Women’s Professional Rodeo Association Celebrating 75 years of Women in Rodeo By Ann Bleiker T he date was February 28, 1948, and the location was the St. Angelus hotel in the west Texas town of San Angelo. A major move at the time, a determined group of 38 ranch women met with the mission to change the way they
The Founders The women were a diverse-but-determined group of ladies that included barrel racers, ropers, roughstock riders and trick riders, but they garnered strength from each other to take a stand in the rodeo world that held the belief that a female’s place was more in the kitchen than in the rodeo arena. As the Association celebrates its 75th year in 2023, it is believed that four founding members are still alive including Dusek, Dixie Reger Mosley, Mitzi Riley and Fay Ann Horton Leach. “I remember having an All-Girl rodeo in Amarillo, Texas, in late 1947 and then we all decided to meet in San Angelo in 1948 and the GRA was formed,” Reger Mosley said. “I served as the contract act representative to begin with. I was on the board for five years, and the last year I was there I believe I was the vice president.” Rodeo committees were given the option of choosing which event they would hold (bronc riding, cutting or barrel racing) in those early years, and most picked barrel racing. In its inaugural year, the GRA had 74 members and conducted 60 events with a total payout of $29,000. Two years later the GRA had more than 100 members. Not only was Margaret Owens Montgomery the first president of GRA Founding Members in 1948 Officers Margaret Owens Montgomery - President Dude Barton - Vice President Mrs. Katherine Pearson - Secretary-Treasurer Sug Owens Bloxom - Publicity Agent Jackie Worthington - Bareback Riding Director Marlene Harlan - Bull Riding Director Betty Barron Dusek - Calf Roping Director Vivian White - Saddle Bronc Director Blanche Altizer Smith - Team Tying/Cow Milking Director Fern Sawyer - Cutting Horse Director Helen Barron Green - Flag Race/Barrel Race/Line Reining Director Dixie Reger - Contract Representative Bebe Green, Mary Green, Ann Young, Mrs. Ted Powers, Mrs. Curtis Barron, Izora Young, June Probst, Virginia Probst, Nancy Bragg, Nancy Binford, Thena Mae Farr, Sissy Allen, Mitzi Lucas Riley, Tad Lucas, Ora Altizer Quigg, Sally Taylor, Sally Hardin, Manuelita Mitchell, Fay Ann Horton, Doris Reed, Mary Ellen Sellers, Josephine Willis, Jesse Myers, Iris Dorsett, Frances Gist and Frances Wegg
were being treated in the male-dominated world of rodeo. With no association, no generalized rules, no organization, the women’s events were going downhill. Long before Title IX and the women’s liberation movement, these trendsetting ladies banded together to create the very first professional sports association created solely for women by women – the Girls Rodeo Association.
St. Angelus Hotel, San Angelo, Texas
“We were just sick of being cheated and not having rules,” said Betty Barron Dusek, a founding member and the first calf roping director. “We were ready for some organization – honestly just to make everything better.” The women knew they had an uphill climb to make a go of the association, but it was one they all wanted to try. The group’s primary purpose was to give women legitimate, honest opportunities to compete in all-girl rodeos as well as to establish an alliance with the Rodeo Cowboys Association (which later added the word “Professional”) to host women’s events in conjunction with RCA- sanctioned rodeos. The group drafted and approved rules and regulations and enacted a point system to crown world champions. The women’s rules took effect in May 1948, and GRA board members went to work, persuading rodeo committees and producers to hold women’s contests according to GRA rules.
22 WPRA NEWS MARCH 2023
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