About the Will Rogers Memorial Rodeo

About our rodeo

Will Rogers Memorial Rodeo in Vinita, OK, is the premier rodeo event held in the Southwest! This is a four-day event that is kicked off by the Annual Will Rogers Memorial Rodeo Parade on RT 66 in downtown Vinita. Every night of the rodeo is filled with action packed events from Girl's Barrel Racing, Bare Back Bronc Riding, Steer Roping, Bull Riding & Team Roping, and much much more!! Bring the family and enjoy an amazing night at the Will Rogers Memorial Rodeo in Vinita, OK.

Over the last three years we have made many improvements to the facilities with expanding the area around the Grand Stands to relieve foot traffic congestion this year, the new web site, online ticket sales and more. In the last three years our contestant numbers have almost doubled in many events along with a substantial increase in money added to all of the events. In doing so WRMR has been awarded some impressive titles, namely Most Improved Rodeo in the ProRodeo Prairie Circuit and Best Small Rodeo in the WPRA.

Our WRMR Queen and Princess contests have done well in representing Northeast Oklahoma as they have launched more than one young lady’s journey into Pageant Royalty and produced two recent Miss Rodeo Oklahoma, Miss Calie Newman, who now runs our contest, and the current Miss Rodeo Oklahoma, Landry Layton.

History of our rodeo

Will Rogers was born in 1879, at a ranch house on the Verdigris River. The only towns that existed nearby were Vinita, Indian Territory (which later became Oklahoma), and Coffeyville, Kansas. After his mother died in 1890, Will was sent to several schools away from the ranch, but the one he grew to like the most was Willie Halsell College located in Vinita. He attended three terms from 1892, until 1895, and he never forgot the happy days he spent there or the friends he made. Years later, while attending a school reunion in 1934, Will Rogers told the Vinita folks, "Have a rodeo here next year and I'll come back."

He returned that fall for the old-timer's parade, but on August 15, 1935, just days before the rodeo, Will Rogers and famed pilot Wiley Post were both tragically killed in a plane crash. It was decided that the Vinita rodeo would be held as a memorial to Vinita's cherished "son" Will Rogers, and it has been every year since. The Will Rogers Memorial Rodeo has become one of the most outstanding rodeos in the entire southwest.