ProRodeo Sports News - April 20, 2018

TIME CAPSULE

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O wen Mickel from Wolf Point, Mont., might not be a familiar name, but almost everyone in rodeo knows the name Montie Montana. Born June 21, 1910, the young cowboy didn’t adopt his rodeo name until 1929 when the announcer at Buck Jones’ Wild West Show forgot Montana’s name and started calling him “Montie from Montana.” The name stuck, and so did the cowboy. For the next 72 years Montie Montana became synonymous with rodeo, performing trick roping and riding across every major arena in North America. Starting around 1925, Montana’s rodeo schedule was packed, as he hit basically every major rodeo of his era. “In 1929, I rode a horse on top of the It’sTricky Trick roper Montie Montana’s career spanned 72 years

Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Montana’s rope tricks landed him on a variety of TV shows and in movies as an actor, stuntman, wrangler and technical advisor. He did all the roping in “The Will Rogers Story , ” a movie he did with Will Rogers Jr. Montana acted in 23 movies and TV shows, including “Stand Up and Cheer!” with Shirley Temple and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” with John Wayne. Starting in 1932, he rode in the Rose Bowl Parade for 60 consecutive years. He also was in two presidential inaugural parades. “I rode up to the reviewing stand, tipped my hat and asked President Eisenhower’s permission to throw a rope around him. He said, ‘OK – as long as you don’t throw too much rope,’” Montana said.

“Afterward, some of the servicemen told me if they hadn’t heard me ask the president’s permission, I’d have looked like a sieve.” Passing along the knowledge of trick roping, Montana taught roping to the showgirls in “Stand Up and Cheer!” in 1934. More than 50 years later, he taught comedian/actor Steve Martin to spin a rope. Montana passed on the rope to his son, Montie Montana Jr., and his daughter, Linda, who competed in rodeo and were entertainers. In 1994, Montana was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. He remained active in rodeo through 1997 until suffering a stroke in early 1998. He died May 20, 1998, at 87 years old.

Empire State Building to publicize the rodeo,” Montana told the ProRodeo Sports News in 1988. “I got a lot of attention for that.” Montana joined the Cowboys’ Turtle Association in 1938 and remained an active contract member as it transitioned into the Rodeo Cowboys Association and then the PRCA. Through all seven decades, Montana was mounted on a black-and- white pinto horse, and all of them were named Rex. By 1988, he was riding Rex No. 10. Each Rex was pampered, making rubber-horseshoe appearances inside The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the Beverly Wilshire

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