Travel Mouse Over Picture (White Hat Co. watermark does not travel with your personal copy)
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Leaving Conclusion |
Bulldogging |
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YEE-HAW |
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Today’s
rodeo, as we have come to love and know it and it's celebrity participants,
has come along way from its roots in the 1800s roundup camps. Rodeo, from the Spanish word rodear meaning "to surround" was a part of the annual roundup in the days of the ranchos. "Vaqueros", or cowboys worked the roundup and branded cattle, and afterward delighted in an exhibition and contest of skills. The skills displayed had a rich history tracing back to the great horsemanship traditions of the Spanish conquistadores. There had always been informal competitions around the stockyards, where cowboys, fueled by wages and whiskey, would challenge each other to see who was the best at cutting a cow or roping. Spectators gathered around to watch the action. In small towns throughout the west, stock horse shows (sometimes called rodeos), where cowboys could supplement their shrinking income, began to spring up on a regular basis. Clever showmen like Buffalo Bill Cody began to organize and elaborate on these events. America's fascination with the "Wild West" was turned into a business. Those that made their living at rodeo events saw a need to standardize the events, establish rules and regulations for the safety of competitors and animals and to protect their rights. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys' Association, or PRCA, History of the PRCA The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association was created almost by accident in 1936 when a group of cowboys walked out of a rodeo at the Boston Gardens to protest the actions of rodeo promoter W.T. Johnson, who refused to add the cowboys' entry fees to the rodeo's total purse. Johnson finally gave in to the cowboys' demands, and the successful “strike'' led to the formation of the Cowboys' Turtle Association. The cowboys chose that name because, while they were slow to organize, when push finally came to shove, they weren't afraid to stick their necks out to get what they wanted. In 1945, the Turtles changed their name to the Rodeo Cowboys Association, and in 1975, the organization became the PRCA |
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