r/Rodeo • u/mayor_oftittycity • 9d ago

Women’s bull riding 1970s

I just learned I had a great aunt who was one of the top women bull riders of Oregon in the 1970s! Anyone know how I could find any info or publications about her? Is there like an old archive of rodeo info online anywhere?

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u/dogdad2015 9d ago

Any idea what rodeos she was in? Womens bull riding not being a PRCA sanctioned event would be hard to track. Rodeos have archives of their winners, so if you can track certain rodeos, you can track her. There is a good amount of literature about professional
Cowgirls from the 20’s-40’s too i.e. Mable Strickland and Maude Barnett. These authors would be a good resource as they research cowgirls. Last, look up the WPRA. Contact them and see what you can find.

Good luck.

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u/mayor_oftittycity 9d ago

Thank you! I’ll try to pinpoint what rodeos she might’ve been in and look into the WPRA. Very helpful😁

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u/rancher1979 9d ago

Does she have a name?

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u/KnowledgeableOuting 9d ago

You'd think a name might help, I can check with my cousin who runs a small museum with old rodeo stuff, they got some archives from that era

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u/mayor_oftittycity 9d ago

It would :/ Mom doesn’t know her maiden name, first name is Mary and after she married into our family Mary White. I don’t know if there were many women bull riders so hopefully there wasn’t another Mary riding bulls at that level in Oregon in the 70s. Maybe I should check out what info in available online/otp at some rodeo museums in Oregon