Pendleton Round-Up and Hall of Fame

Jill's Journal:

“Well, it's bulls and blood
It's dust and mud
It's the roar of a Sunday crowd
It's the white in his knuckles
The gold in the buckle
He'll win the next go 'round
It's boots and chaps
It's cowboy hats
It's spurs and lattigo
It's the ropes and the reins
And the joy and the pain
And they call the thing rodeo.

“It'll drive a cowboy crazy
It'll drive the man insane
And he'll sell off everything he owns
Just to pay to play the game
And a broken home and some broken bones
Is all he'll have to show
For all the years that he spent chasin'
This dream they call rodeo.” –Garth Brooks

One of the premier rodeos in North America, the Pendleton Round-Up has a rich and storied past. At a Fourth of July celebration in Pendleton in 1909, a group of folks had the idea of hosting an annual rodeo. Determined to do it right, they spent a year preparing. The first Round-Up was held the next September (allowing farmers to finish their harvest) with the slogan, “Let’er Buck.”

That first year, about 7,000 people attended the inaugural festivities (Pendleton's population at the time was 4,500 souls). It was such a success that the next year 20,000 attended the final day alone. Today, the numbers have swelled far beyond that. The Round-Up is officially a four-day show, although there’s two additional days of Professional Bull Riders events, plus parades, concerts, cowboy shows, and so much more in the days leading up to it.

“The Pendleton Round-Up has long been synonymous with tradition. In Pendleton, the arena is still grass, the chutes are still wood, and the celebration of western heritage is still lead by the call of ‘Let’er Buck!’” –Hall of Fame literature

“Rodeo was born in the 19th century when groups of cowboys from neighboring ranches met to settle arguments over who was the best at performing everyday ranching tasks. Since then, rodeo has evolved into a hugely popular sport, though a cowboy’s standing still depends on his skills with a rope or his ability to ride a bucking animal.” –Hall of Fame literature

“Rodeo events are generally divided into roughstock events – saddle bronc, bareback, and bull riding – and timed events – calf roping, steer wrestling (bulldogging), team roping, and steer roping.” –Hall of Fame literature

These seven major Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association events are run each day at the Pendleton Round-Up, plus women’s barrel racing and such wild crowd pleasers as Indian relay races and wild cow milking. The Round-Up is still held the second week of every September. How we would love to attend! It's far too late to get tickets or RV (or hotel) space for this year, but...road trip in 2012 anyone? :)

“…For tough-fibered fortitude, practiced skills, and sheer bravery, there are no other athletes in the world to compare with those who people the violent world of rodeo. They are athletes and competitors and one thing more – they ride the last frontier of rugged individualism, paying their own dusty way earning only what they are good enough to win.” –Red Smith, commentator

In 1969, the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame was founded and is now located across the street from the facilities. Each year, stand-out men, women, and occasionally livestock who impacted the rodeo’s past are inducted. The Hall of Fame also has a museum of memorabilia from the bygone days of the Round-Up. (Happy Canyon, by the way, is a pageant that has been nearly unchanged since 1916. An important part of the Round-Up experience, it’s the evening’s entertainment and features everything from early American Indians to Lewis and Clark to the Old West. There’s a live orchestra and it’s supposed to be quite the show.)

“The horse in front of you is War Paint, a symbol of the spirit and tradition of the Pendleton Round-Up. He was one of the greatest and most well-known saddle broncs of all time. During a career that spanned nearly 20 years during the 1950s and 1960s, War Paint bucked off about 90 percent of his riders. He was very powerful out of the chute and the cowboys called him an “honest bucker” – a horse that bucks hard and with nearly the same movement every time. But even when the cowboys knew what was coming, War Paint still managed to shed riders.” –Hall of Fame literature

This is Hamley & Co.’s original pattern for that 1919 bronc saddle I mentioned two days ago.

The girls really enjoyed the museum’s exhibits on ladies who have competed (and held their own against the men) at the Round-Up. This cowgirls’ outfit featured a “ladies’ riding skirt.”

Until the 1950s, this light was on the special Union Pacific Railroad train arriving for the Round-Up each year from Portland.

Made by Hamley & Co., this was the 1912 trophy saddle for the Pendleton Round-Up’s Champion Saddle Bronc Rider.

Isn’t this the greatest Christmas tree ever? It wasn’t technically part of the museum, but we spied it in a hallway and had to get a closer look.

The girls had fun playing Cowboys and Indians in the Hall of Fame’s children’s section. Don’t mess with Madelyn!

Erika perfected her rodeo clown skills…she coerced her sisters to get in this barrel and relentlessly rolled them through the area. Belly laughs filled the air.