Lifetime Achievement • Inducted 2009 Just 15 years, 11 months old when he qualified for the National Finals Rodeo the first time in 1962 – the second-youngest competitor in NFR history – Ace Berry remained a fixture there into the mid-1970s, competing at both ends of the arena. The Oakdale, Calif.,...
Steer Roping • Inducted 2009 A rancher all of his life, Walt Arnold didn’t compete full time until he was 25 years old, yet he qualified for the National Finals Steer Roping 19 times (1965-67, 1969-72, 1974-82, 1984-86), a number surpassed only by Guy Allen and Arnold Felts in steer roping...
Livestock • Inducted 2008 The pride of the Oral Zumwalt rodeo string out of Missoula, Mont., Trails End was the 1959 Bucking Horse of the Year and was three times recognized as the top saddle bronc of the national Finals Rodeo in Dallas (1959-61). The chunky 15-hand, 1,200-pound sorrel gelding appeared in...
Tucson, Arizona • Inducted 2008 Founded as a means to enhance winter tourism, La Fiesta de los Vaqueros was first staged on February 21-23, 1925, at Catalina Field, a converted polo ground, with steer wrestling, steer tying, calf roping and saddle bronc riding. It is held each February at the 40-acre Tucson...
Stock Contractor • Inducted 2008 Chandler Earl (Feek) Tooke started raising horses on the family’s Ekalaka, Mont., ranch in the late 1930s and the breeding program he created with his son, Ernest, produced more then 6,000 rodeo broncs, passed along to every top stock contractor in North America. Described as the...
All-Around • Inducted 2008 The world tie-down roping champion in 1979, Tierney put together an even better season in 1980 to end Tom Ferguson’s six-year reign as all-around champion and become the second rodeo cowboy to suppress $100,000 in earnings during a single season. Tierney, who typically competed in large, black-framed...
San Francisco, California • Inducted 2008 The Grand National Rodeo, Horse & Stock Show was first staged in November 1941 in the then newly constructed Cow Palace. It has been held in the Cow Palace each April since 2006, after 60 years with dates at the end of October and the first...
San Antonio, Texas • Inducted 2008 The first San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo was held in February 1950 in the Freeman Coliseum. In 2003, the event moved into the state-of-the-art AT&T Center. In 2007, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo became ProRodeo’s first $1 million regular-season indoor rodeo and is...
Salinas, California • Inducted 2008 “Where the West Comes Alive” The California Rodeo Salinas was first staged on August 1, 1911, on the local racetrack grounds. It is held every July in the Salinas Sports Complex, and is known locally as Big Week. It is the largest outdoor rodeo in California and one...
Reno, Nevada • Inducted 2008 “Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West” The Reno Rodeo was first staged in 1919 by community leaders. It is held each June in the Reno Livestock & Events Center, drawing more than 500,000 spectators over the nine-day run of the rodeo. It is one of the PRCA’s top 10...
