• Donald C. & Elizabeth
M. Dickinson Research Center
• Introduction to Early
Rodeos in the Extreme Sports Tradition
• Images Page 1
• Images Page 2
• Images Page 3
• Images Page 4
 Card photograph Rodeo ring, Protection, Kansas, ca. 1910 Unknown photographer, Protection, Kansas, ca. 1910 Photographic Study Collection, 2003.272 |
Before there was a motocross and BMX freestyle trick called the "One-handed No-footed Can-Can" or the skateboarding trick called "Carving a Frontside Boneless," there were the competitive events of cowboy contests, tournaments and early rodeos from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. One can make the case that some events in the sport of rodeo are precursors to what are now called extreme sports. In effect, these were the first homegrown extreme sports.
| Photographic postcard Smoky Moore Bulldogging, Pendleton Round-Up, 1923 Ralph R. Doubleday, Pendleton, Oregon, 1923 Photographic Study Collection, 2004.089.2 |
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Steer wrestling, derived from bulldogging wherein a rider drops from a galloping horse onto a running steer's head, twists the steer's head toward the sky, bites the humbled steer's upper lip, and wrestles it to the ground, is most certainly extreme. Bill Pickett (ca.1860-1932) imitated the lip-biting action of a bulldog to gain control of or throw a steer. But, what was his thinking when he tried this the first time? Pickett stated, "Ropes is all alright for to hang people wif, but dey gets in de way when ya' wants to rope a steer."
| Photographic postcard Bobby Burke Bulldogging, Roundup, Seattle, 1915 Unknown photographer, Seattle, Washington, 1915 Photographic Study Collection, 2004.139 |
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What possessed the first person to climb on the back of a bull or steer and attempt to ride him? Who in his right mind would sit without a saddle upon the back of a wild horse and ride until the horse quit bucking? What was Montana Jack Ray thinking when in 1910 he originated the extremely hazardous trick "Going Under the Belly" where the rider of a galloping horse goes from the saddle to under the horse's belly? Was it out of boredom or a twisted sense of machismo mixed with an urge toward pretentious display?
| Photographic postcard Bea Kirnan, Prairie Rose, Mable Strickland, Princess Mohawk [Florence Randolph], Ruth Roach, Kittie Canutt, Prairie Lillie Allen Ralph R. Doubleday, ca. 1920 Photographic Study Collection, 2005.087 |
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The sport of rodeo originated in the days of the Spanish ranchos when the annual roundup or rodeo (from the Spanish word rodear meaning "to go around" or "to surround or encircle") and branding of cattle was an occasion for a display of horsemanship and roping. When the principal chores of the rodeo were completed, there was usually an exhibition and contest of skills by the cowboys, or "vaqueros."
| Photographic postcard Walter Glenn Winner, Roping Contest, Time 45 sec. J. B. Burrell, Ontario, Oregon, 1911 Photographic Study Collection, 2004.190.2 |
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After the Civil War, when cattle herds spread out throughout the West, the ranks of the American cowboy grew. Between 1867 and 1886, it is estimated that six to nine million head of cattle were driven from Texas to Kansas by cowboys who were mostly in their twenties. The trail drive era faded as railroad stock cars replaced cattle drives and open rangelands were divided up and defined by barbed wire. The demand for cowboy labor dwindled and many had to seek a new way of life through local competitions, contests and Wild West shows based on the skills, talents and demands of a working cowboy.
| Photographic postcard Roping and Tying Contest, Malheur Co. Fair, Ontario, Ore. J. B. Burrell, Ontario, Oregon, ca. 1915 Photographic Study Collection, 2005.115 |
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Range-cattle competitions were not known as rodeos, but as frontier days celebrations, roundups and stampedes. The Wild West show employed the term "rodeo" for cowboy competition. As the Wild West shows disappeared, rodeo emerged. Between 1915 and 1925 the term "rodeo" slowly became the word applied to this sport.
| Photographic postcard Cow Boys Waiting For Their Turn in the Bucking Contest, Round Up, Pendleton, Or. Walter S. Bowman, Pendleton, Oregon, 1910 Photographic Study Collection, 2005.047.1 |
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In 1993 the programming department of the sports network ESPN coined the phrase "Extreme Sports" while planning for the first Extreme Games held in 1995. According to Wikipedia, "An extreme sport (also known as an action sport) is a general, somewhat hazily-defined term for any of several newer sports involving adrenaline-inducing action. They often feature a combination of speed, height, danger and spectacular stunts. Levels of danger vary widely, but there is always an element — an "extreme" factor — that causes an adrenaline rush which keeps participants loyal to their sport." Often called "alternative sports," extreme sports originated as recreational activities for young adults, often in a group context, with individuals showing off skills for the rest of the group members to imitate or emulate.
| Photographic postcard Mable [sic] Strickland Trick Riding Pendleton Ore. Association Photo, Pendleton, Oregon, ca. 1915 Photographic Study Collection, 2005.041 |
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Extreme sports are similar to cowboy competitions in their "friendly" recreational origins, the age of their participants and their inherent danger and requisite dangerous behaviors. The main difference between rodeo and extreme sports is in the fact that rodeo events require an animal while extreme sports require inanimate devices and vehicles. Animals have behaviors that are unpredictable and oftentimes uncontrollable. To be successful, the riders, ropers or wrestlers must have flexible and adaptable skill sets to meet and mesh with the variety of animals they are riding, roping or wrestling. Insuring more predictability in his performance, the extreme sportsman relies solely on his abilities in co-ordination with a well-maintained, technologically current skateboard, BMX bike, snowboard or street luge. Whereas the animal causes the most unpredictability in rodeo (outside of the participant's health), the variety of courses, parks, settings and weather are the primary determinative factors of performance success in extreme sports.
| Photographic postcard Leonard Stroud going under his horse while at full speed, Tucumcari Round-Up Doubleday-Foster Photo Co. Inc., Tucumcari, New Mexico, ca. 1915 Edith Jones Waldo Bliss Collection, R.241.211 |
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The images in this exhibition derive from scanned photographic postcard images dating between 1900 and 1920. Comparisons and analogies between rodeo contests and skateboarding (as a representative extreme sport) are made sporadically throughout this exhibit. The common element which links them is danger. However, each of their shared group experiences informs a unique cultural identity expressed through clothing, music and lifestyle.
