Cultured Cowgirl

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans are once again headlining events.

I wasn’t raised during the heyday of the silver-screen cowboy like many of our baby boomer readers. However, my parents and grandparents exposed me to many an evening of watching The Roy Rogers Show, Annie Oakley, The Lone Ranger, Bonanza and Gunsmoke reruns, and old spaghetti Westerns. I can quote Tom Mix, John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, James Arness and others with the best Western boomer. I also enjoy hearing stories of my grandfather playing high school sports with Leonard Sly in southern Ohio, before Leonard became the iconic American cowboy hero Roy Rogers.

Even though Roy and Dale Evans weren’t as influential in my decision to live in the West, ride horses and be a cowgirl as they were to my parents and grandparents, I was saddened last fall when I received notice that the Roy Rogers Museum in Branson, Missouri, was closing after 42 years of operation. Steady decline in visitors was one of the factors that led the Rogers family to close the doors on their family heritage.

I never had an opportunity to tour the museum, which made it all the more important that I attend Brian Lebel’s 21st Annual Old West Show & Auction in Denver, Colorado, this past June. The Rogers family consigned 127 items to the auction, including Roy’s personal firearms and hunting gear, and his 1964, bright yellow, Lincoln Continental Convertible.

As a purveyor and promoter of cowboy culture, I feel obligated to immerse myself in Western heritage, and Roy and Dale were a very important part of shaping a generation’s perceptions of the West. Seeing their personal memorabilia confirmed in my mind that Roy and Dale were a classy couple and had impeccable taste in gear.

This wax figure of Roy Rogers, dressed in his personal clothing, sold for $6,000. Roy's 1964 Lincoln convertible sold for $17,000.

The highlight of the auction was watching one of Roy’s holsters and belt rigs, and matching gold-plated Crockett spurs sell for $90,000 and $16,000, respectively. The lavishly tooled, gold-trimmed Buscadero gun rig was made by Nudie’s of North Hollywood for Roy in 1948 and came with two Colt single action revolvers. The gold-plated spurs were Crockett’s popular Pattern 1368 and had 2.5-inch, 20-point gold rowels and Nudie spur straps made to match the holsters and gun belt.

Three weeks after Lebel’s auction, High Noon Western Americana partnered with Christie’s to auction off the remaining museum memorabilia in New York City. An emotional, history-making event, the auction placed Roy’s silver parade saddles, sports memorabilia, costumes, furniture, vehicles and the most famous movie horse, Trigger.

Roy bought Trigger in 1938, and the golden palomino was his partner until the horse died in 1965. I’m sure by now you’ve heard that the stuffed, rearing mount sold for $266,500 to RFD-TV. Another high-selling item was the silver-dollar encrusted and longhorn-adorned Bonneville convertible that Roy and Dale used in special appearances, which brought $254,500.

I doubt the television and film industries will ever see another iconic cowboy couple like Roy and Dale, which is unfortunate for members of Generation X like me and those generations that follow mine. However, I’m someone who looks for the silver lining in every story. Although the closing of the museum and the auctioning of its contents were emotional to the Rogers family and fans, I don’t see the events as the end of the trail, but rather a new trail that will allow collectors and other museums to display the items and share the silver-screen stars’ legacy for those of us who didn’t grow up with our own cowboy and cowgirl heros.

In the words of Roy and Dale, “Happy trails to you, until we meet again.”

~Jennifer

The Silver State Stampede is the oldest rodeo in Nevada.

“So, what brings you to Salt Lake City,” the airport shuttle driver asked me while muscling my many bags and camera cases into the vehicle.

“Actually, I’m headed to Nevada for a weekend getaway,” I replied.

“Vegas and Reno both have airports. Why in the world would you fly here?” he wondered.

This is an all too familiar conversation I have with shuttle drivers each time I go to Nevada. It’s a logical assumption that I’m traveling to Vegas and Reno, as most Nevada-bound vacationers make those cities their destinations. But this cowgirl is not like most. The sagebrush-dotted high desert of northern Nevada calls my name.

When I told the shuttle driver I was headed to Elko, he furrowed his brows and said, “Why?”

I could tell he just didn’t get it and this conversation would go nowhere, so I replied, “Oh, just to attend a little rodeo,” and left it at that.

That little rodeo was the Silver State Stampede, held July 8-10, at the Elko County Fairgrounds. The oldest rodeo in Nevada, the Silver State Stampede was started by legendary bit and spur maker G.S. Garcia in 1913. The gear maker’s legacy continues at the rodeo, with winners of each event receiving a pair of ornate Garcia spurs.

I’d heard buzz about this rodeo for years, so I decided to pack my bags and take a little trip to see what it was all about. The event offered all the slice-of-life charm I appreciate from a small-town rodeo, and surprisingly attracted some of the top competitors in the PRCA. But the rodeo’s wild, Old West ways made it a real cowboy’s rodeo in my mind.

Since 2003, the Silver State Stampede has differentiated itself from other PRCA-sanctioned rodeos by adding ranch bronc riding to its lineup of events. The contest brings 20 working cowboys and buckaroos, mostly from Idaho, Oregon and Nevada, off the their remote ranches and into town to vie for a stash of cash and prizes. It also draws huge local crowds who know and respect these hands, and come primarily to see them compete. Unlike PRCA saddle-bronc riders, Old West bronc riders use their everyday working saddles and can hold on to a rope or nightlatch. That doesn’t give them much advantage though against stock contractor Wally Blossom’s rank, reservation-raised broncs.

Eli Burr won the ranch bronc riding. "I ride each bronc as an individual," he says. "I ususally don't remember one from the other."

This year, the Western States Ranch Rodeo Association (wsrra.org) sanctioned the Old West Bronc Riding. The WSRRA will hold its inaugural championship event this November in Winnemucca, Nevada. Cowboys have competed all year, trying to earn points to qualify for the finals, which I’m told is going to be a great event.

Western Horseman sponsored the bronze trophy at the Silver State Stampede for the Old West Bronc Riding, which is appropriately a cast of Frederic Remington’s sculpture Bronco Buster. The trophy will remain on permanent display at an undetermined venue in Elko, and each year the winner of the bronc riding will have his or her name added to it.

I proudly presented the trophy to this year’s winner, Eli Burr, a buckaroo on the Y-3 near Jackpot, Nevada. Burr, who also won the contest in 2003, scored 73 points in the first round and an 82 in the championship round. He took home a pair of Garcia spurs donated by J.M. Capriola Co., a trophy buckle from Skyline Silversmiths and more than $1,000. Pretty good money to supplement cowboy wages.

A friend described Burr to me as a “bedroll” cowboy, and it fits him to a tee. Raised in Victor, Idaho, he set out to buckaroo right out of high school, working on outfits in Nevada, Oregon and Utah. Moving from ranch to ranch was a way of life for many years, but now the 27-year-old cowboy says he’s reaching a point in his life where he’d like to stay put for a while. However, he added, he still likes to see different places.

“When I started out all I had was a single-cab pickup and a bedroll, so it was easy to pack up and go to the next place,” he says. “Now I have a crew-cab pickup, stock trailer and five horses, which makes it more of a hassle to move.”

I had the honor of presenting Eli Burr with a bronze sponsored by Western Horseman. The trophy will remain in Elko, and Burr's name will be added among the other bronc-riding winners.

His entire life, Burr aspired to be a working cowboy and bronc rider. He competed in saddle bronc riding in high school, but had limited success. Once he discovered ranch bronc riding, though, where he could ride in his ranch saddle, he was hooked. It’s hard for a working cowboy to leave his duties on the ranch, but Burr tries to hit as many ranch bronc riding competitions as he can. The contests have become popular in Idaho, Oregon, California and Nevada, so there are plenty of opportunities for ranch cowboys to meet for some friendly competition, showcase their skills and win some extra gear and money.

Besides the Old West Bronc Riding, the Silver State Stampede also has a team-branding competition, mutton busting for the kids, a trade show, and a live band and dance each night. At the conclusion of each round, the “Ring of Fear”  is held. Those brave (or crazy!) enough to enter, go into a pen where a bull is turned loose. Each contestant stands inside a flour circle and “battles” the bull till there’s only one person left standing in his or her circle. I’d never seen anything like this and was standing on my chair to rise above the crowd to see it. What a way to end an already action-packed rodeo!

The Silver State Stampede exceeded my expectations, and was a good reminder that in this age of pyrotechnics and stage-show rodeos, there’s still a bit of the real West left. I just have to go to Elko to find it.

~Jennifer

R.W. Hampton

Cowboys are a patriotic set. Attend any rodeo or horse event, and there’s always a grand entry with flags flying and time set aside to recognize the different branches of the military and to pay tribute to the United States with the national anthem. You see flags on trucks and trailers, shirts, chaps and saddle blankets. Strands of red, white and blue are woven into everything from fringe and hatbands to horses’ tails. As I celebrated Independence Day this weekend, I took a moment to think about what makes cowboys so loyal to their country, and I asked the cowboys in my life for their opinions.

The obvious conclusion is that the cowboy icon originated in America, although his gear and methods come from a melting pot of horse cultures. His presence and influence, thus that of America, is sought worldwide.

Many of our country’s cowgirls and cowboys, including my own father, at one point in their lives have had to hang up their spurs, leave their home ranges and go to foreign lands to defend our country and its freedoms in combat. It’s those who were able to return and ride again, as well as those who left empty saddles behind, that we owe gratitude on this day and every day.

I also believe that cowboys feel freedom on a deeper level than most people. Few jobs allow a man (or woman) to work solo in wide-open spaces, far from any town or technology, relying only on himself and his horse. He senses the vastness felt by the American Indians and pioneers, the freedom represented by an eagle floating on the wind and a close connection to the the land, animals and the cyclical rights between seasons. There’s a fundamental freedom to his job that captivates most of us who make our livings behind desks.

Just in time for the Four of July, cowboy singer R.W. Hampton of Cimarron, New Mexico, wrote a new song called Note For Sale to honor America and the men and women who have paid the price for our freedom. Best sure to check out his video at this link:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChXt_c0uO…

A member of the brotherhood of working cowboys for many years, Hampton writes songs from experience and sings them from the heart in his smooth baritone voice. This patriotic tune, inspired by the upcoming deployment of his son, U.S. Marine Corps. Sgt. Cooper Hampton, is an appropriate reminder of how lucky we are to have the freedom to live a Western lifestyle, to be able to own and ride horses, and to choose to be a rancher, cowboy, horseman or in my case, a writer of Western ways.

The Western Horseman staff sends its best wishes to the Hampton family and our thanks to Sgt. Hampton for his service to our country. May he make a safe return back home soon.

~Jennifer