Pendleton Roundup

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Dave

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Baker County, Oregon
We went to the Pendleton Roundup yesterday. If you have never been there it is a huge arena. Five acres of grass with about a 40 foot wide dirt track around the outside. It gets and is western. There is a 18 (?) inch tall plastic rail on the inside of the track. That rail gets taken down and set up again several times during the rodeo depending on the event. The rodeo starts with a cannon shot, the queen rides out across the track, jumps the rail, and across the grass. This is done at a full run. She is followed by the princesses doing the same thing one at a time. This isn't a rodeo starting out like a western pleasure horse show. It had rained in the morning. The grass was slick. There was several of the bareback broncs slip and fall. Several calf ropers roped their calf, ran down the rope, and as the went to slow down to flank the calf their feet slipped and they slid under the calf. Steer wrestlers slid 30-40 feet trying to slow down the steer. You see some saddle bronc riders who do the flying dismount. Yesterday a lot more did that. No waiting for the pickup man in these conditions. Because of the size of this place there are 6 pickup men who trade off horses regularly. During the rough stock events lots of the cowboys go out and sit in the grass to watch. Every now and then a critter goes through the peanut gallery scattering cowboys. The barrel race is called the green mile. They set the barrels on the track on the outside and one at the far end. So the ladies are making their turns on the dirt but there is a lot of green in between. For the bull riding they set a PVC fence for a small area. Three bulls yesterday knocked down the fence and ran amuck in the peanut gallery. One of those times one of the bull fighters was trying to help stand the fence back up. The bull flipped him in the air. He landed on the back of the bull who gave a kick and sent him flying again. Another bull who got out was headed across the arena. The pickup men giving chase. One of the pickup horses slipped and fell. The horse popped right up but the guy laid there for just a second. Long enough for the bull to come back and hook him a bit. A good wreck in cowboy world is one that look spectacular but every one walks away. That is what we had yesterday. Nobody injured. I am sure there are a few bumps and bruises today but that is rodeo especially one that gets real western.
 
Yes it is PRCA. Lots of NFR cowboys and cowgirls. 17 bull riders with 6 covering their bulls. Saddle bronc riding yesterday was like the whose who of bronc riding. There is 9 different stock contractors providing the bucking stock. So it is all top of the line.
 
That sounds like I need to add it to my “would like to see it at least once “ list.
Bares and broncs are my absolute favorites to watch.

Our local rodeo is one of the oldest IPRA rodeos in the country. We turned out 18 bulls and covered 0 . Pretty frustrating.
 
Heard about it most of my life. Will never see it in person of course but Pendleton means something completely different to me anyways.
Cheyenne is another one I wish I had made time and effort to attend. They put the glamour and glitz on Houston but it don't hold a candle to the ones out West.
 
I have been going every year now. Our Farm Credit gives us ticket as their customer appreciation. A whole bunch of farmers and ranchers sitting in the same section. Of course at Pendleton there is a whole lot of farmers and ranchers sitting all over the grand stands. I only went there once back when I was riding. That was in 1973. But I had dislocated my elbow on my riding arm. So I was just going along driving for a friend.

If you have been involved in rodeo for a longtime like I have and you stop to think. These are pretty hallowed grounds. The same grass that Jackson Sundown, Yakima Canutt, and other legends who are gone now rode on. Not a lot has changed. The grand stands are a lot bigger. They use chutes instead of snubbing them in the middle of the arena. But the same grass and the same track around the outside. Indians have teepees set up in the same area. I have a book written by a man who grew up and lived here all his life. One of the stories is about how they packed up and went to the roundup in the early 1920's. Two day trip each way and they stayed for the entire show. Now it is a 2 hour drive for me zipping down the freeway.
 
Pendleton and Calgary are the only two left on my bucket list I haven't been to. As a former calf roper the way they run the roping events really intrigues me!!
 
okiek said:
Pendleton and Calgary are the only two left on my bucket list I haven't been to. As a former calf roper the way they run the roping events really intrigues me!!
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My bucket list, back when I thought I'd retire at 62, was to ride my bike to Calgary, Cheyenne, and Sturgis one summer. They are all about a week or so apart: Calgary, Cheyenne, then Sturgis. From the first of July til mid August. Gonna be 68 in a couple of weeks, and things aren't looking good for that :( If I don't get to do it in 2025, then I am gonna have to just scrap the bucket list, I guess. Scott and I have lost our minds, I reckon. At our age, we have decided to from 100-120 Corriente cows on 223 acres, to 800+ or -, on 950+ acres! Just typing that and reading it back, makes me think we have both gotten dementia in our old age! But, the operation might be on near-auto pilot by next summer. I'd miss the June and July sorting and weaning, so maybe I can do it, if I am still alive and able to straddle my bike!
 
okiek said:
Pendleton and Calgary are the only two left on my bucket list I haven't been to. As a former calf roper the way they run the roping events really intrigues me!!
Click to expand...
The first time I had been there since '73 we had seats down low right be side the roping chutes. It is pretty interesting the way they run the time event chutes. The cattle start 50 feet back under the grand stands with a man on horseback chasing them. Timing the barrier has got to be interesting.
I have been to most of the rodeos in the PNW. There are a lot of different interesting things at some of them. Pendleton is huge and on grass. Omak has the suicide race. St Paul has shrubbery planted in the arena. That is just a few that come to mind quickly.
 
kenny thomas said:
Haul your bike to each place and then ride. Old mans way of doing things. Lol
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You'd think that would make sense, wouldn't you? But, if you were a biker, you'd know that you don't do it that way. If I was gonna do that, I'd just leave the bike at home and go in my truck. With us, the destination is secondary behind the trip. The ride is what matters most. 2300 miles to Calgary. Then 1000 miles to Cheyenne. Then over to Sturgis is 300 miles. And from Sturgis to home is 1500 miles. 5100 miles! 5000 miles is about the limit I get on the tires I use, too. I got a couple of retired buddies that would ride to Sturgis with me, but they don't care about a rodeo. My old rodeo buddies either don't ride or can't ride anymore. Someone younger like Clay, couldn't afford to take 2 months off work...nor should he leave his family that long. He would do it if I asked him, but no way I will. And if I offered to pay his two months salary to go with me, it would piss him off that I disrespected him by offering. This is one I want to do by myself, and need to do by myself. Plan B is I could do just Cheyenne and Sturgis, but it wouldn't be the same. I think I would feel worse about it if I never tried it, than I would if something happened to me on that trip. That trip itself is kinda stupid at my age. Going to an 800 cow operation the same year, at our age, is stupid in itself. But hell, if it was easy, anyone could do it, right?
 
Funny you mention a bike. My wife and I have ridden 46 of the lower 48 2 weeks at at a time every summer. A friend retired to Kila, MT. We rode there to see him in 2018 with the intent of all of us riding on up to Calgary (Our bike had never seen a trailer either). Somewhere in WY, my wife leaned forward to tell me she had accidentally forgotten our passports! There went that opportunity to go to the Stampede!! Then, last year, the Harley got totaled in a garage fire. I decided with new grandkids to play with we wouldn't replace it. I still miss it and the long trips though.
 

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