Oregon Rodeo Show Says Let 'em Buck

Feb. 3 -- Rob Bell sat inside chute No. 5 atop Inside Out, a ton of snorting Brahma bull carefully chosen for his bad attitude and dislike of people generally.

Someone shouted "Let 'er buck," the slogan of the PendletonRound-Up. That's what Inside Out did, leaving the Canadian rider onthe ground.

It happens each year for four days in the second full week ofSeptember (Sept. 15-18 this year), when this friendly, normallyplacid Eastern Oregon city of 16,600 at the foot of the BlueMountains hosts more than 50,000 visitors for one of the nation'sbiggest rodeos and premiere Wild West celebrations.

But even though this year's event is eight months away, a spot-check of Pendleton motels in January found many were already bookedsolid for Round-Up week, frequently by people who made reservationsas they left last September and are drawn back year after year byfast action, splendid horses and horsemanship.

Reservation clerks said rooms sometimes open up later in theyear. Accommodations in surrounding towns such as Hermiston,Umatilla, Walla Walla, Wash. and La Grande are easier to get.

More Than a Rodeo

Last year more than 700 riders and ropers, including many of theworld's best, took part. But Round-Up is more than a rodeo. It's anattitude.

The Round-Up and the hell-roaring town that spawned it havequieted since it began in 1910.

Monk Carden, now 94, a rodeo clown at the Round-Up in the 1920sand 1930s, remembers.

"During the moonshine days during Round-Up, if they caught youwith a bottle, they couldn't put you in jail because the jails werefull," he said. "All they could do was to pour it out on theground. Word got out and that made Pendleton mighty popular.Anyway, if someone had a bottle, he probably tried to drink it allat once, so he wouldn't get caught."

Carden said he would sneak into town as a small boy on Saturdaynights just to watch the fights.