Perhaps ProRodeo Hall of Fame roughstock rider Larry Mahan said it best when succinctly recapping 75 colorful years of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA): “Life is like a bronc ride, full of ups and downs.” Mahan would know. While most know him as one of rodeo’s greatest champions, he didn’t get there overnight. In fact, he rode broncs and bulls for 10 long seasons before finally breaking through to win the first of his eight world titles. That kind of perseverance is also the story of the PRCA.

Seventy-five years ago in 1936, when that first group of cowboys and cowgirls left a performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden and boycotted the next rodeo at the Boston Garden, they were advocating for reasonable officiating and equitable prize money. Their actions forced Col. W.T. Johnson, one of the promoting giants of the time, to change his ways. And just like that, the union-like Cowboy Turtles Association—precursor to the PRCA—was born. (Those brave competitors “stuck out their necks” for the betterment of their sport, hence the name.)

Today, the Colorado Springs, Colorado-based headquarters of the PRCA houses the largest and oldest professional rodeo-sanctioning body in the world (some 8,000 members, most of them contestants). The association prides itself on maintaining the highest standards, from the best livestock and elite bullfighters to professional stock contractors and announcers. This cast of thousands works inside and outside the arena and forms the backbone of the sport.

Bart Clennon, a 26-year-old rising star in 1936, recalls that he and 60 other cowboys responded to the efforts of the Cowboys’ Turtles Association by signing the original petition, forcing esteemed rodeo producer W.T. Johnson to improve judging and give cowboys a just share of earnings.

“Well, hell, the producers weren’t paying what they said they would before we went there,” says Clennon, who at 101 years old still has vivid memories of rodeo, before and after the sport’s Declaration of Independence. “We all signed up right away. There were 61 all together, and I was 59th. We wanted things to be right, and it had to get better from there.” Thanks to Clennon and his fellow signees, it did.
And although Clennon never won a world title himself, he did make an impression. Casey Tibbs once told a magazine reporter that Clennon was, “the best bronc rider I ever saw, and I can’t figure out why he never won the (world championship).” Clennon did win one of rodeo’s hallowed events at the time, the 50-performance event held at Madison Square Garden in 1945.

“The Hearst [Corporation] people put rodeo on the map,” Clennon explains. “They put on the rodeo for crippled kids. A lot of those kids never got out of the hospital, but there they were, hooting and hollering in the arena. It was a big day for them. I won it on my last horse. The other guys told me to turn that son of a buck out, because he was impossible to ride. So I went ahead and rode him and won it.”

Rodeo’s early champions did it all. Everett Bowman won world titles in four events, and the great Bill Linderman—whose name graces the sport’s most prestigious award for versatility and talent—excelled in roughstock and timed events. Those early pioneers paved the trail for what some argue was rodeo’s golden age: the 1940s and 1950s. That’s when rodeo’s first superstars broke through, greats like Casey Tibbs, Jim Shoulders, Toots Mansfield, Dean Oliver, and Harry Tompkins, just to name a few. These guys dominated their respective events and added color and style to the emerging sport, which earned it recognition beyond the arena in popular culture.

ProRodeo Hall of Fame roper Roy Cooper, whose dad Dale (“Tuffy”) was an original Turtle, remembers his father’s era: “Those guys all had a vision for what was best for them at the time. They hoped rodeo could be great. He’d tell me about rodeos at Madison Square Garden, going to the Calgary Stampede and Pendleton. I remember all kinds of stories like that.”

Rodeo started simply enough as informal competitions between cowboys to find out who was better at everyday ranching duties. The PRCA helped turn the sport into big business—a way to make a living. But rodeo lacked a championship event and therefore legitimacy and organization. The best professional rodeo athletes needed a forum where they could battle head to head, and in 1959, the National Finals Rodeo was born. Like the PRCA, the NFR has had lean times, too, but hard work eventually led to prosperity.

“Those first few years, even in Oklahoma City, you could shoot a shotgun off in the grandstand and might not hit anyone, especially during the week,” says Larry Mahan. “It started with a grassroots approach to promoting our game. They got us up early, going to grade schools, high schools, radio and television stations. Eventually, they developed a major sporting event for the area, and all of a sudden, it was worth something. It was financially very successful.”

Clennon and the signatories of the 1936 petition never envisioned the heights to which rodeo has reached, especially the big paychecks offered at the marquee events and the sponsorship dollars and endorsement deals. Cowboys from yesteryear remember that nice paychecks had three numbers. Those who win go-rounds at this year’s NFR will earn a check worth nearly $20,000.

“It’s turned into a business,” says Cooper, whose three sons—Tuf, Clif, and Clint—all made the NFR in 2010 and ’11. “What a great life. I’ve always roped and made a living off the ranch. Rodeo, to me, is an easy way to make a hard living, and I love what I do. Everything I have is through rodeo, even my opportunities after my rodeo career. It’s what I taught my boys to do.”

As much as rodeo has evolved and redefined itself as a professional sport and an occupation, it’s still the same as it ever was. Just look around. Today’s kids still look up to cowboys and cowgirls. In this age of information, where attention spans don’t last much longer than it takes to read this sentence and smart phones and iPads have absorbed much of personal interaction, the rodeo arena brings people together and slows things down. The romance and innocence of the Old West lives on in rodeo, because working with animals in the dirt hasn’t changed much in the last 150 years.

“It’s always amazing to me, still, from the reaction from children when it comes to cowboys, because they’re awestruck,” says PRCA Commissioner Karl Stressman. “The great American cowboy starts with rodeo. The cowboy is still an American icon, and kids associate that icon with rodeo. Tradition and Western heritage are so true for this sport, and we are charged with the responsibility to continue to offer that to the world.”

And according to Stressman, rodeo is even more popular given today’s tight economy. The value of wholesome family entertainment has never been more apparent. And there’s a cultural yearning for rural, grassroots activities.

“We must have a product that people appreciate and admire,” says Stressman. “Even with today’s economic struggles, we have set attendance records in most of our rodeos over the past three years. It shows you that people just don’t stumble on a rodeo ticket. We have great fans of pro rodeo, and rodeo continues to grow.”

One can say that rodeo is attractive, because it’s simple. The Cowboy Code emerged from rural communities, where mutual respect was paramount, and people took pride in caring for the animals that they rode and herded. Rodeo embodies the culture of the West, and this spirit of practicality and wholesomeness draws fans. And though the sights and sounds are basically the same as they ever were, two aspects have changed dramatically: safety and entertainment value. The ubiquitous Justin Sportsmedicine Team is on hand to help cowboys who get hurt, and rodeo performances have grown to include concert-like fanfare.

“The lights and pyro, those are things we had never heard of when we started,” says longtime announcer and ProRodeo Hall of Famer Hadley Barrett. “That said, we’re dealing with a completely different competitive profile today. I really think rodeo is better off today than it’s ever been.

“Before I joined the PRCA, I did some open rodeos. Some rodeos didn’t have a grand entry; they’d just start the bareback riding. I used to do it myself. I carried a record player and used my background in a stage band. I had a strong craving to make a better production.”

The announcers have developed into entertainers. From matter-of-fact voices—like Cy Taillon and Clem McSpadden—to the booming men behind the mike—like NFR stalwarts Bob Tallman, Boyd Polhamus, and Randy Corley—today’s rodeo announcers are exciting, interactive, and conversational. Riding and roping are, of course, still at rodeo’s core, but the added entertainment package now includes elaborate pyrotechnics, light shows, and death-defying acts. And pumping music keeps the crowd on edge throughout the tightly produced timeframes.

As country artist Bucky Covington sings, “It was a different life, when we were boys and girls/ Not just a different time/ It was a different world.” Still, rodeo is a world where young men and women dream of becoming professional rodeo cowboys, just as their predecessors did. And thanks to the 61 cowboys who were willing to stick their heads out in Boston way back in 1936, today’s boys and girls can do just that.
“That was my dream and my goal since as far back as I can remember,” says 11-time world champion cowboy Ty Murray. “If you’re going to be a rodeo cowboy, a pro-rodeo cowboy, the PRCA is the only way to go. I didn’t grow up dreaming about being an amateur champion. I wanted to be the all-around cowboy of the PRCA.”

In 1979, the PRCA relocated to Colorado Springs, after running its operations in a small Denver office for decades. The resulting facility and ProRodeo Hall of Fame are worth a visit, if only for the Hall of Champions, a permanent tribute to rodeo’s greats—both in and out of the arena. Fans can go back in time and absorb what it took to get here.

“You don’t have the longevity that we’ve had without doing some things right,” says Stressman. “For us to be around this long, and seeing others who haven’t, gives all of us a lot of pride.”

Here’s to the next 75!