Yesteryear Cowboys

[CowboyRam]

Left to right, Uncle Duane, Uncle Roy (RIP), and dad. This was taken just before the three of them when off to the Worlds Fair in Brussels Belgium in 1958 with the Rodeo. The rodeo was broke before they got there, as the promoter ran off with the money. I guess the corrals were not built, all the cowboys got to work with building them, there was a guy that was guarding the board pile, while he was chasing down some on the end there would be someone on the other taking boards. While advents were going someone would shoot the poor announcer in the but with a bb gun, and he would say "Who do that to me". Dad talks about the bread and the beer was pretty good there. At the end of the Fair dad and his brothers and one other guy were thinking about take a tour across Europe with the horses, but then the guy an the American Embassy told them that the Government would get them back to the states, and if they didn't go he didn't care if they ever got home. They went home, dad had just enough money to get them train tickets back to Colorado.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

These are very slender cowboys.
The bread and beer didn't appear to cause any weight gain.

 

[Dave]

There was another one of those wild west tours that went to Europe in the 60's. Went broke and left the cowboys stranded. I had a friend who went to Japan in the 70's on a wild west show. They had a better contract. He said one of the things was they were guaranteed to have steak available for dinner. He said the steaks started getting smaller and smaller and tougher and tougher. Then one night at dinner there was big juicy steaks. He was chowing down when a South Dakota cowboy sitting by him said, "This is pretty good horse isn't it." When the show shut down he cashed in his plane ticket. Got a ride on a tramp freighter to Australia. Bought a little Honda motor cycle with a sidecar and spent several months touring around going to Australian rodeos.

 

[Warren Allison]

View attachment 41836
Left to right, Uncle Duane, Uncle Roy (RIP), and dad. This was taken just before the three of them when off to the Worlds Fair in Brussels Belgium in 1958 with the Rodeo. The rodeo was broke before they got there, as the promoter ran off with the money. I guess the corrals were not built, all the cowboys got to work with building them, there was a guy that was guarding the board pile, while he was chasing down some on the end there would be someone on the other taking boards. While advents were going someone would shoot the poor announcer in the but with a bb gun, and he would say "Who do that to me". Dad talks about the bread and the beer was pretty good there. At the end of the Fair dad and his brothers and one other guy were thinking about take a tour across Europe with the horses, but then the guy an the American Embassy told them that the Government would get them back to the states, and if they didn't go he didn't care if they ever got home. They went home, dad had just enough money to get them train tickets back to Colorado.

What events did your dad and uncles compete in?

 

[CowboyRam]

What events did your dad and uncles compete in?

Saddle bronc. After they got back home all three of them ended up working on different ranches out on the Red Desert, and didn't even know it until later. Duane went up to Oregon for awhile before ending up back in Wyoming. When dad hired on to the Greaves ranch he was asked where had worked before, and he said he was rodeoing. Dad said he thought they gave him every bronc they had just to see if you would get pitched. He never did get pitched. One horse he rode would kick your foot out of the stirrup; once you got on he would buck a little and once that was all done you were almost a foot with him.

 

[Lucky]

That's a good story. I had the grandkids in the feed truck with me today, all 3 of us crammed in the front seat. I told them all the old cowboys( these guys are my age) that work cows for us used to travel to Arizona, New Mexico, Kanasas or wherever a rodeo was crammed up like this because nobody could afford a four door pickup back then. Not to sure they believed me . Must have been some good times back then.

 

[Dave]

That's a good story. I had the grandkids in the feed truck with me today, all 3 of us crammed in the front seat. I told them all the old cowboys( these guys are my age) that work cows for us used to travel to Arizona, New Mexico, Kanasas or wherever a rodeo was crammed up like this because nobody could afford a four door pickup back then. Not to sure they believed me . Must have been some good times back then.

I remember 4 of us in a standard cab or extended cab. The 4 door pickups were pretty darn rare in those days. The extended cabs were pretty new. I don't know when they first came out but there weren't used ones around and we sure couldn't afford new.

 

[Lucky]

Neighbor rode bulls for 20yrs. He's got a 95 black Dodge dually regular cab 2 wheel drive with a 12v Cummins he just got running again. Says it was the rodeo rig and he'll never sell it. It's funny because when he got it fixed up and running good he drove it allot then stopped. He said it only does 60mph down hill and couldn't believe he drove it all over the country...and was in a hurry.

 

[pdfangus]

I was a pretty good rider back in the day......
but thank goodness I was not good enough to try my hand at rodeo.....
and then too rodeo was pretty rare in Virginia when I was young so there was not so much temptation

 

[CowboyRam]

I was a pretty good rider back in the day......
but thank goodness I was not good enough to try my hand at rodeo.....
and then too rodeo was pretty rare in Virginia when I was young so there was not so much temptation

I never really got a chance to ride when I was young, so I never did rodeo. At that time dad was in the construction business, but we did have some horses when I was young. Dad was not the type to just go riding if he didn't have a cow to chase, so I'm not a very good rider.

 

[Warren Allison]

In the 70's through the 80's. before the Powerstroke and aluminum trailers, all we had to pull those steel trailers with were the Chevy/GMCs with the 454. You recorded mileage in "gallons per mile" instead of miles per gallon. About 86 or 87, I had bought a new F350 sngl rw 4 x4, with a 460 motor, and was still recovering from nausea and sticker shock at the $12k price. My roping partner had gotten a 4 horse, slant load with DR for about $10k. We had $60k in our 2 horses in back, and another $5k or so in the saddles, tack etc. We pulled up at rodeo in Mississippi that afternoon, and an Ford Escort station wagon pulled up beside us. 4 rough stock riders got out, and they had 4 gear bags with their bull ropes, bare back rigs, etc. Jim looked at me and said: "They pay the same entry fee that we do, you know? And win the same money!" But, I was about 30, and Jim was 50. I said "Yeah, but how many of them will still be doing it at 30, much less 50?!
Today, we get a lot better mileage out of the diesels, but the truck is $100k, the trailer is $100k, the horses will be twice that costs, and fuel is $4-$5 a gallon. The rough stock riders now, can get a little hybrid SUV that gets 30mpg or better!

 

[CowboyRam]

In the 70's through the 80's. before the Powerstroke and aluminum trailers, all we had to pull those steel trailers with were the Chevy/GMCs with the 454. You recorded mileage in "gallons per mile" instead of miles per gallon. About 86 or 87, I had bought a new F350 sngl rw 4 x4, with a 460 motor, and was still recovering from nausea and sticker shock at the $12k price. My roping partner had gotten a 4 horse, slant load with DR for about $10k. We had $60k in our 2 horses in back, and another $5k or so in the saddles, tack etc. We pulled up at rodeo in Mississippi that afternoon, and an Ford Escort station wagon pulled up beside us. 4 rough stock riders got out, and they had 4 gear bags with their bull ropes, bare back rigs, etc. Jim looked at me and said: "They pay the same entry fee that we do, you know? And win the same money!" But, I was about 30, and Jim was 50. I said "Yeah, but how many of them will still be doing it at 30, much less 50?!
Today, we get a lot better mileage out of the diesels, but the truck is $100k, the trailer is $100k, the horses will be twice that costs, and fuel is $4-$5 a gallon. The rough stock riders now, can get a little hybrid SUV that gets 30mpg or better!

I still have a 92 chevy with the 454, and yep, you didn't dare pass up a gas station with that thing. It didn't seem to make much difference if you were loaded or not. The gas milage sucked.

My uncle Duane and Uncle Roy once flew to a rodeo some where in Texas. They had to land on the city street, and all the motels were full. The local Sheriff offered to allow them to stay the night in the jail, as it was empty at the time. I don't know how they did in the rodeo. They rode the saddle broncs.

 

[greybeard]

The local Sheriff offered to allow them to stay the night in the jail, as it was empty at the time. I don't know how they did in the rodeo. They rode the saddle broncs.

Where I grew up, jail didn't stay empty long at fair and rodeo time. Always someone getting drunk, in a wreck or a fight (all 3? )or chasing some local's wife, daughter or girlfriend (or they chasing him) and just getting in a public brawl 'just because'.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

That old cowboy photo posted by CowboyRam - Where can I get a pair of boots with riding heels? All the cowboy boots you see in stores these days are walking heels which defeats the purpose.

 

[Logan52]

In 1974, a friend and I drove an old 1964 pick-up to Colorado and Wyoming. Among other things, we wanted to see a real rodeo. We attended one in Estes Park, Colorado and another in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
I do not think I ever saw as many arm and leg casts in one place as I did at a bar in Jackson Hole after the rodeo. Before the night was over we saw trucks drag racing down the middle of town, between the wooden sidewalks.
It kind of added a "Wild West" flavor to our trip.

 

[CowboyRam]

That old cowboy photo posted by CowboyRam - Where can I get a pair of boots with riding heels? All the cowboy boots you see in stores these days are walking heels which defeats the purpose.

My last pair I bought I ordered off the internet. I ordered a pair of Hondo's from Long Creek Outfitters. You have to look for the Buckaroo boots, they have the spur shelf. Boot Barn has them as well. I don't like those square toes, it's getting hard to find the round toes.

 

[CowboyRam]

In 1974, a friend and I drove an old 1964 pick-up to Colorado and Wyoming. Among other things, we wanted to see a real rodeo. We attended one in Estes Park, Colorado and another in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
I do not think I ever saw as many arm and leg casts in one place as I did at a bar in Jackson Hole after the rodeo. Before the night was over we saw trucks drag racing down the middle of town, between the wooden sidewalks.
It kind of added a "Wild West" flavor to our trip.

I bet it did. Dad has had a broken collarbone, leg, arm, ribs and a foot; you name it he probably broke it. The foot happened when he was ride for Greaves out on the Red Desert; he had a horse fall on him. He had just gotten a new pair of boots just before that happened and he told Duane to pull that boot off no matter how much he yelled. He was not going to have a doctor cut off that brand new boot. Dad even had his ear kicked off, it was just dangling by a piece of skin; they sewed it back on and he was good as new. Uncle Duane broke both bones in his leg at Cheyenne Frontier Days. I vagally remember his hobbling around; his ex wife left him while he was laid up.

 

[Ouachita]

I was a pretty good rider back in the day......
but thank goodness I was not good enough to try my hand at rodeo.....
and then too rodeo was pretty rare in Virginia when I was young so there was not so much temptation

Where have you been? Good to see you posting again. I was also away for several years. Now I'm back and enjoying it more than ever.

 

[Dave]

Where I grew up, jail didn't stay empty long at fair and rodeo time. Always someone getting drunk, in a wreck or a fight (all 3? )or chasing some local's wife, daughter or girlfriend (or they chasing him) and just getting in a public brawl 'just because'.

There was always fights, brawls, to down right riots at the rodeo dance. The two biggest causes were someones girlfriend want to chase a cowboy or some out to show their girlfriend how tough they were by trying to whip a cowboy. In most cases the local found out how tough rodeo cowboys can be.
One time we were in a bar in Keremeos BC. Some large Native American decided it was time to play cowboys and Indians. He hit me in the back of the head just as I was taking a drink. By the time I managed to get up on my feet the whole place was fighting. The cowboys won. Another time in Smelterville Idaho a playful cowboy friend of mine decided to stick the plumbers helper to the ceiling. He pulled the handle to the side and as someone walked by he turned it loose. I whacked the person. A large miner took offense to this. He pulled it off the ceiling and proceeded to thump my friend with the handle. That ended up with a hundred assorted people fighting in the bar and out on the street. A bunch of cops showed up. I think the cops won that one.

 

[Travlr]

My last pair I bought I ordered off the internet. I ordered a pair of Hondo's from Long Creek Outfitters. You have to look for the Buckaroo boots, they have the spur shelf. Boot Barn has them as well. I don't like those square toes, it's getting hard to find the round toes.

I like the square toes that got popular in the seventies. These new square toes are dead dog ugly. And I like riding heels too.