Kicking up dust at Stampede

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They come from good, hardy stock them Indian cowboys.

Ask anybody. They have to be that way or else they'd never survive that ever so competitive event known as the Calgary Stampede.

This year was no exception as the stock and competition proved to be at their best and Aboriginal participants had to struggle with weather conditions as well as fellow contestants just to make some day money.

There were no big winners from Native country, but a handful managed to pocket enough to cover expenses and up their standing in the Canadian and World Rodeo Association in order to qualify for some of the big rodeos down the line - especially Strathmore, the Canadian National Finals and the National Finals Rodeo.

The more successful Aboriginal cowboys were the chuckwagon drivers, even though this year was kinda tough on them. Not even one cracked the top ten.

In the end, the sudden death final of the "Half Mile of Hell" was reclaimed by veteran driver Kelly Sutherland, who beat out Mike Vigen, Wayne Knight and Tom Glass to take home one of the most coveted rodeo trophies, and 50 grand!

Money-wise, the Aboriginal leaders were Ray Mitsuing who pocketed over $10,000; Edgar Baptiste at $12,100, and Glen Ridsdale, who earned $7,600.

Two up and coming rookie drivers are Roger Moore from Loon Lake, Sask., who won $5,675, and Bruce Morin from Debden, Sask., who earned $6,425. They'll certainly bear watching in future as they add to their skills, knowledge and horse power.

In the prestigious bronc riding, the Canadian leader in bareback, Kenton Randle from Ft. Vermilion, Alta., could only manage a 75 and 79.5 on his two go-rounds which was hardly sufficient to qualify for the final go. It didn't matter how good Randle was, if the stock doesn't perform well enough, you lose out. It's generally referred to as "the luck of the draw." The winner of the bareback was Edmonton's Roger Lacasse with a high 88-point ride on Sloal's Blue Ridge.

In saddle bronc, Shawn Henry, originally from Williams Lake, B.C., marked a whopping 84.5 aboard Skoals Bonus Bucks to make day money, but had his ship sink when he bucked off Titanic. And Bud Longbrake from Dupree, S. D. drew Riverdance and British Soot but was unable to score high enough for the finals. Alberta's Denny Hay won this event with an 87.5 ride on Zorro's Bandit.

The only other Aboriginal bronc rider was novice saddle contender Ben Louis from Kamloops, B.C. who spurred out a nifty 72 on Maximum Impact but bucked off Dimples and one other mount to wind up out of the standings.

By far, a couple of the wildest events are the wild horse race and the wild cow milking competitions. It has been a long, dry spell for Aboriginal winners in the wild horse race which has not been won by a Native since John Spotted Eagle from Gleichen, Alta. placed first in 1948.

In the wild horse event, an honest effort continues to be made by Gordon Crowchild's team from Tsuu T'ina. But they fared rather poorly and could barely corral a horse, let alone ride one of the wild and mangy critters. At 68, Crowchild has to be one of the longest standing participants at the Stampede. The eventual winner this year was Jesse Doenz from Milk River, Alta.

As for the wild cow milking, Todd Munro from Bassano, Alta. placed a respectable third overall which was a repeat of his performance last year. And Robert Crowchief from Siksika never scored at all in the entire 10 days. The event winner was Bruce Burrell from Sundre, Alta.

Barrel racing was won by Cheyenne Wimberly of Texas who made a run in 17.70 to beat Leslie Schlosser from Stavely, Judy Myllymaki from Montana and Kristie Peterson from Colorado.

A Dillon, Mont. cowboy, Jesse Petersen, won the steer wrestling title with runs of 5.6 and 6.1, and Cody Ohl, the world's leading calf roper, won the calf roping title and $50,000 with runs of 8.3 and 8.3.

This year, the All-Around Cowboy went to Texan Ty Murray, the six-time world bull riding champ. He had had a two-yer lay-off due to injuries but competed in the saddle and bareback bronc riding, and won the bull riding event.

The stampede fell victim to a lot of inclement weather this year with rain falling eight of the first ten days.