Rodeo Town
For 1 week in early summer, a new community comes to life east of Gallup

Riley Wakefield of Nebraska practices his roping skills at Red Rock State Park on Monday evening. Thousands of junior high rodeo contestants descended upon Gallup this week for the Wrangler Junior High Rodeo. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — For one week only, a new young community has established temporary digs east of Gallup.

Although its residents come from nearly every state, as well as Canada and Australia, its culture is distinctly Western — as in cowboy and cowgirl Western. It’s all part of the Wrangler Junior High Finals Rodeo at Red Rock Park, and the presence of the 816 participating youth — along with their supportive family members and friends — has created a unique community with its own distinct style of dress, vocabulary, activities, food, worship, and shopping.

Area residents are invited to attend the event’s weekday rodeo performances at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. each day, as well as Saturday’s final competition. Cowboy events include junior bulls, tie down roping or breakaway, chute dogging, goat tying, team roping, and ribbon roping. Cowgirl events include barrel racing, breakaway, pole bending, goat tying, team roping, and ribbon roping.

In between rodeo performances, visitors can watch the kids practice their roping skills on goats or vie for scholarship money on Heel-O-Matic/Perfect Practice’s mechanical “supergoat” training devices. They can also taste some Louisiana Cajun vittles, bid on silent auction cowboy goodies, attend a Christian cowboys’ Bible study, or shop for just about anything, from a sparkly T-shirt, to a horse, or a sleek, new rodeo trailer.

“When we’re not doing anything, we’re roping dummies,” said Haden Stewart, a seventh-grader from Erda, Utah, explaining what he’s doing in his free time. Haden, along with five other family members, is spending the week watching his older brother, Gage, compete in chute dogging.

A member of a rodeo family, Haden said he’s getting back into team roping and chute dogging after being away from the sport for a while. Although he’s not competing this week, Haden said highlights thus far have included meeting a cowboy from Australia and attending the welcoming ceremony with remarks by Gallup Mayor Harry Mendoza.

Haden’s grandparents, Dave and Kaye Clayton, said they were impressed by both the rodeo and Red Rock Park. “This is a beautiful facility,” Dave Clayton said. “It’s like the perfect setting for this kind of event,” agreed Kaye Clayton.

Shantel Gregg, who will be entering the ninth grade, is participating in her first Wrangler Junior High Finals Rodeo in the ribbon roping competition. Shantel, from Harrold, S.D., attended before when an older sister twice qualified. Shantel said she spent much of Monday shopping in Gallup and added she was enjoying Gallup’s weather, which she said was an improvement over humid South Dakota.

In addition to the rodeo participants, the event has drawn a number of business owners from across the West. Local Native American jewelry vendors Chester and Cathy Benally of Gallup set up an outdoors sales table for the first time at the rodeo. Business was slow on Monday, the couple said, but they are hoping it will pick up by the end of the week.

Cathy Benally said she had sold a couple of pendants earlier in the day with rodeo-related designs. “It’s like a new thing for me,” she said of her effort to cater to the mostly non-Indian cowboy crowd.

Inside the convention center, two Texas women who have booths across from each other talked about their years of experience selling at rodeo trade shows. Carol Christian, owner of Cowgirl Glitter, and Lou Mallory, owner of Lucky Lulu’s, are both former school teachers. They now travel each year, from the National Western Stock Show in January to the National Finals Rodeo in December, selling very different types of merchandise. Christian’s booth is known for its Western “bling” — sparkly T-shirts and ball caps to flashy, crystal encrusted belts. In contrast, Mallory specializes in Western gifts, vintage memorabilia, and hard-to-find Western-styled fabrics.

Mallory explained vendors on the rodeo circuit are a close group who enjoy a friendly camaraderie. “It’s like a family,” Christian agreed. “It’s really a wonderful group of people.”
Christian, who has sold at the Wrangler Junior High Finals Rodeo in Gallup previously, said she likes coming to the city. “I like the fact that it’s a small show,” she said, explaining that smaller means less competition from other vendors. “They keep the kids busy,” Christian added of the Gallup rodeo organizers. “It’s a great vacation for the families.”

Darrell Delay is a food vendor from Cortez, Colo., who sells at fairs, celebrations, and rodeos. Originally from the Texas/Louisiana border, Delay is selling Cajun fare in Gallup this week: shrimp on a stick, shrimp etouffee, pulled pork sandwiches, and red beans, rice and sausage. He said he prefers working rodeo events because the people — even the teenage cowboys and cowgirls — have better manners than typical fairgoers.

“Oh, of course,” he explained. “They’re raised better.”