A century ago, when Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona outlawed steer roping contests, there was one place a southwestern roper could go to hone his skills: Cowboy Park, the arena established in 1907 in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. During the formative years of rodeo that preceded the first …
The Wild West: a term that conjures up pictures of wagon trains, unspoiled prairies, Indians, rough ‘n’ ready cowboys, roundups, and buffalo herds. Where did this collection of images come from? Paul Reddin exposes the mythology of the American frontier as a carefully crafted product of the Wild West show. Focusing on such pivotal figures as George Catlin, …
Over the course of his rodeo career John McBeth has been a world champion saddle bronc rider, a horseman, a teacher, a mentor, a businessman, a diplomat, a saddle maker, a pilot, a TV commentator, a rodeo judge and administrator. Above all he is a gifted story teller. John entered the sport in the era …
By 1912 the large-scale cowboy ranches of the Old West had been disappearing for years and the Calgary Stampede — along with other exhibitions, like Buffalo Bills Wild West Show — was set-up to commemorate a fading way of life for younger generations and for those who still remembered the mythic era. The Canadian Northwest shared in that …
Cowgirls of the Rodeo: PIONEER PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES (Sport and Society)
“In this first substantial study of rodeo women, Mary Lou Lecompte surveys the early rodeo cowgirls’ achievements as professional athletes, the near demise of women’s rodeo events during World War II, and the phenomenal success of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association in regaining lost ground for rodeo cowgirls. Recalling an extraordinary chapter in women’s history as well as …
When the West was won, the chuckwagon was a part of it all, and still is today. The story of the chuckwagon’s evolution from mobile kitchen/medical centre for the pioneer cowboy, to its current status as a wheeled “racing machine,” takes us from the Civil War, along the dusty trails of the cattle drive, to the early days …
Ring of Fire : The Guts and Glory of the Professional Bull Riding Tour
While riding at the 2008 National High School Finals in Farmington, NM, seventeen-year-old Corbin wanted to bring the national champon bull riding title back to his hometown of Jonesville, LA. With a score on one bull, another score would surely place him in a position to win but the bull, M33, changed this cowboy’s plans. After six seconds …
Georgian Trick Riders in American Wild West Shows, 1890s-1920s
In 1893, Georgian horsemen from the Caucasus immigrated to the United States where for more than 30 years they performed in circuses and Wild West shows under the billing of “Russian Cossacks.” The connection between Buffalo Bill Cody and the Georgian trick riders represents one of the earliest relationships between Georgia and the United States. Western historian Dee …
“Eisner’s homage to women at home on the range is a photo book in the manner of William Klein: gorgeously brazen, blending strident color and cool black and white. Above all, she captures proud horsewomen–a fiery mesh of tomboy and diva.” Harper’s Bazaar “Former Vogue editrix and fashion muse to hotshot designers, Eisner takes us to a place …
