Back When They Bucked Archives

Back When They Bucked

Back When They Bucked with Franklin Manke

The Edgemont, S.D. cowboy was the 1952 National High School Rodeo Bareback Riding champion, and it wasn’t until fellow South Dakotan Shane O’Connell won it in 2013, that the drought was over. Manke not only competed in the bareback riding, but also as a steer wrestler, cow cutter, wild cow…

Back When They Bucked with Argene Clanton

Argene Clanton laughs, and life laughs with him. The cowboy, an Okie, former calf roper, café and truck stop owner, veteran, rodeo committee member and daddy of three girls, loves a good joke. And at the age of 94 years young, he’s still laughing. He was born in 1924 to…

Back When They Bucked with The Ludwig Twins: Wilma Hybarger & Wanda Cagliari

The Ludwig Twins - Wilma and Wanda – made their mark, and their living, in the horse and rodeo world. Wilma Ludwig Hybarger and Wanda Ludwig Cagliari were born in Auburn, California in 1935, the daughters of Everett and Edith Ludwig. They were raised on a dairy farm, bottling and…

Back When They Bucked with Carolynn Seay Vietor

Front porch sittin’ will have to wait at the Rocking Chair Ranch, in Philipsburg, Montana, because Carolynn and her husband Willy Vietor are far too busy in the rodeo world to occupy rocking chairs. Carolynn, former Miss Rodeo America 1966, has spent a lifetime promoting and competing in professional rodeo…

Back When They Bucked with John Harris

From the time he was a baby, all John Farris ever wanted to do was be a cowboy. And he spent his life doing it. The Addington, Oklahoma man was born in 1928 in Iowa Park, Texas, the son of B.A. and Eva Farris. When the neighbor’s cows got out…

Back When They Bucked with Marilyn Freimark

Marilyn Freimark knows her family’s genes run thick with the blue-jean lifestyle of rodeo and horses, but it was her own love of horses that put the passion back in her family tree—and Marilyn herself into rodeo history as the first Miss Rodeo America. Born in 1935, Marilyn was raised…

Back When They Bucked with Smokey Davis

At 85 years old, Joe F. “Smokey” Davis is a Texas cowboy legend. Born August 25, 1933, in Crosby, Texas (35 miles northeast of Houston), Joe came into the world in the Great Depression. “Dad was a cattleman and a rice farmer; I was born right in the middle of…

Back When They Bucked with Billy & Pam Minick

Born January 10, 1939 in Fort Worth, Texas, Billy Minick’s dad was a boss gambler in Fort Worth. “Gambling in the late 40s and 50s wasn’t legal, it was tolerated,” said the 80-year-old. Billy won the state high school All Around Champion in 1958, competing in steer wrestling and bareback…

Back When They Bucked with Arden Clement

Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give,” and the life of Arden Clement of Kinder, Louisiana, has been all about giving to the future of rodeo. With a Cajun heritage, speaking only French until starting school, Arden began…

Back When They Bucked with Joe McBride

Although Joe McBride spends many hours behind the camera lens now, he started out in front of them as a rodeo clown and bullfighter during a rodeo career that spanned nearly 30 years. Joe has been capturing the essence of rodeo through photography at International Professional Rodeos, not missing a…

Back When They Bucked with Don Huddleston

story by Shiley Blackwell Don Huddleston’s name rings across the steer wrestling world as one of the greats. The Talihina, Oklahoma cowboy was an eight time NFR qualifier and has spent his days contributing to his community and the rodeo realm. “I’ve had some good guys beat me at bull…

Back When They Bucked with Jane Douthitt

The wife of one of the biggest rodeo stars of his time led an interesting life of her own. Even though Jane Douthitt often lived in the shadow of her husband, Buff Douthitt, she managed to be involved in a variety of activities. Her life started on June 21, 1936,…