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HADLEY BARRETT |
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This ranch-raised Nebraskan started his career as a contestant and formed his own dance band, but found his place in rodeo history behind the microphone. A PRCA member since 1965, Hadley Barrett has announced all of the big rodeos and a great number of the smaller ones across the country. He has been the voice of the Sidney (Iowa) Championship Rodeo since 1983; worked the Buffalo Bill Rodeo for more than 30 years; the Greeley (Colo.) Stampede for more than 20 years; and worked for more than a decade at Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days. Barrett, born Sept. 18, 1929, in North Platte, Neb., was named PRCA Announcer of the Year in 1983, 1985, 1989 and 2002. He has worked four National Finals Rodeos (1968, 1976, 1979 and 1983) and the 1967 National Finals Steer Roping, as well as called the action at the Canadian Finals seven times. He has worked as an NFR television announcer since 1980. He was among the first to announce while on horseback and has always been credited with an honest approach to arena accidents and mishaps. Barrett’s legacy is his willingness to share his talent and experience with others. He is known for taking rookie announcers under his wing and sharing hard-earned information. |
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JOE BEAVER |
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Joe Beaver grew up dreaming of being a professional rodeo cowboy. Beaver, born Oct. 13, 1965, in Victoria, Texas, began his roping career at the age of 5, roping goats from the back of a Shetland pony in his family’s practice pen. By 15, Beaver was making waves through the roping world. In 1985 at the age of 20, Beaver won the PRCA Resistol Rookie of the Year award and entered the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Las Vegas as the youngest tie-down roper. After 10 days of intense competition, he left Las Vegas with his first world title, and Thomas & Mack Arena became known as “the house that Joe built.” Beaver would return to Las Vegas many more times to collect four additional world tie-down roping titles and three world all-around titles. When injuries forced him out of competition for most of 1999, Beaver still made the trip to the NFR – this time as a television commentator for ESPN. He returned in 2000 to win his third all-around title, rallying from $75,000 behind. Beaver, still a force in the PRCA, has qualified for 19 Wrangler NFRs. |
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HUGH BENNETT |
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Hugh Bennett influenced the sport of rodeo in and out of the arena. Bennett, born Sept. 19, 1905, in Knox City, Texas, won the steer wrestling world title in 1932 and the steer roping title in 1938. He became the first secretary/treasurer of the Cowboys’ Turtle Association, serving from October 1936 until 1941. All the while, he continued to compete and with the help of his wife, Josie, ran the office from the trunk of his car. A powerful voice in the administration, Bennett was very influential in the ascension of the Turtle Association that later became the Rodeo Cowboys Association and eventually the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1975. Forty-three years after the Cowboys’ Turtle Association was formed, Bennett remained active in professional rodeo and was a founder of the Hall of Champions in Colorado Springs, Colo. Bennett died July 15, 1994. |
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JOSIE McEUEN BENNETT |
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Behind every good man is a good woman and this was the case with Josie Bennett. Josie’s husband, Hugh, was a world champion steer wrestler and roper and served as the Cowboys’ Turtle Association’s first secretary/treasurer. Josie, born July 10, 1903, in Graham County, Ariz., devoted much of her time to the Association during its struggles in the late 1930s and her contribution was vital to its survival. Through her husband’s position in the Association, she was responsible for the bookkeeping and correspondence for the cowboys. A daughter of pioneer Arizona cattle rancher Ed McEuen, Josie grew up at Fort Thomas, a former cavalry post near the San Carlos Apache Indian reservation. She taught school in the area until her marriage in 1930. Her sister, Lois, married Everett Bowman, another founder of the Turtle Association and its president for several years. She preceded her husband in death on Oct. 4, 1985. |
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BOBBY BERGER |
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Bobby Berger’s first world championship in 1979 was won by a margin of $5 over Tom Miller of Faith, S.D. Born June 22, 1945, in Halstead, Kan., Berger competed successfully in all three roughstock events. He qualified 13 times for the National Finals Rodeo, winning aggregate titles in bull riding in 1971 and saddle bronc riding in 1980. From 1976-78, the PRCA honored two champions. The world champion was determined by most money won at the NFR and the other was a PRCA champion, based on total season earnings. In 1977, Berger won the PRCA championship in saddle bronc riding with $25,431. Berger, a former member of the PRCA Board of Directors, is thought to have been the first cowboy to ride Descent, the famous bronc of Beutler Brothers Company. |
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OTE BERRY |
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Although his birth certificate says Scott Berry, everyone in rodeo knows him as Ote, thanks to his sister who gave him his nickname as a toddler. She thought that her brother walked like a television comic character named Otis, which was shortened to Ote. Berry, born Sept. 9, 1962, in Rapid City, S.D., has been involved in rodeo almost as long as he has had the name Ote. He started his career trying to ride bareback horses, but after a couple of injuries at the age of 13, he decided steer wrestling was more his event. His first in a long string of championships came in 1980 when he won the National High School Rodeo Association’s steer wrestling title. In 1982, Berry joined the PRCA hoping to make enough money to stay out of the hay fields. Most would agree he got his wish. Berry won his first world title at his first National Finals Rodeo in 1985. He returned to win three more bulldogging crowns in 1990-91 and 1995. When he won his last title in 1995, he became only the third cowboy in professional rodeo history to claim four or more world steer wrestling titles. Referred to as a “quiet champion,” Berry lives by the creed: “If you win, then walk over and pick up your money. If you lose, then walk over and congratulate the man who won.” |
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