their work skills against one another.