Said in a earlier post that I would know this week what the big deal about the pendleton rodeo was! Well all I can say is tradition! This is the ninty-ninth year of the round-up, they have to be doing something right.

Found out a couple of days before the rodeo that I was going to have to wear a cowboy hat, (didn’t own one) and long sleeve button-up cowboy shirts. Have to admit, I felt this totally uncalled for and equated it with putting on a set of shoulder pads and a helment to run the sidelines shooting football photos. One day into the shoot and talking to some of the local cowboys, I understood. It’s called tradition.

The old style wooden bucking shoots are still used, even though some of the riders complain. There are no ads plasterd all over the walls, even though it would surely bring in a lot more revenue, and the tribes still wear full native dress. The best description I heard was from a old cowboy. He just said “It’s the way it’s always been done.”

Young and old, Cowboy or Indian, man or woman, they all have one thing in common, it’s called tradition!

For a day by day pictorial  Round-up