The era of the Old West, or the Wild West, is given several dates. Though the start is typically claimed as 1865—the same year the Civil War concluded—the end varies from 1895 to 1900, with some suggesting as far as 1916 with the last stagecoach robbery. When Earl Bascom (1906–1995) was born, the Old West was either gone or on the verge of expiring. This fact, however, did not affect him or the Bascom family.
He was born in Vernal, Utah, but after the death of his mother when he was 6, his father, John Bascom, moved him and his four siblings to Canada. The move had profound effects on Earl and his brothers. The family settled in Alberta near the U.S.-Canada border in the town of Raymond, named after Ray Knight, who owned numerous ranches totaling nearly 1 million acres and was also a rodeo organizer. Four years before Bascom was born, Knight produced Canada’s first rodeo, earning him the moniker of “Father of the Canadian Rodeo.”
Knight’s vast ranch holdings were full of horses, cattle, and sheep. When the Bascoms arrived, Knight hired John as a ranch foreman for the Knight Ranch. With so much land and livestock to work, along with Knight’s rodeos called Raymond Stampedes, young Earl quickly learned the cowboy way.
Starting a Rodeo Legacy
"A Sky Scraper," 1912, photographed by Marcell at the stampede in Calgary, Canada. Internet Archive. Public Domain
Earl Bascom made his first imprint on the sport of rodeo at the age of 10. In 1903, Knight invented the bucking chute which held a horse in place until the gate was released. Bascom and his brothers upgraded the chute by developing the first side-delivery chute in 1916. Three years later, Bascom further innovated Knight’s creation by creating the reverse-opening side-delivery chute, which placed the hinge of the gate where the horse’s head was. The young Bascom was only getting started improving the new sport.
He created a new saddle in 1922. The saddle came without a horn, which improved safety for the rider. The removal of the horn kept riders from being injured by landing on the horn, or the horn stabbing into the rider if the horse fell. Furthermore, it was also an improvement for those who had been rodeoing bareback.
Regarding bareback, in 1924, Bascom introduced the one-handed bareback rigging system, which enabled bronco riders to hold onto the horse (or rigging) with one hand. He followed up in 1926 with the creation of the high-cut riding chaps. These rodeo innovations and inventions are still used today.
A rider competes in the open saddle bronc during the Mareerba Rodeo on July 14, 2013 in Cairns, Australia. Chris Hyde/Getty Images
Furthermore, Bascom put his creations to good personal use. Not only did he help his brothers with the chute innovation in 1916, but he also entered his first rodeo. From 1916 to 1940, Bascom enjoyed a very successful career as a rodeo cowboy, competing in bareback, saddle bronc and bull riding, as well as wild horse racing, steer wrestling, and steer decorating. He set the world record in steer decorating in 1933. He won numerous All-Around Championships. His biggest rodeo accomplishments came when he placed second in the North American Championship and third in the Championship of the World. When not competing in events, Bascom took on other roles from rodeo clown to rodeo announcer to rodeo producer.
While he competed in rodeos and simultaneously worked to make the sport safer and better, he continued to work ranches. He worked in Canada’s Alberta and Saskatchewan before returning to America, where he worked on ranches in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
A Change of Pace
The year 1940 proved to be a banner year for Bascom. He graduated from Brigham Young University, retired from the rodeo scene, and moved with his wife to California. The ways of the Old West were still near and dear to him, and through this intimate knowledge of ranching and rodeoing, he began creating western-related art.
Bascom proved to have an artistic gift. He honed his skills in the 1960s by attending art classes at Victor Valley College. He then took classes on sculpting and bronze casting at the University of California at Riverside. Renowned artists Charles M. Russell and Frederic S. Remington liked Bascom’s work, and they encouraged him. It didn’t hurt that Bascom was a cousin to both artists.
His work has been displayed in more than 30 western-themed museums, including the Dallas Museum of Art, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (now known as Buffalo Bill Center of the West), the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, the Will Rogers Memorial Center, and in the family friendly location of the Frederic Remington Museum of Art.
His art is also held in the town where his cowboy career began, at the Raymond Museum and the Sports Hall of Fame. His artistic fame reached across the Atlantic, where he became the first cowboy artist to be elected a Fellow to the Royal Society of Arts in London. He was also the oldest cowboy artist to become a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Artists Association.
A Life Honored
"A Bad Hoss," 1904, by Charles M. Russell. Library of Congress. Public Domain
Bascom played arguably the largest role in promoting the ways of the Old West to the modern world. From his contributions to rodeoing to his artistic reflections on the rough-and-tumble life, Bascom has been honored across the country as well as in Canada. He was inducted into the Canadian Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1984 and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. He has been inducted into numerous state Rodeo Hall of Fames, including California, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah. In 2016, he and his brother, Weldon, were posthumously awarded the Ken Stemler Pioneer Award by the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs for their many contributions to the sport.
As Ken Knopp, the rodeo historian, once noted, “Earl Bascom is the Michael Phelps of rodeo, with more hall of fame inductions and honorariums than any other cowboy in the world.”
Due to those many rodeo innovations and creations that are still used today, Earl Bascom is considered the Father of the Modern Rodeo (additionally, he and his brother Weldon are considered the Fathers of Brahma Bull Riding).
What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to [email protected]
Dustin Bass
Author
Dustin Bass is an author and co-host of The Sons of History podcast. He also writes two weekly series for The Epoch Times: Profiles in History and This Week in History.
