A working cowboy's everyday duties included
riding, roping, branding, horse breaking, and the like, and these activities
often served also as his pastime. In the spring, when various ranches
cooperated in the roundup, men competed informally, wagering on the fastest
roper, the best horse breaker. In Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona,
large ranches often encouraged "cowboy contests" in roping, riding, and
horse breaking, and the sport of
rodeo evolved
from them in the late nineteenth century.
Ranch rodeo-type events in early Oklahoma are
documented in interviews in the Indian-Pioneer Papers and in local
newspapers. Such was the case with contests held near
Dewey,
Covington,
Britton,
Bromide, and
other ranching communities around the turn of the century. Often called
"round-ups" or "cowpuncher reunions" at first, these informal rodeos were
later promoted as "frontier days" or "pioneer days" by canny officials in
nearby towns. The Dewey Roundup, held since 1908, is an example.
Many early-day professional rodeo cowboys
started in ranch rodeos or community rodeos. Traveling extravaganzas like
the
Miller Brothers' 101 Ranch Wild West show
were not ranch rodeos; the cowboys were paid performers. As rodeos
became more organized, and prizes and prize money became available, a rodeo
circuit developed. In the 1930s and 1940s the sport became increasingly
professionalized, with organizers, entry fees, and livestock contractors.
Working cowboys (those who really did ranch work for a living) were
correspondingly excluded from the traveling circuit.
Ranch rodeos, however, remained popular
pastimes for Oklahoma's working cowboys well into the twenty-first century.
The various competitive categories in ranch rodeo have always reflected the
everyday chores associated with cattle raising. The skills have never
differed from those of the professionals, but working cowboys did not
"specialize" in one or two events. Like regular ranch work, the ranch rodeo
emphasizes all-around skills and teamwork. Events usually include calf
"branding" (using chalk), steer "mugging" (throwing and tying a yearling
steer), wild cow milking, team roping, and team penning. Occasionally there
are rough stock (bucking) events and horse racing. The spectacle associated
with Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo is generally not a feature
of ranch rodeo.
In the 1980s and 1990s the
Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, the
American Cowboy Ranch Rodeo Association, the Working Cowboys Rodeo
Association, and the Oklahoma Ranch Rodeo Cowboys Association have regularly
sponsored competitions, with each ranch providing a team of four, five, or
more cowhands. Among the well-known, consistent winners have been
Hitch Ranch (Guymon),
Daube Cattle Company and Three C's Ranch (Ardmore),
Chain Ranch (Canton),
Drummond Ranch (Pawhuska),
Stuart Ranch (Caddo),
M Bar Ranch (Checotah),
Merrick Ranch (Sayre),
DOK Ranch (Lane), and Rocking R Ranch (Atoka).
A few outfits still sponsor a local ranch rodeo; for instance, the annual
Lipe Ranch Rodeo near
Claremore
began in 1948.
Like professional rodeos, local roundup
clubs, riding clubs, and roping clubs, Oklahoma's ranch rodeos are still a
dynamic part of the state's cultural landscape. Ranch rodeo preserves the
history of early Oklahoma's cattle-raising economy and also graphically
illustrates a conscious effort to maintain rural values and traditions in
spite of a century of ever-increasing urbanization.
SEE ALSO:
RANCHING,
RECREATION AND ENTERTAINMENT,
RODEO,
WILD WEST SHOWS AND PERFORMERS.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lawrence Clayton, "Ranch Rodeo: An Expansion of Ranch Life Ritual,"
Western Folklore 49 (July 1990). Tim Farley, "Rodeo Shows Working Cowboy
Skills," Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City), 20 March 1988. Linda
Martin, "Annual Lipe Ranch Rodeo Offers Wild, Woolly Times," Tulsa
(Oklahoma) World, 1 August 1993. Willard Porter, "One of Oklahoma's
Pioneer-Days Steer Ropings Occurred at Bromide in 1913," The Wild Bunch
[Rodeo Historical Society] 8 (February 1986). Willard Porter, "'Best of the
West' Reflects Rodeo's Roots," The Wild Bunch [Rodeo Historical
Society] 9 (December 1987). Beverly J. Stoeltje, "Rodeo From Custom to
Ritual," Western Folklore 48 (July 1989).
Dianna Everett
© Oklahoma Historical Society
