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We’ve shared some Wyoming rodeo and ranch cowboy stories with you here and did so with honor over the last few years. I don’t profess to know how all this blogging world works. It’s still a “column” to me – a way to share the latest information we are privileged to receive. But those who do know how this social media stuff is most effectively disseminated explained to me yesterday that we are being repetitive and need to consolidate. So, please stick with us on “The Rodeo Hand” where I’ll still be providing most of the words until they boot me out of here to go to stud. Don’t I wish.

This is adios for “Charlie’s Cowboy Blog” and I tip a hatful of gratitude to those of you who’ve come to visit and share.

Thanks Pard,
Charlie

Calgary Update

It rarely rains hard enough to stop a big professional rodeo and even more unlikely is stoppage of play in Calgary. A severe thunderstorm interrupted the western Canadian action briefly as lightning cracked and hail stones descended to the arena dirt. Mud ensued. It was good mud for University of Wyoming grad Todd Suhn as he won the fourth round of steer wrestling with a time of 4.5 seconds this afternoon. He’ll be back for the big Showdown Sunday at Calgary in which the winner gets a check for $100,000 in each event. Four contestants assured Sunday action by their times and scores today.

Cowboys and cowgirls compete in two groups and Pool A completed work today after four outings at the Calgary Stampede. Each day was a new rodeo with $10,000 up for grabs. Mills, Wyoming bareback rider Kelly Timberman won the first round last Friday spurring to a score of 85.5 points:

Kelly

Timberman was on the legendary Moulin Rouge this afternoon and finished with 82.5 points. Kelly, who won the world championship in his event in 2004, made Showdown Sunday in the Calgary field by earning a total of $10,500 in his four rides.

Ryan Gray, who grew up in Cheyenne and Laramie, was 88.5 points today in Calgary and placed second overall in his pool to insure his return for the $100,000 round.

Christmas Goodies

The long and hard Fourth of July run of rodeos across the western U.S. saw some outstanding performances from Wyoming’s pro rodeo cowboys who wear the colors of Team Wyoming under a sponsorship contract with the state’s tourism office. It is the only signed agreement in the U.S. between a state agency and professional rodeo athletes.

The 2004 world champ in bareback riding is co-champion of the 2010 Prescott, Arizona rodeo which is touted as the oldest event of its kind in the country. Kelly Timberman of Mills, Wyoming scored an 86 in Prescott to strike the pay window for $4,800. Kelly won the Williams Lake, British Columbia rodeo that paid $3,200 and was in fine spirits after his July 3 outing for 84 points at the Cody Stampede netting another $1,400:

Kelly_cody
Timberman bounced up to #10 in the world standings following his “Cowboy Christmas” performances collecting nearly $16,000.

Midwest, Wyoming steer wrestler Les Shepperson showed his mettle by winning the Greeley (Colorado) Stampede over the Fourth and doing so with a strained MCL in his right knee. Les is now 31st in the world standings.

Gillette’s Chet Johnson is working with a similar injury situation only his MCL issue is with the left knee. Nonetheless, Johnson won the Black Hills Roundup in Belle Fourche spurring to score 87 points on Powder River Rodeo’s Sundown to snare $3,700. He gathered another $ 1,100 at St. Paul, OR and is currently 34th in the bronc riding world standings.

Kanin Asay of Powell won the championship round of the Cody-Yellowstone Xtreme Bulls event in Cody, July 5. Asay pocketed a total of $7,700 toward his attempt to make the national finals in Vegas come December. We anxiously await the July 25 broadcast on ESPN2 of the Cody event.

Gillette bull rider Bobby Welsh has jumped to 20th in the world standings following a Cowboy Christmas dash that included a third-place finish at St. Paul, Oregon where Welsh scored an 88-point ride. The three other Team Wyoming bull riders – Clayton Savage of Casper, Asay, and Seth Glause of Rock Springs – are each within striking distance of the Top 15 holding down positions 25, 30 and 37 respectively.

Glause is a two-event cowboy and left the Cody Stampede pleased with his 86-point bronc ride that provided a paycheck of $5,000:

Seth_cody
Casper’s Jhett Johnson (heeler) has joined forces with the man who leads all headers thus far in 2010. Turtle Powell of Texas and Johnson will be throwing with gusto to get a national finals team roping bid. Johnson is currently in the #25 spot. The pair won third and more than $60,000 at the recent Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping Classic in Reno. Unfortunately that cash doesn’t count in the world standings race.

Jingle Bells

There is darting through the air and dancing in the dirt for another Cowboy Christmas is here. Pro rodeo celebrates the yuletide season in late June and early July when the large number of events that pay well are condensed into a two-week period anchored by the Fourth of July.

Fireworks came early for a few of Wyoming’s top hands. Clayton Savage of Casper won the bull riding at Evergreen, CO and took co-champ honors in North Platte, NE. the same weekend (June 19-20) to collect another $3,400 toward a quest to make his second NFR.

2004 world champion bareback rider Kelly Timberman of Mills, WY gathered a nice $5,000 payday by spurring to a score of 88 points to win the 50th annual Daines Ranch Rodeo in Innisfail, Alberta June 20.

Kelly travels with his wife, Charidie, and their movements over the next few days are typical of what the pros must do over the Fourth. Timberman was up in Prescott, Arizona Tuesday and then popped up in Alberta, Canada yesterday. Entries are made at Williams Lake, British Columbia and St. Paul, Oregon before returning to the home-state Cody Stampede, July 3.

The big doings at Cody will conclude Monday, July 5 with the popular Cody-Yellowstone Xtreme Bulls event. Pro rodeos finest bull riders – 40 of them – are entered in that one. It’s a really good show and we hope to see you at the Stampede over the Fourth and Xtreme Bulls on the 5th.

Wyoming will have tables set up in front of the Cody arena where we’ll hand out our latest DVDs and other freebies. Several of the pro rodeo cowboys who wear our Team Wyoming moniker will be on hand to sign autographs.

Here’s the Wyoming line-up for Xtreme Bulls in Cody:

First Section – Bobby Welsh Gillette drew Cowboy Cool; Kanin Asay of Powell is on Dopey; and Tyler Willis from Wheatland has a swim scheduled with Josey Whales. Those bulls are all products of stock contractor JS Rodeo.

Second Section – No Wyoming bull riders but this section features reigning champ J.W. Harris, Cody Hancock, Dustin Elliott, Jesse Bail, and Clint Craig among others.

Third Section: Will Farrell of Thermopolis drew Bojangles and Clearmont’s Charlie Gorzalka is on Uh Oh. Both of those bulls belong to Frontier Rodeo.

Section Four – Seth Glause of Rock Springs, who won $1,100 last weekend at a Canadian rodeo, swings for a Home Run. That bull is owned by host stock contractor Mo Betta Rodeo.

Section Five – Clayton Savage of Casper drew Mo Betta bull Otis.

Tickets for the Cody-Yellowstone Xtreme Bulls are $20 for adults and $10 for children under the age of 12. Buy online at codystampederodeo.com or by calling 1-800-207-0744.

Kaycee a Must See

We’ve been road warriors for about six weeks now covering the progress and completion of “Good Ride Cowboy” – a life-and-a-half size bronze of Chris LeDoux spurring Stormy Weather to a world championship. Artist/sculptor Mike Thomas of Buffalo, WY placed a replica in bronze of LeDoux’s favorite Guild guitar as base of the piece which weighs in at 3,500 pounds. Lori Hogan and Kristin Phipps of our staff helped out at the dedication ceremony Saturday in Kaycee where the population of 300 was multiplied by ten. LeDoux fans, friends and family came together for what Western Underground guitarist Mark Sissel aptly termed a “reunion.”

Lori and Kristin took a lot of pictures and we’d like to share them here:

Chris LeDoux Park Tribute

Our Mike McCrimmon is providing video footage to GAC (Great American Country) for airing by the network’s popular host, and big Chris LeDoux fan, Storme Warren on his show called “Headline Country.” We’ll let you know when to watch for that. In the meantime, Mike put together some shots for you to enjoy:

LeDoux sat

Once the tarp was pulled away it was clear that Chris LeDoux will live forever and his fans including Garth Brooks still ache to be in the presence of Chris’ smile or an unwitting participant in one of his practical jokes.

Chris LeDoux Memorial Park is not hard to find in downtown Kaycee. Please stop by, rest and reflect, the next time you’re in the vicinity. No doubt a LeDoux tune will come to mind. For me it was “Tougher than the Rest.”

Rest in Peace Wyoming cowboy. We miss you very, very much.

Our office has coupled the “Tribute to Chris LeDoux” DVD with a new one chronicling the making of the bronze. If you are interested in obtaining the collector’s set contact us or call the Chris LeDoux Memorial Foundation directly at: 307-738-2322.

Cowboy Catch-Up
The big news so far this summer rodeo season, in terms of the men who carry on smartly for Team Wyoming, is injury. Jason Miller, the 2007 world champion steer wrestler, broke a bone in his shoulder and suffered a partial tear of a rotator cuff when a steer stopped short on him during a run at Cody. Jason is taking six weeks off and has been told by Justin Medicine’s Dr. Tandy Freeman not to haze either if he expects to heal enough to compete again this year. Miller has a good attitude and is keeping his chin up. “Things could be a lot worse. Six weeks or six months isn't the end of the world for me. I will back at them sooner or later and with a vengeance,” Miller wrote me in an email. Jason will have Dr. Freeman’s crew check things over early at Cheyenne Frontier Days and if the outcome is positive he’ll return to action for CFD. If not, surgery would be the appropriate course to follow.

Kanin Asay, who won the bull riding at the national finals last December, is nursing a bad tear to his right palm sustained when stepped on in a chute a few weeks ago in Canada. The Powell, Wyoming bull rider feels ready to go for Cowboy Christmas starting in a few days and running through the Fourth of July – actually July 5 at the Xtreme Bulls event in Cody. The draws and dates over much of Cowboy Christmas aren’t pleasing to Asay and he, Bobby Welsh and Chance Smart won’t be able to let their seats cool on the plane they’ve chartered to make a run at the Top 15.

The lone Team Wyoming player in that coveted Top 15 headed into Cowboy Christmas is Mills, Wyoming man Kelly Timberman. The 2004 world champion bareback rider is in the 13th spot and ready to make his move upward.

LeDoux Bronze is Coming Together

A heroic size bronze monument of Chris LeDoux spurring to a world championship in bareback riding will be dedicated in Kaycee, Wyoming June 19th. Many Wyoming people had a hand in the four-year effort. Here is a video update on the project as it nears completion:

news bronze

Chris LeDoux won the world championship in 1976 and his music career was highlighted by his band’s wildly popular concert performances particularly at venues connected with rodeos across the western U.S. LeDoux died of a rare form of cancer in 2005. He was 56 years old. He has been enshrined in both the Cheyenne Frontier Days and professional rodeo halls of fame. The schedule of events for the Kaycee park and bronze dedication can be found at: www.kayceewyoming.com.

Those who are making plans to overnight in the Kaycee area should contact the Kaycee Chamber of Commerce at the website listed above. There may be some camping spots available but most space it taken. The few motel rooms have been booked so it would be best to check in Buffalo or Casper.

We’ve been chronicling the building stages of the very impressive monument – along with the park’s progress – and will be showing that 15-minute video a number of times in downtown Kaycee, adjacent to the park, leading up to the bronze unveiling.

Steer Ropers Get Their Due

Wyoming hosted the first-ever National Circuit Finals Steer Roping this month in Torrington. It was good to hear the expertise of announcer Jim Thompson and great to see so many younger ropers compete. Harold Bumguardner is one of the seasoned fellows instrumental in getting the event staged. Harold won the all-around at Cheyenne in ’84 and it was a real pleasure interviewing him then as it was in Torrington:

Torrington rope 4-26-10 Project 1-MPEG-4

Harold Bumguardner now lives in Torrington. He owns not only a Cheyenne all-around buckle but has also won championships at the Daddy in steer roping and senior steer roping.

WYO Man picks up a little CA Cash

Powell, Wyoming bull rider Kanin Asay was able to make a trip to the pay window to close out the Clovis, California rodeo this past weekend. Asay’s 85-point ride on a bull called Triple Threat was good enough for fifth place and $1,100.00

Asay’s good friend and fellow bull rider Chance Smart won the Clovis event scoring a 90 on Burch Rodeo’s (Rozet, WY) Magic Man.

Powder River Passing Reins

The Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo last week and over the weekend gave us a great opportunity to spend time with the people that are behind the scenes but without whom we wouldn’t have a sport.

The Wyoming stock contractors on hand in Pocatello included Hal and Pete Burns of Burns Rodeo Co. in Laramie, Bill and Dona Vold Larsen from Triple V Rodeo in Casper and a whole pick-up load of the Franzen family representing Powder River Rodeo Co. out of Riverton. Hank and Lori Franzen started their bucking horse company with animals they purchased from the legendary Johnny Morris. Genetics have held strong and Powder River is now widely recognized as one of the top contractors in the business. The Franzens’ have encouraged their kids to be a part of rodeo and son John was one of the most active people in the mix at Pocatello. We had the chance to meet him behind the chutes before the rodeo one evening and give you the same opportunity here:

Powder River Rodeo

The Franzens’ daughter Jill ran sound at the national circuit finals and she is a gifted representative of a new generation melding rodeo and music.

LeDoux Day Approaches

The Chris LeDoux bronze and park dedication event is coming together nicely. A schedule of events is now posted by the folks in Kaycee. You can review it here: www.kayceewyoming.org

We’ll have another update posted on the bronze next week with Buffalo, Wyoming sculptor Mike Thomas as our guest of honor.

The Divine Miss C

A very big and beautiful Wyoming horse bucked to perfection and carried bronc rider Jesse Wright to the championship at the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho last night. Miss Congeniality is a 12-year-old who has been recognized as the best there is and is sure to attain that status again if she continues through the summer at the pace set Saturday night in the championship round. Wright had never been on the horse owned by Powder River Rodeo Co. of Riverton, WY but he knew it would be a challenge just to get his legs in place:

Miss Congeniality411

The 87-point-ride was worth $5,600 to Wright who netted more than $11K in Pocatello. Stock Contractor John Franzen spent some time with us in Idaho this week to talk about his family’s operation near Riverton. We’ll have that story for you here next week.

Cody Roper Slings Steady

Cody,WY team roper Justin Viles and partner Matt Robertson won money in every round at Pocatello including a second-place finish and $4,200 in the championship final tilt with a time of 6.3 seconds:

wyo team roper

Viles earned more than $7,600 heeling at the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo.

Little Bo Bucks

A four-year-old bull owned by Burns Rodeo Co. of Laramie may be called Little Bo but he makes big bucks for those who can stay on for the eight-second buzzer. World champ J.W. Harris did so last night and the resulting 90 points sent J-Dub to the finals where he won his third Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo bull riding crown. Little Bo was a blast to watch:

Bull411

That was Little Bo owner Hal Burns giving the thumbs up to Little Bo who was named bull of the show in Pocatello.

Ryan Shines

Words of praise must be given to bareback rider Ryan Gray. He continues to show class every step of his pro rodeo life. He won Pocatello netting nearly $20,000 to take his 2010 total to nearly $100,000 with the summer still to come.

Burns' Bulls

Anyone who knows Pete Burns realizes he would not likely have a son who didn’t talk and so we thought Hal Burns might be delightfully insightful behind the chutes chatting up his charges. Hal didn’t disappoint. Burns Rodeo Company of Laramie provided five of the dozen bulls that closed out first round action last night at the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho. Only one was topped for a score. Several great riders could not keep their seats including world champion J.W. Harris on a Burns’ favorite, Kid Twist. We give your now, through the skills of our video man Mike McCrimmon, the irrepressible Hal Burns. Our video closes with Hal’s smiling watch of another Wyoming bull – “Q” – owned by Dancing Dona Vold Larsen of Triple V Rodeo Co. in Casper:

Bull

Hal Burns was right about Utah’s Steve Woolsey. He scored an 80 and is in great shape to make the Saturday finals should he stay on for the whistle tonight.

Wyoming Horse’s a Round Winner

A Powder River Rodeo Co. horse called Show Boat rollicked out of the chute last night carrying reigning world champion bareback rider Bobby Mote to a first round win at the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho. Mote and the Riverton, Wyoming based bucking horse have a steady relationship finishing in the money and last night’s score of 86 took Bobby to the pay window for a $4,600 check. Mote noted his background on Show Boat in recounting the latest outing:

bobbymote

Ryan Gray, who won the $50,000 prize at Rodeo Houston this year and travels with Mote, placed second in Pocatello’s first round. Gray grew up in Cheyenne and Laramie.

More Pocatello first round money winners with Wyoming connections:

Steer wrestlers Dean Gorsuch of Gering, NE placed second with a 5.0 run ($3,500) and Todd Suhn – Hermosa, SD – at 5.9 ($700) finished sixth. Both men attended the University of Wyoming and were outstanding members of the Poke rodeo team.

Justin Viles of Cody threw a fourth/fifth slot finish (5.9 seconds) in the team roping netting $1,300 for the heeler.

WYO Bulls Shine

Half of the bulls bucked out in Pocatello last night are Wyoming bred, and ornery. Only one was topped to the eight-second whistle. Our video producer Mike McCrimmon had a microphone on stock contractor Hal Burns of Laramie’s Burns Rodeo Co. and we’ll be giving you the rare chance to be in the middle of all the action once the footage is compiled a bit later this morning. You will want to come back to hear and see Hal’s crack commentary. It is not to be missed.

Two New Sparks

Congratulations and a rousing “here, here” to pro bullfighter Jeremy Sparks and his wife Jamie of Cheyenne. The Sparks’ are proud parents of twin boys born at 3:45 this morning in Denver. Jett came into this world at 6 pounds, I ounce and 19.5 inches long. Jude weighed five pounds and is 18.5 inches. Jamie had a rough go over the last couple of weeks and our happy thoughts are with her today.

Casper Cowboy

“Casper ain’t prettified or gussied up. It’s a working stiff town. Cowboys and oil workers. Beer and guns. But it’s also a tolerant place that welcomes anyone who shares an affinity for open land and a do-as-you-please way of life.”
              - Men’s Journal magazine, April 2010

We’ve come to know a number of folks who live the western life in the Casper vicinity. One of our favorite’s Jhett Johnson. The pro rodeo team roping heeler is back on the family ranch west of Casper after a winter rodeo season that saw him gather up about $11,000 and sustain a position well within striking distance of the coveted Top 15.

We ran into Jhett a couple of weeks ago in Casper where he had to pick up some medicine for a sick calf. He hadn’t heard about the recognition in the current issue of Men’s Journal magazine that if you want to be a cowboy, Casper is the best place in the U.S. to do it. I read Jhett the quote that opens this story and here’s how he reacted:

Jhett 3-31-2010Project 1-MPEG-4

Jhett Johnson on the family ranch and many other rodeo and ranch scenes are compiled in a new Wyoming DVD “Rodeo Road” we have produced for free distribution to those who have interests in such matters. And if you are reading this blog, we take it you do. Just drop a line to: info@visitwyo.gov and put Rodeo Road DVD in the subject line (be sure to include your mailing address) or call us toll-free at: 800.225.5996

Houston Wrap-Up

The battleship that is Rodeo Houston has come to dock for 2010 and leaves in its wake a Wyoming bred champ in the bareback riding who climbs to the top of the world standings after cashing the $50,000 Shoot-Out Round paycheck. Ryan Gray has many relatives in the “Cowboy State” and in nearby Colorado. Ryan lives in Washington but he’s got Wyoming credentials that include growing up in both Cheyenne and Laramie. He’s a college graduate and a Christian athlete that almost always has a smile on his face even when fighting through the physical pain all pro bareback riders have to endure. The pay-per-view broadcast of Rodeo Houston allowed us to capture the action at the finals over the weekend. Here are Gray’s two rides Saturday and part of his arena interview in front of 70,000 rodeo fans:

Ryan

Team Wyoming bull riders Bobby Welsh and Seth Glause got to the finals in Houston and while they were sprung early, the young men from Gillette and Rock Springs respectively pocketed healthy enough amounts of cash to hold down spots in the Top 30. Welsh made a beautiful wild card round ride of 85 to make the Saturday finals and adopted a new piece of headgear replacing his hat with a helmet:

Bobby Houston recut

Welsh said he wore a helmet for a few rides in high school and knew he could adapt to one easily. He has, adding: “I didn’t even realize I had one on.” Congratulations to Bobby and Sunni as they await their fourth in the fall.

Wheatland’s Tyler Willis finished second in the Houston XTreme Bulls competition and that money sent the traveling partner of Seth Glause to the #19 spot of the current world standings.

A Wyoming horse carried one of pro rodeo’s most respected champs to a second win in Houston. Rod Hay, who is 40 and won Houston for the first time in 1989, topped the 2010 Houston bronc riding on a Burch Rodeo Co. (Rozet, WY) horse called Lunatic Fringe:

lunatic

And we simply can’t put Houston in the record books without making note of another outstanding showing for Meeteetse, Wyoming bullfighter Dusty Tuckness. He never ceases to amaze with his displays of courage in the face of battle. Here is just one example from the two-and-a-half weeks of Houston’s bruising affair:

dusty

RodeoHouston Update

Gillette, Wyoming bull rider Bobby Welsh has won a round and placed in another at the huge Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. His best outing was on a bull called “Big D” – a son of the famous bucking bull, Durango. Bobby stuck to his seat for a round-winning score of 88:



Total Houston money pocketed by Welsh so far nets at $4,750. There is a quite the pot o’ gold at the end of the RodeoHouston rainbow. A check for $50,000 is awarded each event winner once the field is narrowed to four by the finals, March 21.

Kelly Timberman, the 2004 world champion bareback rider, is in the money at RodeoHouston. The Mills, WY man who recently got hitched at a ceremony in Cheyenne, spurred a score of 81.5 last night to win $1,000. Here’s a look at his outing:



Kelly is second in his grouping at Houston and totals 160.5 on two rides. He’ll likely be headed to the semi-finals representing Wyoming in the bareback competition while Bobby Welsh will make the semis with his two scores for a total of 169.5 in bull riding.

A Good Ride

Tom Parker went to high school rodeos in Wyoming with Chris LeDoux. Parker hailed from Lander and Chris competed out of Cheyenne. Tom was later called to military service and chose college afterward. Now he is the highly-regarded rodeo coach at Casper College. Among his charges in the last decade has been Chris’ son, Beau. “Chris would come out whenever he wasn’t on the road. He was very helpful,” said Parker. Family was everything to Chris LeDoux.

But in those early days all that mattered was riding bareback horses. He had a vast reservoir of “try.” He listened to the older riders and adapted his occasionally out-of-control style accordingly. Chris’ power was in his persistence…and guts. And you could see it all in his face. “I did everything I could to match that trademark grimace,” artist Mike Thomas told me this week. The Buffalo, Wyoming sculptor’s “Good Ride Cowboy” is being created in a bigger-than-life bronze statue that is now in the hands of the capable Hall family and their valued employees at Caleco (kah-LEE-ko) Foundry in Cody.

Our capable cameraman and editor, Mike McCrimmon, joined me at Caleco last Thursday evening to catch up on the LeDoux bronze progress. Let us share our findings with you here:



We’ll be visiting with Mike Thomas in his Buffalo studio in the near future and will return with an update in short order.

On this day we remember with sadness the loss of Chris LeDoux five years ago. There is anticipation too. Seeing that statue unveiled in Kaycee on land Chris and Peggy own will be very, very special. One of their boys used a pair of Chris’ boots to create prints in the still wet cement of the walk that leads to the statue. The prints fade and finally disappear at the statue base. He is still with us. Just listen to the wind.

The Legacy of LeDoux

By Chuck Coon

Tomorrow will mark the fifth anniversary of Chris LeDoux’ passing. He represented the face, and spirit, of Wyoming to many thousands of people across our land and on many foreign soils. “His music helped me make it through my tour in Desert Storm in 91-92,” writes Craig Young in a Facebook entry. The social media outlet was originated as a tribute to Ledoux by Scott Sterrett of Wild Bunch Productions in Casper six months ago.

There are now more than 20,800 fans on the Chris Ledoux Tribute Rodeo Facebook site sharing personal memories of LeDoux. A man and his wife measure their driving trips by how many Chris LeDoux CDs they will listen to along the route. A married couple writes that their first date was a Chris LeDoux concert. One young man was buying a box set of LeDoux music in Nashville when the clerk told him of Chris’ death that day. “I broke down and cried in the Ernest Tubb Record Shop,” he writes.

Sterrett tells us that Garth Brooks has signed on to the Facebook site devoted to Chris LeDoux’s memory. I can tell you Garth did not hide his tears standing in the LeDoux kitchen near Kaycee, Wyoming where family and friends were gathered for a private memorial five years ago.

We spoke with Chris a few times. He was always willing to help a good cause whether promoting the move of the College National Finals Rodeo to Casper or offering his home country as a setting for public service announcements marking the Wyoming Centennial in 1990. He may have come to Wyoming from Texas, but Chris LeDoux was Wyoming through and through.
A cold day in 1965 offered a shivery Cheyenne welcome to the LeDoux clan. “I think it was ten below the first day we got here,” recalled Chris. “It was a little hard to get used to. But spring came and it was wonderful.” And there was a very large rodeo arena just a half-mile down the road from the family residence.

Chris LeDoux had already won a buckle at a rodeo in Texas and now he was within spittin’ distance of the chutes where all of the greatest champions in the world had competed. By 1968 LeDoux entered Cheyenne Frontier Days and the next year he placed in the bareback riding on a horse called “Chicken Fry.” He came back to the ready area and heard “Good Ride Chris” from several of his rodeo heroes. “I didn’t think they even knew my name. It was kind of like I was born right there in Cheyenne,” remembered LeDoux.

Five years later Chris came into the Cheyenne Sunday Finals ahead by ten points and felt that champion’s buckle within reach. It was not to be. Joe Alexander (The Great) spurred a bareback riding record score of 93 that day – a mark that would stay atop the pro rodeo record books for decades. LeDoux was nudged out by one point.

It was a blow for Chris LeDoux but he moved on and would rise to the world championship in bareback riding in 1976. He had fallen in love with a Wyoming girl and he was writing lyrics to match his guitar picking ever since his Mom, Bonnie, had bought him a Harmony guitar at Jay’s Music Store in Cheyenne.

People would come from long distances to buy tapes of Chris LeDoux’s music on sale under the grandstands at the Cheyenne rodeo. After those “worn-out tapes” made a line in a Garth Brooks song, Chris LeDoux with his band Western Underground would become hugely successful. Their appearances at the Cheyenne Frontier Days night shows in the 1990s were raucous, rowdy, and loud affairs. No one sat down for long except when Chris settled a little to sing a few of his favorites. Ed Bruce wrote a song that was a staple of LeDoux’ live shows for rodeo crowds in the West. We are pleased and grateful to offer you it – in its entirety – here:

While we miss him and wish he was still up there giving everything for the brand, we have Chris’ music and soon we’ll have a wonderful town park in Kaycee built on two lots the LeDoux family had purchased in the heart of the tiny downtown.

Sculptor D. Michael Thomas of Buffalo, WY is going to be on hand for a bronze dedication, June 19. Western Underground will perform after the bronze is unveiled. There aren’t many motel rooms in Kaycee so if you are planning to attend look at staying in Casper or Buffalo. You can sure check Kaycee but those rooms will be taken very soon.  

The event will be laid back and informal. We’ll visit with one another and reminisce. Emcee Bob Price of KTWO Radio in Casper is scheduled to keep us informed leading up to the showing of Thomas’ bronze “Good Ride Cowboy.” It’s Chris in the midst of his world championship ride with a guitar as a base. The size is life-and-a-half. Our video man Mike McCrimmon and I got a look at progress last week at the Caleco Foundry in Cody. We’ll give you an update here tomorrow.

When I die you can bury me beneath these western skies.

Yippie Yi!

Thanks Pard.

Miller Tackles Tucson

A wet last of February day at the Tucson rodeo ended by floating a nice and dry champion’s paycheck to Lance Creek, Wyoming steer wrestler Jason Miller. He wasn’t even going to compete in the Arizona affair this year because of the rain and potential for a thick, soupy arena that can, and has, fostered injuries to bulldoggers and their horses. Miller’s three runs totaled out at 20.5 seconds – good enough to win the average and a Tucson champion’s buckle. We spoke with the 2007 world champion today about his rainy run on Sunday:



Miller rode a good horse owned by fellow Wyoming steer wrestler Les Shepperson of Midwest who isn’t able to enter some of the big winter rodeos in Texas because of a serious injury last year in Houston that prevents Les from qualifying in 2010.

Miller’s earnings will move Jason well into the Top Ten of the current world standings heading into the long and laborious RodeoHouston which covers three weeks of March.

Cowboys Meet Lawmakers

There were a lot of “Sirs” and “Mams” floating around the Little America Resort in Cheyenne this week. Five professional rodeo cowboys took time away from their pursuits in the warmth of Texas and Arizona to meet Wyoming legislators and people in the tourism industry here who have supported the only state program in the nation that sponsors contestants that have risen to the level of competing at the national finals. Those who came to sign autographs, meet & greet, and otherwise mingle included bull riders Kanin Asay and Bobby Welsh, bronc and bull rider Seth Glause, bronc rider Chet Johnson and bullfighter Dusty Tuckness. Coming off his first national finals, Tuckness is going to spend the first three weeks of March dashing and darting about RodeoHouston.



The winter rodeo season is in full swing and already there are injuries being nursed by Kanin Asay and Chet Johnson. Kanin, of Powell, WY, won the bull riding at the NFR in Las Vegas last December. He told us his last three bull rides this year have ended with hang ups. Muscles are strained and bruised as a result. “I just have to stop ridin’ like a sissy,” Asay said. Johnson is from Gillette. The reigning Canadian Champion bronc rider was stepped on after a dismount in Rapid City, SD earlier this month. Chet suffered a concussion and had to have stitches near his right eye. He feels better but is clearly not at a hundred percent.

The just-completed San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo was good to a few of Team Wyoming’s pokes. Clayton Savage of Casper made the finals in bull riding but did not score there. He came in with about $2,500 in winnings though and picked up another $4K in the San Antonio Xtreme Bulls event. Savage is sitting at #28 of the world standings. Jhett Johnson from Casper was also in the San Antonio finals with team roping pard Steve Purcella. They were just out of the money with a 5.4 second run but added over $3,000 to their earnings total thus far in 2010. Jhett is now just out of the Top 15 for heelers.

Kelly Timberman from Mills, WY is off to a nice start this year now married to his sweetheart Charidie. Timberman is holding down the #9 position in the bareback riding world standings and won about $1,500 in San Antonio. He’ll be among a large contingent of the Wyoming team members competing in Tucson this weekend.

Jason Miller of Lance Creek who is bull dogging with authority in 20-10 finds himself in the average lead heading into the finals weekend at Tucson. Miller has grappled two head in 13 flat. He is in the lucky #13 spot in the pro steer wrestling world standings.

WYO Timed Event Tango

There’s some new pep in the big steps of Wyoming’s Jhett Johnson and Jason Miller. Their 2010 pro rodeo season began with each winning their respective events at the SandHills Stock Show & Rodeo in Odessa, TX.

Miller, the 2007 world champion steer wrestler, dogged a pair in 8.1 seconds and collected more than $3,500:




The Lance Creek, Wyoming native opens 2010 in the number eight position of the world standings.

Johnson and team roping partner Steve Purcella split the Odessa average with another pair of team ropers but a three paycheck total (two rounds and the average - $4,422) in Odessa is good enough to set Jhett sixth in the world standings for heelers to start the year: