Contract Personnel • Inducted 1979 George Mills is credited with being one of the first bullfighter/clowns to hurdle a bull in the arena. Mills approached the bull from an angle while running full speed. When he got the bull’s attention, the animal lowered its head to hook him, and Mills became...
Team Roping • Inducted 1979 Team roper John Miller was no stranger to rodeo and proved himself by winning two consecutive team roping titles in the early 1970s. The nephew of Ben Johnson, world champion team roper in 1953, and great-nephew of Ben Johnson, Sr., famous early-day roper, Miller took to...
Tie-Down Roping • Inducted 1979 Don McLaughlin, born Oct. 24, 1927, in Chester, Pa., literally grew up in rodeo arenas, working as a trick roper as a child. He went on to win four consecutive world championships in tie-down roping and added a fifth title three years later. He also won...
Steer Roping • Inducted 1979 Clark McEntire, who has three world titles to his credit, has said everything he has accumulated in life has come from professional rodeo. In the early 1950s, McEntire won a car, and with $500 he had saved, he bought 40 acres of land south of Kiowa,...
Steer Wrestling • Inducted 1979 Harley May, born June 2, 1926, in Deming, N.M., won the world steer wrestling championship title in 1952, his first year in the Rodeo Cowboys Association. He won a total of three world crowns, and 26 years after his first one, he was still a top...
Tie-Down Roping • Inducted 1979 From 1939-50, Texas roper Toots Mansfield won seven tie-down roping world championships, a record that lasted for 19 years. Riding Juan Salina’s black gelding Honey Boy, Mansfield was recognized as the man to beat whenever he competed. A master at handling calves on the ground, his...
All-Around • Inducted 1979 His records might not stand anymore, but Larry Mahan, born Nov. 21, 1943, in Salem, Ore., definitely will go into rodeo’s history books as one of the greatest cowboys of all time. Only 14 years old when he broke into professional rodeo, Mahan developed an individual talent...
All-Around • Inducted 1979 Phil Lyne, born Jan. 18, 1947, in San Antonio, was one of the few contestants to excel in every rodeo event, winning a combined five world titles in three different events. He also won aggregate titles in two events at the National Finals Rodeo. Following an amateur...
Rodeo Notable • Inducted 1979 A tiny lady bronc rider from the Nebraska sand-hill country, Tad Lucas was the youngest of 24 children born to a pioneer family. She rode bulls in the main streets of Cody, Neb., during World War I to raise money for the Red Cross. In 1921,...
All-Around • Inducted 1979 In 1950, Bill Linderman of Red Lodge, Mont., became the first man in professional rodeo history to win three world titles in a single season, claiming the championships in the all-around, steer wrestling and saddle bronc riding. Born April 13, 1920, Linderman won six world titles between both...
