Pro rodeo is a professional sport, with $24 million in payouts to rodeo athletes across the nation. Yet nearly every one of the 700 PRCA rodeos in the nation is a stand-alone event, produced in a community with a group of local volunteers who give of their time, with no pay, because they love the […]

For more than a dozen years, the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte is vacation time for the Dru and Brittany Melvin family of Hebron, Neb. The Melvins include Jaxson, 12, twins Chase and Raney, 10, Natalie, 8 and Judson, 4. The rodeo is time to watch dad compete, enjoy some family time, and visit […]

It was the last rodeo for bullfighter Zach Call. The Seneca native retired from professional bullfighting after the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte. Call, 32, got his start in rodeo as a youngster. He rode bulls in college, first at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College, then at Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Okla. But […]

The Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte is always in mid-June and always the same time as the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., where the top college rodeo athletes from across the nation compete for college titles. But two college students won first place finishes in North Platte instead of competing at the […]

The barrel racing lead changed hands during the third night of the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte. Andrea Busby, Brock of Texas, turned the pattern in 17.52 seconds, nine-tenths of a second better than the run of Amy Jo Reisdorfer of Cheyenne, Wyo. during the first nightly performance. Busby, the No. 3 cowgirl in […]

Rocker Steiner, the 2024 Buffalo Bill Rodeo bareback riding champ, is looking to earn himself a second Buffalo Bill Rodeo buckle. The Weatherford, Texas bareback rider took the lead in his event during the second night of the rodeo on Thursday, June 19. On his way to North Platte, however, he questioned his decision to […]

A Colorado cowboy is in the lead in steer wrestling after the first night of the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte. Tait Kvistad of Hudson, Colo., had a time of 4.2 seconds during slack Wednesday, June 18 to win the first round. The 42-year-old cowboy did his homework on the steer, asking other steer […]

When Tanner Drueke was a little boy, he rummaged through his dad’s old rodeo gear bag, finding the remnants of Bart Drueke’s bull riding career. It was just more fuel for the Sutherland man’s love of rodeo. Drueke, age 21, is now competing professionally in the PRCA and will ride at the Buffalo Bill Rodeo […]

Rodeo fans at the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte will be delighted with the antics of Snoopy, the Paint horse owned by rodeo clown John Harrison of Soper, Okla. But Snoopy had to find his niche in life and learn his role as a trick horse before he could rodeo with John. In the […]

When Jim Gragg takes vacation, he goes to work, and loves every minute of it. For the past 50 years, the Tryon resident has spent four days in June in North Platte, volunteering at the Buffalo Bill Rodeo. And even though it’s work, he loves it. Since 1974, Gragg has untied calves after every tie-down […]