welcome to the 75th annual will rogers memorial rodeo!

 

Will Rogers

It was in 1934 that Will Rogers suggested to his many Vinita friends and Willie Halsell college classmates, "Have a rodeo next year and I'll be back." He had returned to Vinita in the fall of that year for the homecoming parade.

 

The world famous cowboy humorist and philosopher, once a Vinita cowboy, rode along in the parade twirling a lariat and speaking to his friends among the spectators.

 

Will Rogers couldn't keep that appointment because he was killed the next summer in a plane crash but the Dale Peace Post of the American Legion kept the rodeo suggestion alive for 75 years. The first show was held in 1935. Tow events have been missed because of the war and anthrax quarantine in northeastern Oklahoma.

 

We welcome you to this PRCA approved event and encourage you to come every night. Bring your whole family and enjoy this piece of Americana. You will make memories that will last a lifetime.

 

bronc rider