ndca - north dakota cowboy magazine

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MAGAZINE OF THE NORTH DAKOTA COWBOY ASSOCIATION

PHOTO BY ANNIKA PLUMMER

GO TO: gatheringcowboyhistory.com

Gathering rich history for generations

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National collegiate champion to compete at the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association National Circuit Finals in Florida

Dickinson State University’s Camer-on Morman is the reigning National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Steer Wrestling National Champion. He is also the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association Badlands Cir-cuit Steer Wrestling Champion. He will compete at the 2016 Dodge Na-tional Circuit Finals in Kissimmee, FL on April 7 through 10. He was kind enough to answer a few ques-tions for us prior to his departure.

He is a great young man and a won-derful representative for North Dako-ta. We wish him the best of luck. WHEN YOU ARE HOPPING OFF A SPEEDING HORSE ONTO A 400 POUND STEER, WHAT IS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND? To be honest, I try not to think very much. I practice making runs the same way I want to do them in a ro-

deo, and then when I get to the ro-deo, I just let my body react. Some-times you can over-think things, and that will force you to make mistakes.

PHOTO BY KEN HOWIE STUDIOS



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WHAT IS THE WORST "MISHAP" THAT YOU'VE HAD WHILE STEER WRESTLING? I broke my eye socket while practic-ing before the Fourth of July rodeos two years ago. I was riding my young horse at the time and when I crawled off onto the steer he faded away and then the steer stopped and its horn hit me in the cheekbone and broke the bone on the bottom of my eye socket. I ended up having sur-gery a week or so later and sat out for about six weeks. WHERE WERE YOU RAISED AND WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS DO? I was raised on a ranch south of Glen Ullin, ND. My parents dairy-farmed, grain-farmed and also ran beef cows. About four years ago they quit milk-ing and grain farming. Now my Dad is a loan officer at the Bank of Glen Ullin and runs about 100 head of beef cows. My Mom is a clinic aide at the Richardton clinic. WHAT IS IT YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT STEERWRESTLING? I like it all. I like the adrenalin rush, the competitiveness and helping oth-ers; whether it is hazing, pushing steers, or whatever else they need. I like how physical it is. If you aren’t aggressive it is really going to hurt, and if you are really aggressive you

don’t even feel the pain. DOES STEERWRESTLING JUST SEEM TO COME NATURALLY TO YOU? I am not sure that steer wrestling comes naturally to anyone. You are not going to find very many guys that can honestly just tell you, “Oh yeah, it is easy.” The most important components of steer wrestling is if you are riding a good horse, if you have a good hazer, and if you are drawing good steers. I have been for-tunate enough to be able to say that I have done all three of these in the past year or two. COMPARE THE IMPORTANCE OF TECHNIQUE AS OPPOSED TO STRENGTH IN STEERWRES-TLING? In my opinion, technique is the most important thing, hands down, if you want to win consistently. You are only going to be able to place on cer-tain steers if try to overpower them. I would say technique has been the biggest reason I have had the success I have had. I’ve really been trying hard to master the technique and then use my strength as an ad-vantage, on top of good technique. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE STEERWRESTLING TO SOME-ONE WHO HAS NEVER DONE IT?

There are so many different things that have to go right in order to be successful. You have to draw well, have a hazer that you trust, ride a nice horse, score sharp, and make the best run you possibly can. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THAT EVENT IN RODEO? I remember watching the old Nation-al Finals Rodeo tapes with my Grandpa from the 90s and thinking it would be a ton of fun, and then it all just kind of fell into place. It fits my style. But you have to be able to put up with pain because it is a very physical event. You also have to be aggressive, because if you are not, chances are you are going to get hurt. WHAT WOULD YOU TELL A YOUNG PERSON JUST GET-TING INTO RODEO? I would say that no matter what event you want to do in rodeo, find someone with a good attitude to teach you and to look up to. No mat-ter what happens, don’t get down on yourself, because all that does is de-stroy you.

ANNIKAPLUMMER.SMUGMUG.COM



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An interview with a former

Professional Bull Riders

(PBR) National Finals quali-

fier, rancher, and musician.

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You grew up on a ranch near Killdeer. Tell us, with regards to workload, what was ex-pected of you as a boy? When were you ex-pected to do a man's work? I actually grew up on a family ranch south of Hal-liday and then we moved to Killdeer when I was 15. I was expected to do what I was able to do. When you are old enough to ride horse, you helped trail cattle. When you are old enough to drive a tractor, you start raking hay and then progress to more detailed tasks. When you are old enough to break a horse, then you break a horse even if you are scared. I didn't always like doing those things, but sometimes in life we have to do things we don't want to do. I feel very blessed that I had the op-portunity to grow up on a ranch where there are many life lessons to be learned. How did you become involved in rodeo? We lived in a rodeo community. I grew up in Brad Gjermundson country and my Dad was a cowboy so I think it was just expected that I would be in-volved in rodeo on some level. You obviously liked something about rodeo that kept you doing it. What was that? My first competition was a sheep riding event when I was 4. I don't remember it but I still have the buckle that I won that day and I'm pretty sure that feeling of success and accomplishment is what propelled me to continue. Had I got my head driv-en into a gate that day then my life might have taken a whole different route. Later on, as a professional, did the appeal of rodeo change somehow? Not a lot. You always want to win and be success-

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-ful. It is a little scary and intense no matter if you are a 13 year old kid getting on a steer or a 25 year old professional getting on Little Yellow Jacket. Ultimately you want to be better than the animal and that feel-ing of conquering that animal is the same. But there is more money on the line and more people watching. You've also continued with ranching. What is it you like best about ranching? I love a lot of things about ranching. I love that I am providing quality food for the world. I love working with my family and with animals. I love the physical and mental chal-lenges that come at me every day, like training a new horse or caring for a sick calf or figuring out new techniques to be more efficient and to produce better products and to be a better steward of the land. There are a lot of responsibilities that go along with agricultural production and I believe that one of the most im-portant is taking good care of our land and conserving the environment for future generations. You reached the top echelon when it comes to rodeo. What do you do to maintain focus when you are getting on a bull in a chute in front of thousands of people? I never quite figured that out exactly. There is such a fine line between be-ing 100 percent aggressive and ready to fire on all cylinders, but still stay

relaxed enough so that the pressure of everything doesn't affect you nega-tively. It comes down to being totally confident that you have the ability to get the job done while blocking every-thing else out. That usually isn't that tough if you are prepared. Then you hear the announcer say something like "this bull has never been ridden and this guy has no chance,” and that's when you better be mentally tough and believe in yourself and your training. In the midst of a rodeo career you were also pursuing, and you still are, a musical career. What is it you like about creating and being in a popular band? Music is just fun, but it is also chal-lenging and I've always liked to chal-lenge myself. There is always some-thing more you can learn and always something to do to make you better. For some reason I've always wanted to be good at what I do so I work hard at things. I'm not a big fan of mediocrity so if I’m going to play mu-sic then I want to do a good job at it. Plus things are always more fun and enjoyable for everyone when it is done well. Unfortunately I have a long ways to go before I can consider myself a good musician. I'm working on it though. It is impossible to meet someone who doesn't like Beni Paulson. What is it that you do each day that gives you an attitude that people seem to be drawn to? What is it you say to yourself?

Well that may not be totally true but I'll take the compliment. I get about as much satisfaction seeing other people succeed as I do being success-ful myself, so I try to build people up as much as possible. I always try to be positive, respectful, and just be nice. Sometimes there are people that make these things difficult but I try to always be patient and open-minded, which is also hard at times. What gift has professional bull riding given you? How has it benefitted your life? Any time a person gets to pursue their dreams and do what they love to do it is a good thing and I feel blessed for the opportunity to do so. I got to see the world, meet celebrities, be involved in music videos and lots of other exciting things that I may not have had the opportunity to do. Maybe the best gift and benefit is the friendships that are formed. There is a different comradery that is formed between guys who are competing with and against each other in a very dangerous atmosphere. My buddy Ross Lewis waited for me for three days in Austin when I broke my leg, then drove me home without stop-ping because I was hurting and whining like a baby. I would do any-thing for these guys.



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By Kevin Holten



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This is an article I wrote for my column in the Dickinson Press a couple of years ago. The moment is worth remem-bering again now. There was a time when two stars came together in the stair-well of an army barracks in Ger-many, with only one knowing the other was a star. That was in 1959, when Alvin Nelson of Grassy Butte had been drafted into the army, which in-terrupted an outstanding career as a saddle bronc riding world champion and briefly separated him from his new bride. A week ago Monday I had the unique pleasure of asking him an array of questions during the taping of a two hour interview and for me, it was one of life’s

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most precious moments. Now, as you may know, Alvin was a member of the famed “Six Pack,” a group of six North Dakota cowboys who were linked together simply because they dominated rodeo in the 50s and 60s. As Alvin said, there were plenty of other good North Dakota cowboys, many of whom never had the oppor-tunity to travel across the country for a variety of rea-sons. But Alvin arrived at professional rodeo’s ultimate pinnacle early on in life and set an example for all who were to follow by saving his money and buying a ranch and then another near Grassy Butte and combining the two, only three years into his pro-fessional rodeo career. He then went on to be a role mod-el from that point until today. The word humble does not even come close to describing his actions and attitude, his inner being and personality. Because this is a man who was cheered on by thousands at rodeos all across the coun-try, in addition to being a Wrangler jeans model and still he describes himself as someone who was lucky and “did okay.” You did more than okay Al-vin. You were a star. This was at a time when South Dakota cowboy, Casey Tibbs, was appearing on the cover of Life magazine, the preeminent magazine of its day. Tibbs drove a purple Cadillac, wore colorful clothes, he dated Hollywood starlets, he rode a bronc blindfolded,

partied plenty, blew his mon-ey, and got all kinds of atten-tion. Meanwhile Alvin was dating and marrying Kaye, a rodeo queen from southeast of Watford City, investing his money wisely and, by the way, beating out Casey for the world champion saddle bronc riding title. Still, if you were sitting in my chair across from Alvin on January 6th of this New Year, you too would have discovered how hard it was to get Alvin to say anything that might give glory to himself and you know what? You’ve got to love it. He talked glowingly about his rodeo buddies like Jim, Tom and Alvin Tescher, Duane Howard, Joe Chase, Dean Armstrong and others and about his ranch, his son, family, his many experiences and his wife and how they met. But try to get him to talk about how good he was and it’s easier to lift an oil tanker truck off a highway with one hand. He just doesn’t go there. Having Alvin’s memories recorded for posterity, along with those of four time world champion Brad Gjermundson and others is like finding a gold seam and mining it daily for a hundred years. It’s a priceless and unique gift for the people of North Dakota and beyond. Yet back in 1959 Elvis Pres-ley had no clue that he’d run into a star when he said “Hi” to Alvin in the stairwell of the same army barracks that they were assigned to on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Nor would WE have ever known anything about this chance encounter unless I had asked Alvin “out of the blue” if he had happened to meet Elv-is, having put two and two together knowing that Elvis was there at about the same time. Because Alvin, of course, would never have brought it up. Whatever the case, it’s Elvis’s loss. Because had he known more about Alvin and visited with him he could have heard a lot of good stories and he would have had as great a day as I had, a week ago last Monday.



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$35—ENTRY + FOOD (CASH BAR SEPARATE)



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BELFIELD, N.D. – Are you familiar

with Tom Mix? He was the first real

famous cowboy film hero, long before

Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and John

Wayne made their marks in Holly-

wood.

From about 1910 to 1928, he was as

famous as a Hollywood star could be

in silent films, and then when

“talkies” became popular, he was one

of their casualties.

Before all of that, he worked on

ranches in southwestern North Da-

kota and, according to George Wolf, a

longtime Badlands rancher who now

lives just south of Medora, he mar-

ried his second wife Olive just out-

side of Medora, at what was then a

dude ranch called The Buddy Ranch.

“The justice of the peace who mar-

ried Tom and Olive was my great-

grandfather, Nel’s Nichols,” said Pam

Reinarts, who now owns Cedar Can-

yon Spa in Medora.

After that Mix was in a series of

wild west shows, such as The Miller

Brother Wild West Show, from 1906-

1909, the Seattle Alaska-Yukon Pa-

cific Exposition, with his wife Olive,

the Widerman Show out of Amarillo,

TX, and Will A. Dickey's Circle D

Ranch Show.

It was the latter show that supplied

Selig Pictures in Hollywood with

cowboys and Indians for movies and,

in 1910, Mix was hired by Selig to

provide and handle horses.

Apparently Selig saw some poten-

W A T F O R D C I T Y

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

in Mix and cast him in his first mov-

ie, Ranch Life in the Great South-

west, in 1910. He continued with

Selig until 1917, writing and direct-

ing as well as acting.

Mix was then signed by Fox Films

in 1917 and remained with them un-

til 1928, averaging five or so films a

year and that’s when his popularity

soared and he earned and spent mil-

lions.

Mix was born in Mix Run, PA on

January 6, 1880 to Edwin and Eliza-

beth Mix, who named him Thomas

Hezikiah Mix.

He enlisted in the Army in 1898, as

Thomas E. Mix, and then deserted

the army to marry his first wife,

Grace Allin. The fact that he was a

deserter did not come up until after

his death, by which time he was so

famous that the army had to hold its

tongue and give him a full military

burial.

Once, after his Hollywood fame had

begun to dissipate, he was asked by a

journalist what he thought of John

Wayne and he said, “The only Chris-

tian words I can use are “no-talent

upstart.”

As it turns out, Wayne had disliked

Mix since Wayne's college days at the

University of Southern California,

when Mix told several members of

the football team, of which Wayne

was a member, to stop by Fox Studi-

os and he would find them jobs in the

movies.

Wayne and several others did so a

few weeks later, only to be informed

that Mix had never told anyone at

the studio about his promises of em-

ployment. They were thrown off the

lot and Wayne never forgave Mix for

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Gathering rich history

for generations to share





CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

that.

On October 12, 1940, while driving

his 1937 Cord Sportsman through

the Arizona desert, Mix took a turn

too fast and a suitcase broke loose

and struck him in the head and his

car plunged into a ravine. He was

killed instantly.

That car was recently restored in

Arizona, and Ken Howie, of Ken

Howie Studios in Belfield, ND, the

producer of the TV series, SPECIAL

COWBOY MOMENTS for NBC

North Dakota, was asked to photo-

graph it for an elegant coffee table

book.

“It is a very fancy car,” said Howie,

“with a lot of Hollywood style addi-

tions, like a six-shooter brake handle

for example.”

Howie, who grew up on a ranch

south of Belfield and graduated from

Belfield High School, has worked as a

photographer and videographer in

Chicago, New York and more recent-

ly, Phoenix, AZ. He and his wife

Theresa, moved back to Belfield a

few years ago to preserve North Da-

kota’s rich history through photog-

raphy and videography.

“Our history in North Dakota is as

rich as it comes,” said Howie, “and

we want to capture and preserve as

much of it as we can before it’s gone.”

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