College Rodeo: From Show to Sport

Chapter 1. College Rodeo Produces a New Breed of Cowboy

College Rodeo Produces a New Breed of Cowboy 3 c h a p t e r 1 College Rodeo Produces a New Breed of Cowboy “Look at that cowboy. He’s wearing a college ring!” said a city visitor at a branding on the McElroy Ranch near Crane, Texas, in the s.1 Some seventy years later, many cowboys and cowgirls wore college rings and trophy buckles. A new breed of rodeo cowboy and cowgirl developed on college campuses and intertwined with the development of professional rodeo. Rodeo , which had originated in the daily chores of the working cowboy, rode onto campus in the s with college cowboys competing on campus and in any other rodeo available. Competing both places satisfied many a rancher’s son and daughter until a California entrepreneur recognized the entertainment potential in creating intercollegiate rodeo competition.However,World War II stopped college rodeo production in many places, while at the same time it helped to internationalize rodeo and expand competition for women. The number of cowgirl contestants grew as they learned riding and roping skills while filling vacancies left on the ranches by brothers who answered Uncle Sam’s call. With the opportunity to attend college provided by a prosperous economy and the GI Bill, numerous veteran cowboys, not just the sons of ranchers, grabbed the chance to get an education. As the number of college rodeos grew, the contestants recognized the need to have a national intercollegiate rodeo organization. c h a p t e r 1 4 Education had moved west following in the dust of the Civil War veterans turned cattle drovers,farmers,and ranchers.Almost simultaneously,one-room schoolhouses and shotgun rodeo chutes dotted the western prairies and rollinghills .Educationsettledcomfortablyside-by-sideintheWestwithAmerica’s only original sport, rodeo. However, the comfort level evaporated when cowboys and cowgirls,bred and reared in an atmosphere of independence, with a love for equality and rodeo competition, expected to find these same traits on college campuses.As Owen Wister depicted in his novel The Virginian, when East met West, when tradition met independence and originality, conflict and compromise created something new and uniquely American. The same was true when cowboys and cowgirls took rodeo to college. Ranch cowboy riding and roping competition resulted in the development of rodeo events in the late nineteenth century. The cowboy competitive spirit often turned a pasture into an arena.By the late s,four states had cowboy competitions in such places as Deer Trail, Colorado; Pecos, Texas; Prescott, Arizona; and North Platte,Nebraska.The daily work of the cowboy moved to the competitive level and the arena.2 Frequent rodeo competition demanded standardized rules administered by a national organization. The Rodeo Association of America (RAA), organized in  by rodeo producers,attempted to standardize rules and to stop a proposal to ban rodeo competition by the California legislature. Rodeo producers were businessmen; cowboys competed for the love of competition and a paycheck. Cowboys never stayed anywhere long enough to organize. Problems finally forced the cowboys to confront the rodeo producers. On November , , in New York City, the cowboys organized the Cowboys Turtle Association (CTA),a union of rodeo cowboys to look after their own interests. Some say that the CTA used the word turtle due to their slowness to organize. The CTA set goals,a first for American rodeo cowboys,for better working conditions , regulations for the amount of prize money, entrance fees added to the prize money,and experienced,qualified judges. Strict rules of conduct helped to polish the tarnished image of the early rodeo cowboy, a ranch cowboy who left his legitimate work to compete and ultimately to party. Early contestants viewed rodeo as entertainment. When the seasonal work gave way to some time off from the ranch, cowboys often gatheredtogetherforropingandridingcompetition.Afterward,theycelebrated their win or loss,much to the chagrin of the ranch owners.Their celebrations College Rodeo Produces a New Breed of Cowboy 5 often disturbed the quiet communities, thus the cowboys’ tarnished image. City people perceived cowboys to be “an ignorant lot of illiterates,uncouth in every respect.”3 The CTA included a blacklist rule for objectionable conduct. The RAA and the CTA each included a rule to improve the cowboys’image for proper dress and for proper equipment.With these guidelines,the rodeo cowboy had a framework of rules much like that his counterpart the working cowboy followed on the big ranches. Professionalrodeogaineditsfocuswhenthemediadefinedtheprofessional...