Livestock • Inducted 1979 Come Apart, the sorrel nemesis of bareback bronc riders during the 1950s and 1960s, came out of rangeland south of Red Lodge, along the Wyoming-Montana border. He was first purchased by the late Leo J. Cremer, Montana rodeo stock contractor. Unlike most bucking stock, Come Apart had...
Livestock • Inducted 1979 Bullet, sired by noted Quarter Horse Jack McCue, may have begun his rodeo career as a tie-down roping mount in the 1930s, but he achieved his fame as a steer roping horse. Roy and Pat Lewis sold the 1,000-pound sorrel gelding to veteran roper Bob Crosby. In...
Livestock • Inducted 1979 Rodeo’s most talked-about tie-down roping horse of the 1940s was a streak-faced, badly scarred sorrel named Baldy. He was directly responsible for four world championships. Clyde Burk of Comanche, Okla., won the world tie-down roping title astride Baldy in 1942 and 1944. After a fatal accident in...
Livestock • Inducted 1979 From 1953-60, Baby Doll earned more than $400,000 for her owner, the late, Willard Combs of Checotah, Okla. She carried Combs’ younger brother, the late Benny Combs, to the world steer wrestling title in 1955. In 1957 she took Willard Combs to the world championship. Sired by...
Steer Roping • Inducted 1979 Although he achieved great fame as a tie-down roper, Olin Young won two world titles in steer roping. A superb all-around athlete, Young approached everything he did with the skill and technique of a craftsman, even when he was building corrals. Most of Young’s competitors believe...
Steer Roping • Inducted 1979 From 1949-55, Howard Chouteau “Shoat” Webster dominated steer roping, winning four world championships and twice finishing runner-up. Webster also gained permanent possession of the Sam Jackson all-around cowboy trophy at the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up by winning it three times in a row (1949-51). Webster’s colleagues on...
Bareback Riding • Inducted 1979 Sonny Tureman won the world bareback riding championship only once, but three-time world champion Jack Buschbom said, “Take my word for it, he’s (Tureman) the greatest bareback bronc rider in the world, and I know a few.” An Oregon horse breaker, Tureman won the rookie saddle...
Bull Riding • Inducted 1979 In the span of 12 years, Harry Tompkins won five bull riding world titles, as well as one in bareback riding and two in the all around. According to various accounts, Tompkins needed the 12-year span because he hit a dry spell from 1952-60 where world...
All-Around • Inducted 1979 Casey Tibbs, who won a record six world saddle bronc riding titles, was the first cowboy to transcend the sport and become a household name. His personality and flamboyant style put him on the cover of Life Magazine, while his prowess in the ring made him the...
Saddle Bronc Riding • Inducted 1979 Earl Thode, admittedly the best of the early-day saddle bronc riders who used the fore-and-aft, full-stroke spurring style now required by saddle bronc riding rules, may well prove to be the event’s best ever. He won the first ever world saddle bronc riding title in...
