It was only ninety years ago that rodeo finally made the right move to improve the sport and allow competitors to have a say in what was happening in the sport of rodeo.
Yes, this year we are celebrating the 90th year of professional rodeo! From meager winnings in rodeo’s earliest days, the world of rodeo has become one of the country’s great sports. The PRCA National Finals held in Las Vegas had a purse of $17,551,956 in 2025. $13,501,505 went to the contestants and $4,050,451 to the stock contractors. There is a planned increase of $1 million, so this year, 2026, it will be $18.5 million!
The Cowboys’ Turtle Association (CTA) was established on November 6th, 1936. It took a long time for cowboys who liked to compete in rodeos to get the job done. They had been complaining about the small purses and felt it was such a simple way to improve the purse – just put the entry fees into the purse and make it a worthwhile amount! But rodeo producers had been doing it without adding entry fees for years, so why change?
The competing cowboys also were not satisfied with the judging at some of the rodeos. Local men, such as a doctor, a sheriff, or someone respected in the community, were often chosen to serve as judges. How much did that doctor or sheriff know about the rules of rodeo and what made a good ride or roping? How often did one of the hometown cowboys win the events when it was evident to the more seasoned cowboys that they had spurred harder, or roped better?
On March 16, 1945, the Cowboys’ Turtle Association changed its name to Rodeo Cowboys Association, which they knew represented them better than ‘Cowboys’ Turtle Association. In 1975, the association added ‘Professional’ to its name, and since then, it has been known as the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).
The 75th anniversary of the Turtles was in 2011, and the year before, a group of us decided we should try to get as many still-living Turtles as we could to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. They were also guests and received recognition at the Cowboy Reunion, headed by Liz Kesler. Twelve men were introduced in the arena during one of the Finals performances in Las Vegas, NV. They were also briefly interviewed on video about their days as CTA members.
I wrote a book about it, “The Cowboys’ Turtle Association: The Birth of Professional Rodeo,” and it was published in 2011 because the CTA was celebrating its 75th anniversary, and although everyone knew something about how the cowboys struck at the Boston rodeo in 1936, the details and the full story had never been told. The importance of the CTA is that when this group formed a unit, they could deal with the Rodeo Association of America, an organization of the best rodeos in the country, but one run primarily by businessmen, not cowboys. No one listened to one cowboy’s complaint, but now, as a group of the best cowboys in the country, they made sure they were heard! All they were trying to do was make rodeo more professional and fairer.
I had been researching the history of rodeo for 23 years and had learned a lot about how important the formation of the Turtles was to the competing cowboys, because before that, they actually had no say in how rodeos were run. This wasn’t a spontaneous decision when they formed the CTA because cowboys who followed the rodeo road and competed regularly had been complaining about the small purses and lousy judging for over 20 years. They had been talking about it among themselves at the rodeos they attended, and even formed a group (in 1915) to decide how they thought rodeo could be better. But when they left that rodeo, those cowboys headed various directions and didn’t see each other for months; they never got anything done.
The book could not have been written without Walter Dennis's help. He was just a kid when the Turtles were formed, but he and his mother were neighbors of Hugh Bennett and his wife, Josie, just outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. Hugh was the very first secretary-treasurer of the CTA, and they initially handled their responsibilities out of their vehicle. In 1992, in his late life, Hugh asked Walter to look at all the paperwork he had kept on the CTA from its inception until he resigned. He wanted to know what Walter thought he should give to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Walter did go through all the papers; he made copies of many of the pages. As they were so old (it had been over 50 years), they would crumble or tear easily. He encouraged Hugh to give it all to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Bennett failed to ‘get around to giving it to the Hall’ and died in 1994.
Fortunately, Walter’s mother, Millie, was Hugh’s nurse prior to his passing. Since they knew Hugh wanted the ProRodeo Hall of Fame to have his box of information on the early days of the CTA, Walter took it to the Hall in 1995, when Hugh was inducted. Rex Bennett, Hugh’s nephew, also gave the ledger of all the members of CTA to the Hall at that time. Fortunately, Walter had kept a copy of what he had copied, and he offered to let me use it when I was working on and writing the book.
People like Walter Dennis were forward-thinking, and thank goodness we do have the information he shared with me and took to the Hall for Hugh. If it hadn’t been for these cowboys who worked so hard to make rodeo better by improving the purses, the judging, and so much more, we wouldn’t have the exciting purses like the National Finals purse, which was $17.5 million for 2025.
In the beginning of rodeo, all the competitors were cowboys who worked for a living doing exactly what they did in the rodeo, but the pay for doing it on a ranch was much less than what they got at a rodeo, IF they could beat the other contestants. Rodeo definitely expanded a cowboy's life to so much more than ranch work, although they liked ranch work, but at a rodeo, they could meet others with the same interests and travel more than they ever would as a ranch cowboy.
In 1935, the year before the CTA was organized, during the Fort Worth rodeo, the cowboys and cowgirls got together and told the ‘powers’ of the rodeo that if they didn’t put their entry fees in the purse, they wouldn’t ride in their parade (that kicked off the beginning of the Fort Worth rodeo every year). The ‘powers’ said that it was not possible. The cowboys and cowgirls continued to say they would not ride in the parade. The time for the parade to start arrived, and the streets were full of people and lots of children waiting to see the cowboys & cowgirls ride by. Nothing happened. The ‘powers’ threatened the cowboys and cowgirls, saying, “If you don’t ride in the parade, you can’t compete in the rodeo”. The cowboys and cowgirls just sat there, not moving. Finally, 45 minutes after the parade was to start, the ‘powers’ put all the entry fees into the purse!! Cowboys and cowgirls got up, got on their horses, and rode in the parade. The rodeo went on as planned, no one but the cowboys and cowgirls and the rodeo people knew, but the purses were bigger!
This was the catalyst that encouraged the cowboys to prepare the following year while at the Madison Square Garden rodeo which lasted for weeks and they had plenty of time to get their petition signed, and make their plans for the ‘strike’ at the Boston rodeo, with Colonel W. T. Johnson, the most successful and largest rodeo producer at that time period putting the Boston rodeo on. The Cowboys knew that if they could get Johnson to put the entry fees into the purse, all the other producers and rodeo committees would do the same.
The rest is history!
To Purchase Gail's The Cowboys' Turtle Association: The Birth of Professional Rodeo, Click here.
Yes, this year we are celebrating the 90th year of professional rodeo! From meager winnings in rodeo’s earliest days, the world of rodeo has become one of the country’s great sports. The PRCA National Finals held in Las Vegas had a purse of $17,551,956 in 2025. $13,501,505 went to the contestants and $4,050,451 to the stock contractors. There is a planned increase of $1 million, so this year, 2026, it will be $18.5 million!
The Cowboys’ Turtle Association (CTA) was established on November 6th, 1936. It took a long time for cowboys who liked to compete in rodeos to get the job done. They had been complaining about the small purses and felt it was such a simple way to improve the purse – just put the entry fees into the purse and make it a worthwhile amount! But rodeo producers had been doing it without adding entry fees for years, so why change?
The competing cowboys also were not satisfied with the judging at some of the rodeos. Local men, such as a doctor, a sheriff, or someone respected in the community, were often chosen to serve as judges. How much did that doctor or sheriff know about the rules of rodeo and what made a good ride or roping? How often did one of the hometown cowboys win the events when it was evident to the more seasoned cowboys that they had spurred harder, or roped better?
On March 16, 1945, the Cowboys’ Turtle Association changed its name to Rodeo Cowboys Association, which they knew represented them better than ‘Cowboys’ Turtle Association. In 1975, the association added ‘Professional’ to its name, and since then, it has been known as the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).
The 75th anniversary of the Turtles was in 2011, and the year before, a group of us decided we should try to get as many still-living Turtles as we could to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. They were also guests and received recognition at the Cowboy Reunion, headed by Liz Kesler. Twelve men were introduced in the arena during one of the Finals performances in Las Vegas, NV. They were also briefly interviewed on video about their days as CTA members.
I wrote a book about it, “The Cowboys’ Turtle Association: The Birth of Professional Rodeo,” and it was published in 2011 because the CTA was celebrating its 75th anniversary, and although everyone knew something about how the cowboys struck at the Boston rodeo in 1936, the details and the full story had never been told. The importance of the CTA is that when this group formed a unit, they could deal with the Rodeo Association of America, an organization of the best rodeos in the country, but one run primarily by businessmen, not cowboys. No one listened to one cowboy’s complaint, but now, as a group of the best cowboys in the country, they made sure they were heard! All they were trying to do was make rodeo more professional and fairer.
I had been researching the history of rodeo for 23 years and had learned a lot about how important the formation of the Turtles was to the competing cowboys, because before that, they actually had no say in how rodeos were run. This wasn’t a spontaneous decision when they formed the CTA because cowboys who followed the rodeo road and competed regularly had been complaining about the small purses and lousy judging for over 20 years. They had been talking about it among themselves at the rodeos they attended, and even formed a group (in 1915) to decide how they thought rodeo could be better. But when they left that rodeo, those cowboys headed various directions and didn’t see each other for months; they never got anything done.
The book could not have been written without Walter Dennis's help. He was just a kid when the Turtles were formed, but he and his mother were neighbors of Hugh Bennett and his wife, Josie, just outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. Hugh was the very first secretary-treasurer of the CTA, and they initially handled their responsibilities out of their vehicle. In 1992, in his late life, Hugh asked Walter to look at all the paperwork he had kept on the CTA from its inception until he resigned. He wanted to know what Walter thought he should give to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Walter did go through all the papers; he made copies of many of the pages. As they were so old (it had been over 50 years), they would crumble or tear easily. He encouraged Hugh to give it all to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Bennett failed to ‘get around to giving it to the Hall’ and died in 1994.
Fortunately, Walter’s mother, Millie, was Hugh’s nurse prior to his passing. Since they knew Hugh wanted the ProRodeo Hall of Fame to have his box of information on the early days of the CTA, Walter took it to the Hall in 1995, when Hugh was inducted. Rex Bennett, Hugh’s nephew, also gave the ledger of all the members of CTA to the Hall at that time. Fortunately, Walter had kept a copy of what he had copied, and he offered to let me use it when I was working on and writing the book.
People like Walter Dennis were forward-thinking, and thank goodness we do have the information he shared with me and took to the Hall for Hugh. If it hadn’t been for these cowboys who worked so hard to make rodeo better by improving the purses, the judging, and so much more, we wouldn’t have the exciting purses like the National Finals purse, which was $17.5 million for 2025.
In the beginning of rodeo, all the competitors were cowboys who worked for a living doing exactly what they did in the rodeo, but the pay for doing it on a ranch was much less than what they got at a rodeo, IF they could beat the other contestants. Rodeo definitely expanded a cowboy's life to so much more than ranch work, although they liked ranch work, but at a rodeo, they could meet others with the same interests and travel more than they ever would as a ranch cowboy.
In 1935, the year before the CTA was organized, during the Fort Worth rodeo, the cowboys and cowgirls got together and told the ‘powers’ of the rodeo that if they didn’t put their entry fees in the purse, they wouldn’t ride in their parade (that kicked off the beginning of the Fort Worth rodeo every year). The ‘powers’ said that it was not possible. The cowboys and cowgirls continued to say they would not ride in the parade. The time for the parade to start arrived, and the streets were full of people and lots of children waiting to see the cowboys & cowgirls ride by. Nothing happened. The ‘powers’ threatened the cowboys and cowgirls, saying, “If you don’t ride in the parade, you can’t compete in the rodeo”. The cowboys and cowgirls just sat there, not moving. Finally, 45 minutes after the parade was to start, the ‘powers’ put all the entry fees into the purse!! Cowboys and cowgirls got up, got on their horses, and rode in the parade. The rodeo went on as planned, no one but the cowboys and cowgirls and the rodeo people knew, but the purses were bigger!
This was the catalyst that encouraged the cowboys to prepare the following year while at the Madison Square Garden rodeo which lasted for weeks and they had plenty of time to get their petition signed, and make their plans for the ‘strike’ at the Boston rodeo, with Colonel W. T. Johnson, the most successful and largest rodeo producer at that time period putting the Boston rodeo on. The Cowboys knew that if they could get Johnson to put the entry fees into the purse, all the other producers and rodeo committees would do the same.
The rest is history!
To Purchase Gail's The Cowboys' Turtle Association: The Birth of Professional Rodeo, Click here.
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