Bandera’s iconic status as the Cowboy Capital of the World is bolstered by a mainstay of cowboy culture, the rodeo.
This production showcased the skills that cowboys used every day on the ranches where they worked.
The Bandera Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
The Cowboy Capital PRCA Rodeo in Bandera was the brainchild of a group of dedicated citizens in 1984 who felt that if Bandera was going to proclaim itself The Cowboy Capital of the World it needed an event to display the skills that cowboys used in their daily life.
These friends, Punkie Eckhart Camp, Ralph Mitchell, Johnny Boyle, Fred Collins, and Nancy Prue Foster along with Bad Company Rodeo producer Mack Altizer gathered together at the old Purple Cow Saloon on Main Street and laid the foundations for Bandera’s own PRCA event.
They eventually became the core of the Rodeo’s Board of Directors. Jack Frazier was the organization’s first President, with Peggy Ashmore as 1st Vice President, Terry Negley as 2nd Vice President, and Sully Woodland as Treasurer.
The first Rodeo Directors were Frank Anderwald, Johnny Boyle, Edith Chandler, Fred Collins, Bob Cowan, Ken Finley, Don Hicks, Cecil LeStourgeon, Conrad Nightingale, Sue Martin and Buddy Thompson.
Altizer is the owner and founder of Bad Company Rodeo out of Del Rio, Texas. The stock contracting company has been the recipient of many awards for its stellar bucking bulls and broncs through the years.
Altizer, an inductee of the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame, was the first to name his animals after popular rock music and the first to synchronize music with the action in the arena.
Championship bull riding was the specialty of Bad Company’s program. Bad Company produced rodeo’s all over the state of Texas and US. The first Bandera PRCA rodeo in the 198485 season was full slate of cowboys and cowgirls who might have faded into history if not for the glory they earned in their rodeo careers.
The Bandera rodeo was scheduled for Labor Day weekend. The high point of this rodeo was when a crew parachuted in for the start of the event and at the ending.
The Rodeo Association worked with Altizer to gain sponsors for the Bandera Pro Rodeo.
The rodeo gained many sponsors from local radio stations, local beer distributors and through local merchants like Lowe’s Grocery, the OST, the Cabaret, First State Bank, Rathke Motor Company, First National Bank, San Antonio Savings and Coors of Del Rio.
Trick ropers and bull fighters kept the audience entertained during lulls in the action. Bandera’s own Kevin Fitzpatrick, Mike Lowrie, and Bruce Montague performed specialty roping at the first rodeo.
Bull fighters, otherwise known as rodeo clowns, like J.R. Crouch, Mike Horton, John Ludlum, Chuck Kinney, and Joe Mann kept the audience engaged in the action and the cowboys safe.
These masters of the ring interacted with the crowd and brought humor to the dangerous events.
Cowboy Capital Rodeo Queen Kim Cockrill brought glamor to the event. By day, she taught 5th grade at Medina ISD but when the flood lights were turned on, she was the prettiest girl in the arena with a dazzling smile, soft curly brown hair, and sparkling eyes.
The Cabaret Dance Hall, now long gone, offered dances after the rodeo with free beer on rodeo nights to help cowboys and visitors to mingle and blow off steam. The Cabaret was an integral part of the rodeo not only as a sponsor but as a place where visitors could meet their heroes.
The Cabaret hosted bands like Bo and the Texas Wailers and Bob Blandford and the Rodeo Men. Everyone enjoyed “dustin’ the hump” at Bandera’s most famous dance hall.
Former rodeo director Fred Collins remembers those first rodeos as “a lotta fun, but also a lotta work.”
The rodeo parade had almost 100 floats and lasted an hour. Main Street was renamed Willie Nelson Way to commemorate his song “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.”
When the old-timers start reminiscing, stories are told and lies are laughed at about all the events surrounding the rodeo.
Rodeo weekend was a special time when Bandera County residents and city folk from San Antonio rubbed elbows to enjoy some of the best cowboy entertainment available.
They saw the drama of the bull riders, the daring of the bronc riders, the skill of the ropers, the agility of the barrel racers, and the sheer physical strength of the bull doggers.
It was a time when the average man could revel in their Western heritage and celebrate the skills needed to prosper in the ranching life in Texas.
For more information about this year’s rodeos, visit banderaprorodeo.org.
