rst I never did feel bad. The biggest problem was the falling. Id just go down. Now Im taking a handfull of pills three times a day. Might have the problem solved. My story continues.- think this is where I left off. When a bull leaves the bucking chute he becomes a potential killing machine. Spinning left or right, as the mood strikes him, bucking high at the same time, twisting his rippling muscles and body in a washboard rolling motion. Changing directions in an instant, he might strike the riders head with massive horns or kick or step on a downed cowboy. All of this in a fleeting eight seconds. Rodeo clowns have spared many a cowboy from being gored or trampled by interjecting their body between themselves and the bull. They are called clowns but their job is a serious business. The most daring will sometimes entertain the crowd by teasing the bull ala a matador or crawl into a padded barrel that the angry bull butts and rolls around the arena. No-one or anything is safe in a bull riding arena until the bull returns to the stock corral. Scores are given in the same manner as for the saddle bronc competetion. Bareback riding. Bulldogging (usually steers), barrel racing by cowgirls, team roping and calf roping are other events at a typical rodeo. Between the different bucking, bulldogging or roping events, other entertainment was offered in the area between the chutes and the grandstand. Trick riders galloped across, flipping their body from one side of the saddle to the other, nearly touching the ground each time. My cousin, Francis was a skilled trick rider, Roman riders, standing on the backs of two horses at a time showed off their skill. Trick ropers swung their loops up and down around their body. Uncle Frank showed off his trained horse, having it sit on it’s haunches, lay down, roll over and answer addition questions by pawing with a front foot. I don’t believe the rodeo events differ much from that day to this. The competition, without doubt, is keener today with it’s thousands of dollars in purses that can be won at shows like the “PRCA”. (professional Rodeo Cowboys association) and “PBR” (Professional Bull riders Association) championship finals held in Las Vegas. Uncle Frank was one of the founders of the “SDRCA” (South Dakota Rodeo Cowboys Association), which later became a subsidiary of the PRC. WW11 was over in 1945. Frontier Days was an especially happy occasion when it was held in 1946. During the war, practically everything was rationed. Manufactures who had once made tractors, cars and such had devoted their facilities to the war effort. When the war ended normal operations were resumed as soon as possible. By 1946 Ford Motor Company had again began to manufacture a limited number of cars. In recognition of their bravery and dedication, some of these cars were donated to Veterans Organizations across the country. The Otterman Post No. 94 of the American Legion received one of these cars. The car was raffled to raise funds for the Legion’s many benefit programs. Tickets were $1.00 each. For some reason, I didn’t get to attend that year. I stayed in Nebraska with. I suppose, Sis and maybe other older kids. Watkins dealers were like door-to-door salesmen who had a regular route and usually came by once a month. They had a truck with all their wares; They carried spices and flavorings of all kinds. Plus about anything that a housewife might use in the kitchen. The product was of the highest quality. One afternoon, Dorsey and myself and I think Margaret heard the dogs barking. We went out. It was the Watkins dealer. While Margaret was getting some vanilla flavoring, the Watkins dealers said “Oh, did you know your folks won a car?” Naturally we didn’t know. The Folks were in White River, a hundred miles away and we didn’t have a phone. We couldn’t believe it and did not believe it until a few days later when a Brand new maroon 1945 four door Ford pulled up in front of the house. Pop told the story something like this: He said guys from the America Legion were going around selling raffle tickets for the car. He told them he wasn’t much interested but when they told him what the proceeds would do for kids and people in the community, He bought a single one dollar ticket and put it in his pocket. They asked him to buy more but he declined Saying “Can’t afford it” “Besides”, he said “ I only need this one to win it.” Times were still pretty tough so even a few extra dollars were hard to come by. That afternoon the drawing was held. He was flabbergasted when the ticket with his number was called, Mom even more so. When they came to give him the keys, he reached in his pocket and gave them everything he had. Thirty dollars. We had that car two years. After that, the boom that followed WW11 began and it became easier to own and buy things. Pop bought a new car every two years for many years thereafter. Said it was cheaper to trade in for a new one than to spend money fixing up an old one. (He let us drive a new, or almost new, car to drive to high school every year.) He was the luckiest guy I ever knew. Winning things at Fairs and Rodeos that we went to: Many, many, smaller items, but never again anything as big as a car. To be continued
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 22:49:39 +0000
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