Dust off your cowboy boots, and get ready for a wild ride at the Lost Dutchman Days Rodeo on February 28 – March 1, 2020. Want a leg up before the event? Tenderfoots and seasoned hands alike are sure to savor these samples of cowboy lore.
Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World’s Greatest Rodeo, and the Hidden History of the American West by David Wolman and Julian Smith
Interweaves the history of the Hawaiian cattle culture with the development of Cheyenne WY, the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, and the unexpected victors of the rodeo’s 1908 debut.
American Rodeo: From Buffalo Bill to Big Business by Kristine Fredriksson
Supported by top-notch archival materials, an educational and entertaining look at the Western culture and the evolution of the rodeo industry.
God of the Rodeo: The Search for Hope, Faith, and a Six-Second Ride in Louisiana’s Angola Prison by Daniel Bergner
A complex look at the Angola Prison and its annual rodeo, which pits hardened inmates against rank roughstock — all the while jeered and cheered on by the locals brimming over in the grandstands.
The Last Cowboys: A Pioneer Family in the New West by John Branch
What started as a way to help finance the family ranch turned into a dynasty of Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) World Champion bronc riders. Written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning sports writer, and a 2018 Southwest Books of the Year Top Pick.
Rain or Shine: A Family Memoir by Cyra McFadden
A behind the chute look at McFadden’s youth spent chasing the rodeo circuit crisscrossing the West in the back of the family’s Packard.
Rodeo: No Guts No Glory by Louise L. Serpa (ph
otographs and text); notes by Larry McMurtry.
An east coast Vassar grad who traded diamonds for denim, Serpa was a trailblazing award-winning PRCA rodeo photographer whose work is widely exhibited in Western and fine art museums. In 1999, she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.
Ridin’, Ropin’ & Recipes by Nancy Sheppard
This National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame and ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee shares stories about her rodeo career and those of the cowboys and characters that she met along the way.
8 Seconds
Chronicles the life of PRCA World Champion Bull Rider Lane Frost who was killed at the Cheyenne Frontier Days. Frost was 25 years old when, after his eight-second ride, the bull broke his ribs and severed a main artery — killing him within minutes.
Junior Bonner
Filmed in Prescott, and considered by many to be the standard of rodeo films.
The Last Picture Show
While Johnson also starred in Junior Bonner, he gained national prominence after winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Sam the Lion in The Last Picture Show. While not a rodeo film, it deserves mention because Johnson has the distinction of being the only actor to win an Academy Award and a PRCA World Championship. In 1979, he was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Ben Johnson Days is held annually in Apache Junction to honor Johnson’s ties to the area.
Amarillo by Morning written by Terry Stafford and Paul Fraser
No one covers this 1973 rodeo classic better than cowboy crooner, George Strait. When Strait isn’t on stage, you can find him in the saddle; not only the “King of Country Music,” he also is an accomplished team roper.