Tío Cowboy: Juan Salinas, Rodeo Roper and Horseman

8 Anthony Salinas Destined to Be World Champion Calf Roper

8 Anthony Salinas Destined to Be World Champion Calf Roper Tío Tony Salinas, ten years younger than Tío Juan, married at about the time that Tío Juan started on the national circuit. He married his local sweetheart, Lucille Juvenal, from Encinal. In 1938, they were blessed with a little towhead they named Anthony. I have photos of Anthony on the national tour with his parents and with Tío Juan and Toots. As the years went by, Anthony became the little boy at rodeos who went to the middle of the arena at about halftime, and roped a 5-gallon tin can. It was quite a feat for a four- or five-year-old to rope anything. He roped the can, the public loved it, and then he opened the can, and pulled out the winning number of a raffle. Little Tony, or Anthony as we have always called him, grew to be an excellent tie-down calf roper. Having three of the world’s greatest calf ropers as coaches—Tío Juan, Tío Tony, and Toots—and the world’s best roping horses at his disposal meant that Anthony was sure to become World Champion. Juan always claimed that Tío Tony was better than he was, Tony being younger, much quicker, and more athletic, but Juan said that his consistency in making the catch separated him from Tony. As they say, a small, young bull will whip a big, old bull any day. Among others, in the early 1940s, Tío Tony won the tie-down roping in Springfield, Missouri, and at Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Little Tony progressed through the years and was very good. He went to Southwest Texas State College in San Marcos, Texas, and roped on the rodeo team there in the mid-1950s, where he captured Anthony Salinas 99 collegiate honors in rodeo. He was on his way to compete for the World Championship; however, he picked another of his coaches’ habits instead of rodeo; he acquired a preference for gambling. Anthony did not pursue rodeo like he could have, and by the 1970s he had become a very successful professional gambler. He lived in San Antonio, Texas, and rumor was he had the biggest betting book in Texas—simply stated, he was a bookie. Like everything else he was taught, he did it to the best of his ability, and he was one of the biggest bookies. He was doing great, but there was one big problem: gambling was illegal in Texas at the time. With a few exceptions, it still is. This was a time when bingo, lottery , and liquor by the drink were still against the law in Texas. Inevitably, Anthony wound up in trouble. The first time, he was able to get off without much of a problem. The second time, however , he was arrested by the FBI. If you know anything about law enforcement, you should know that there is a huge difference beTraveling troupers, 1940. Left to right: Juan Salinas, Tony Salinas, Anthony Salinas, Lucille Salinas, Toots Mansfield Little Tony Salinas tween an arrest by local law enforcement, state law enforcement, and the Feds. When the Feds bust you, you are plain in trouble! Anthony was in big trouble—he was facing a prison sentence for gambling activity using telephone lines and crossing state lines for illicit purposes. I remember vividly Tía Lucille, his mother, coming to see me at my law office and asking that I write a letter of recommendation to the federal judge, asking for leniency. She told me things about Anthony that I did not know. From a young age he had always worked very hard at whatever work was available and had made plenty of money. When he was about fifteen he bought his own new car—a black 1951 Mercury. He worked around Encinal. He sold milk from a milk cow he owned. He established a movie theater in tiny Encinal at some time in his youth. He was an active and proactive young man, always trying to make a buck, very ambitious and hardworking. From her history and what I knew about my cousin, who was just a few years older than I was, I wrote a letter to Judge D. W. Suttle, the federal judge in charge of Anthony’s case, pleading for mercy. I understand...