Saddle Bronc Riding • Inducted 1979 Bill Smith, born July 28, 1941, in Red Lodge, Mont., is one of a few men with the distinction of winning three saddle bronc riding titles, doing so in 1969, 1971 and 1973. A professional horse breaker in his youth, Smith started his professional career...
All-Around • Inducted 1979 Born on May 13, 1928, in Tulsa, Okla., Jim Shoulders was a city boy with no livestock background. Shoulders was 14 years old when he saw and promptly entered his first rodeo. His astonishing natural talent was apparent even then – he won $18 in the bareback...
Steer Roping • Inducted 1979 For more than 15 years, Everett Shaw was the man to beat in single steer roping. Between 1945 and 1962 he won a record six world championships. Shaw, born June 7, 1908, in Hog Shooter Creek, Okla., was “discovered” by Dick Truitt, who later became his...
Contract Personnel • Inducted 1979 Jimmy Schumacher, born in 1920 in Prescott, Ariz., invented and was the first rodeo barrelman to use the barrel open at both ends. This allowed the clown to move the barrel around while he was inside it. He could approach the bull without depending on the...
Steer Roping • Inducted 1979 It has been said with unquestioned authority that all Ike Rude of Mangum, Okla., ever wanted to do was rope. He did it well, winning three world steer roping championships. Rude went to his first roping in 1910 and won his last world title at the...
Stock Contractor • Inducted 1979 In 1912, young Englishman Harry Rowell left the Royal Navy to seek his fortune in the United States. He boxed professionally, started a successful canned dog food factory, built a ranch and, in 1918, started a saddle shop that was to become the best-patronized shop on...
Team Roping • Inducted 1979 Jim Rodriguez grew up in a roping arena owned by his father, applied his early training and individual skills to team roping and won four world championships. Rodriguez, born Sept. 9, 1941, in Watsonville, Calif., was the youngest man to win a team roping title, taking...
Steer Wrestling • Inducted 1979 Jack Roddy, born Oct. 3, 1937, in San Francisco, competed in his first RCA rodeo at the age of 14 and won $90 in the wild horse race. Early participation in rodeo was not unusual for the youngster who grew up on the family ranch near...
Bull Riding • Inducted 1979 Ken Roberts, born Jan. 22, 1918, won three consecutive bull riding championships after beginning his rodeo career with the Clyde Miller Wild West Show as a three-event contestant in 1933. His first ProRodeo bull riding victory in Chicago in 1936 encouraged him to enter the professional...
Saddle Bronc Riding • Inducted 1979 Saddle bronc rider Gene Pruett could ride any horse he was dealt, good or bad. Born Feb. 1, 1917, in Moscow, Idaho, to a pioneer family, he entered his first rodeo at age 17. In 1948, he won his first world title. In 1955, he...
