Johnson a Steer Roping Legend Pawhuskans Still Honor Favorite Son With Rodeo
Willard H. Porter -- Published: Sun, June 7, 1987 12:00 AM
Pawhuska, OK, my agents tell me, has now been named "Steer Roping Capital of the World." A lot of old boys in Osage country didn't have to wait for a formal announcement. They knew it all the time.
The Pawhuska region of the Sooner State was (and is) the home of fine ranches, the home of fine ranch cowboys, and the running grounds of rodeo steer ropers like Ben Johnson, Sr. In fact, for 35 years, ever since Ben Johnson died of cancer, Pawhuskans have been holding one of the biggest steer roping in the country in his memory. This month (June 21), the 34th annual Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping will be held at the Osage County Fairgrounds at 1 p.m. The entry fee for each roper will be $1,250. About 40 ropers will compete on four head (last year there were 51 entries), and the top 15 will go to a "short" or final steer to determine the winners.
The roping is more or less an invitational affair and here is how the contestants are selected: the top 15 PRCA steer ropers for 1986, all past Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping winners, and the top 15 from the June 20 (Saturday) Open Contest.
The Open Contest can be likened to an elimination except that those ropers enjoying automatic entry '86 world champs and past B.J. winners are not eligible for Saturday's competition.
If you plan on coming to this event, you'd better like to watch roping because this is not all.
On Saturday (at 8 p.m.), the third annual Orbin Garrett Open to the World Calf Roping will be held. A top field of calf ropers is expected, each of whom will rope two head, and the fastest dozen will go to a third calf to determine winners.
Also on Saturday evening, a 10-head calf roping match is scheduled between IPRA (International Professional Rodeo Association) World Champion Terry Postrach and Paul Duncan, last fall's winner of Clem McSpadden's "World's Richest Roping."
This is one of the reasons that Ben Johnson, Sr., has been nominated to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
So there you have it. So much for the current contestants. But what about this fellow Johnson for whom the roping is named?
Born in Harrison, Ark., Feb. 19, 1896, the son of Jim and Anne (McCormick) Johnson, he left home in his teens and hired on with the famous Chapman/Barnard Ranch north of Pawhuska. Later he became foreman of this big spread, a position he held for 17 years, until his death in 1952. (He also had a little spread of his own, adjoining the C/B Ranch, at Foraker, which he managed in partnership with Jim Mounts).
In pursuit of long-horned, fast-running steers, he made the rodeos at Cheyenne, Dewey, Dodge City, Memphis and Pendleton. He was winner at Cheyenne three times: 1922, '23 and '26. It is said that he once secured three steers at the Pendleton Round-Up in an 18-second average, fast time for those days.
Ben Johnson has been called a "living link between historical events that tied the Old West into the new." He probably would reject this description of his tall, rugged frame as too ostentatious. And Ben was anything but that. He was honest and totally without pretension.
He has been compared to Will Rogers. Will "never met a man he didn't like," while Ben never met a man who didn't like him.
__________
Ben Johnson, Sr. was a champion steer roper, and also a cattleman and rancher who was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1961. He was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame of the Rodeo Historical Society (a support group of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum) in 1961. The Ben Johnson Memorial Award is awarded annually to prominent representatives of the western character and spirit (since 1998). Both Ben Johnson, Sr. and his son Ben Johnson, Jr.-- along with Ben Jr.'s nephew, have Belt-Buckle awards for team roping.
With appreciation to contributor: Bertha Avery-Hood (46546576) • [email protected]
Willard H. Porter -- Published: Sun, June 7, 1987 12:00 AM
Pawhuska, OK, my agents tell me, has now been named "Steer Roping Capital of the World." A lot of old boys in Osage country didn't have to wait for a formal announcement. They knew it all the time.
The Pawhuska region of the Sooner State was (and is) the home of fine ranches, the home of fine ranch cowboys, and the running grounds of rodeo steer ropers like Ben Johnson, Sr. In fact, for 35 years, ever since Ben Johnson died of cancer, Pawhuskans have been holding one of the biggest steer roping in the country in his memory. This month (June 21), the 34th annual Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping will be held at the Osage County Fairgrounds at 1 p.m. The entry fee for each roper will be $1,250. About 40 ropers will compete on four head (last year there were 51 entries), and the top 15 will go to a "short" or final steer to determine the winners.
The roping is more or less an invitational affair and here is how the contestants are selected: the top 15 PRCA steer ropers for 1986, all past Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping winners, and the top 15 from the June 20 (Saturday) Open Contest.
The Open Contest can be likened to an elimination except that those ropers enjoying automatic entry '86 world champs and past B.J. winners are not eligible for Saturday's competition.
If you plan on coming to this event, you'd better like to watch roping because this is not all.
On Saturday (at 8 p.m.), the third annual Orbin Garrett Open to the World Calf Roping will be held. A top field of calf ropers is expected, each of whom will rope two head, and the fastest dozen will go to a third calf to determine winners.
Also on Saturday evening, a 10-head calf roping match is scheduled between IPRA (International Professional Rodeo Association) World Champion Terry Postrach and Paul Duncan, last fall's winner of Clem McSpadden's "World's Richest Roping."
This is one of the reasons that Ben Johnson, Sr., has been nominated to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
So there you have it. So much for the current contestants. But what about this fellow Johnson for whom the roping is named?
Born in Harrison, Ark., Feb. 19, 1896, the son of Jim and Anne (McCormick) Johnson, he left home in his teens and hired on with the famous Chapman/Barnard Ranch north of Pawhuska. Later he became foreman of this big spread, a position he held for 17 years, until his death in 1952. (He also had a little spread of his own, adjoining the C/B Ranch, at Foraker, which he managed in partnership with Jim Mounts).
In pursuit of long-horned, fast-running steers, he made the rodeos at Cheyenne, Dewey, Dodge City, Memphis and Pendleton. He was winner at Cheyenne three times: 1922, '23 and '26. It is said that he once secured three steers at the Pendleton Round-Up in an 18-second average, fast time for those days.
Ben Johnson has been called a "living link between historical events that tied the Old West into the new." He probably would reject this description of his tall, rugged frame as too ostentatious. And Ben was anything but that. He was honest and totally without pretension.
He has been compared to Will Rogers. Will "never met a man he didn't like," while Ben never met a man who didn't like him.
__________
Ben Johnson, Sr. was a champion steer roper, and also a cattleman and rancher who was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1961. He was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame of the Rodeo Historical Society (a support group of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum) in 1961. The Ben Johnson Memorial Award is awarded annually to prominent representatives of the western character and spirit (since 1998). Both Ben Johnson, Sr. and his son Ben Johnson, Jr.-- along with Ben Jr.'s nephew, have Belt-Buckle awards for team roping.
With appreciation to contributor: Bertha Avery-Hood (46546576) • [email protected]
Johnson a Steer Roping Legend Pawhuskans Still Honor Favorite Son With Rodeo
Willard H. Porter -- Published: Sun, June 7, 1987 12:00 AM
Pawhuska, OK, my agents tell me, has now been named "Steer Roping Capital of the World." A lot of old boys in Osage country didn't have to wait for a formal announcement. They knew it all the time.
The Pawhuska region of the Sooner State was (and is) the home of fine ranches, the home of fine ranch cowboys, and the running grounds of rodeo steer ropers like Ben Johnson, Sr. In fact, for 35 years, ever since Ben Johnson died of cancer, Pawhuskans have been holding one of the biggest steer roping in the country in his memory. This month (June 21), the 34th annual Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping will be held at the Osage County Fairgrounds at 1 p.m. The entry fee for each roper will be $1,250. About 40 ropers will compete on four head (last year there were 51 entries), and the top 15 will go to a "short" or final steer to determine the winners.
The roping is more or less an invitational affair and here is how the contestants are selected: the top 15 PRCA steer ropers for 1986, all past Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping winners, and the top 15 from the June 20 (Saturday) Open Contest.
The Open Contest can be likened to an elimination except that those ropers enjoying automatic entry '86 world champs and past B.J. winners are not eligible for Saturday's competition.
If you plan on coming to this event, you'd better like to watch roping because this is not all.
On Saturday (at 8 p.m.), the third annual Orbin Garrett Open to the World Calf Roping will be held. A top field of calf ropers is expected, each of whom will rope two head, and the fastest dozen will go to a third calf to determine winners.
Also on Saturday evening, a 10-head calf roping match is scheduled between IPRA (International Professional Rodeo Association) World Champion Terry Postrach and Paul Duncan, last fall's winner of Clem McSpadden's "World's Richest Roping."
This is one of the reasons that Ben Johnson, Sr., has been nominated to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
So there you have it. So much for the current contestants. But what about this fellow Johnson for whom the roping is named?
Born in Harrison, Ark., Feb. 19, 1896, the son of Jim and Anne (McCormick) Johnson, he left home in his teens and hired on with the famous Chapman/Barnard Ranch north of Pawhuska. Later he became foreman of this big spread, a position he held for 17 years, until his death in 1952. (He also had a little spread of his own, adjoining the C/B Ranch, at Foraker, which he managed in partnership with Jim Mounts).
In pursuit of long-horned, fast-running steers, he made the rodeos at Cheyenne, Dewey, Dodge City, Memphis and Pendleton. He was winner at Cheyenne three times: 1922, '23 and '26. It is said that he once secured three steers at the Pendleton Round-Up in an 18-second average, fast time for those days.
Ben Johnson has been called a "living link between historical events that tied the Old West into the new." He probably would reject this description of his tall, rugged frame as too ostentatious. And Ben was anything but that. He was honest and totally without pretension.
He has been compared to Will Rogers. Will "never met a man he didn't like," while Ben never met a man who didn't like him.
__________
Ben Johnson, Sr. was a champion steer roper, and also a cattleman and rancher who was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1961. He was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame of the Rodeo Historical Society (a support group of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum) in 1961. The Ben Johnson Memorial Award is awarded annually to prominent representatives of the western character and spirit (since 1998). Both Ben Johnson, Sr. and his son Ben Johnson, Jr.-- along with Ben Jr.'s nephew, have Belt-Buckle awards for team roping.
With appreciation to contributor: Bertha Avery-Hood (46546576) • [email protected]
Willard H. Porter -- Published: Sun, June 7, 1987 12:00 AM
Pawhuska, OK, my agents tell me, has now been named "Steer Roping Capital of the World." A lot of old boys in Osage country didn't have to wait for a formal announcement. They knew it all the time.
The Pawhuska region of the Sooner State was (and is) the home of fine ranches, the home of fine ranch cowboys, and the running grounds of rodeo steer ropers like Ben Johnson, Sr. In fact, for 35 years, ever since Ben Johnson died of cancer, Pawhuskans have been holding one of the biggest steer roping in the country in his memory. This month (June 21), the 34th annual Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping will be held at the Osage County Fairgrounds at 1 p.m. The entry fee for each roper will be $1,250. About 40 ropers will compete on four head (last year there were 51 entries), and the top 15 will go to a "short" or final steer to determine the winners.
The roping is more or less an invitational affair and here is how the contestants are selected: the top 15 PRCA steer ropers for 1986, all past Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping winners, and the top 15 from the June 20 (Saturday) Open Contest.
The Open Contest can be likened to an elimination except that those ropers enjoying automatic entry '86 world champs and past B.J. winners are not eligible for Saturday's competition.
If you plan on coming to this event, you'd better like to watch roping because this is not all.
On Saturday (at 8 p.m.), the third annual Orbin Garrett Open to the World Calf Roping will be held. A top field of calf ropers is expected, each of whom will rope two head, and the fastest dozen will go to a third calf to determine winners.
Also on Saturday evening, a 10-head calf roping match is scheduled between IPRA (International Professional Rodeo Association) World Champion Terry Postrach and Paul Duncan, last fall's winner of Clem McSpadden's "World's Richest Roping."
This is one of the reasons that Ben Johnson, Sr., has been nominated to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
So there you have it. So much for the current contestants. But what about this fellow Johnson for whom the roping is named?
Born in Harrison, Ark., Feb. 19, 1896, the son of Jim and Anne (McCormick) Johnson, he left home in his teens and hired on with the famous Chapman/Barnard Ranch north of Pawhuska. Later he became foreman of this big spread, a position he held for 17 years, until his death in 1952. (He also had a little spread of his own, adjoining the C/B Ranch, at Foraker, which he managed in partnership with Jim Mounts).
In pursuit of long-horned, fast-running steers, he made the rodeos at Cheyenne, Dewey, Dodge City, Memphis and Pendleton. He was winner at Cheyenne three times: 1922, '23 and '26. It is said that he once secured three steers at the Pendleton Round-Up in an 18-second average, fast time for those days.
Ben Johnson has been called a "living link between historical events that tied the Old West into the new." He probably would reject this description of his tall, rugged frame as too ostentatious. And Ben was anything but that. He was honest and totally without pretension.
He has been compared to Will Rogers. Will "never met a man he didn't like," while Ben never met a man who didn't like him.
__________
Ben Johnson, Sr. was a champion steer roper, and also a cattleman and rancher who was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1961. He was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame of the Rodeo Historical Society (a support group of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum) in 1961. The Ben Johnson Memorial Award is awarded annually to prominent representatives of the western character and spirit (since 1998). Both Ben Johnson, Sr. and his son Ben Johnson, Jr.-- along with Ben Jr.'s nephew, have Belt-Buckle awards for team roping.
With appreciation to contributor: Bertha Avery-Hood (46546576) • [email protected]
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