ND Cowboy Hall of Fame - Archived Articles

---TRUSTEES VOTING TO CHOOSE NINE NEW INDUCTEES---

The Trustees of the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame (NDCHF) have nominated 14 individuals, two ranches, and a famous bucking horse and rodeo bull for their 2002 ballot. The ballots are in the mail and the names of those selected from seven categories will be announced over the Fourth of July weekend. The nine new inductees will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame this August..

In the Modern-era Rodeo Division, there are two nominees, and Trustees will select one for the Hall of Honorees.

Dale Jorgenson was raised on a ranch near Watford City. He attended Dickinson State University and competed in college rodeos across the country. Following college, he began competing in North Dakota Rodeo Association (NDRA) bareback, saddle bronc and steer wrestling competition and won 14 state championships. Dale ranches in McKenzie County and still competes in some roping events.

Franklin “Tex” Appledoorn was raised in Dickinsonbut, for more than 40 years, has operated a ranch north of Gladstone with his wife, Pauline. Appledoorn began competing in rodeos in the 1950’s at Dickinson State University. Following college, he competed across the region and won more than 11 RCA and NDRA State titles in calf roping, steer wrestling and all-around competition until retiring in the 1970s. Tex has served as chairman of the Killdeer Mountain Roundup Rodeo for 31 years.

In the Pre-1940 Rodeo Division, there are four nominees, and Trustees will select two for the Hall of Honorees.

George Gardner of Medorawas a turn-of-the-century bronc rider and Wild West show promoter. He traveled with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and then started his own and toured the United States with friend “Badlands Bill” McCarty. He also won bronc riding and steer riding matches across the country. Gardner won what was billed as the ”World’s Best All-around Cowboy” honors at the Glendive, Montana, Roundup in 1919. His

numerous trophies and pistol are in the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum in Los Angeles. Gardner died in Dickinson in 1927.

George Bruington of Mandanbegan his rodeo career at the age of 16 in 1925. Bruington gained recognition as a bareback and saddle bronc rider who also bull dogged and roped. After he retired from competition, he continued as a pick-up man, judge; stock contractor and even a clown. He raised a number of award-winning bucking horses and was one of the NDRA’s top stock contractors until 1988. Bruington died last year.

Scott Byron Gore was born in Deadwood, South Dakota, in 1880. He came to North Dakota with his family in 1890 and later started ranching 20 miles west of Grassy Butte where he raised huge horse herds. Scott rode in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in Europe and became a nationally noted bronc rider. NDCHF rodeo inductees Louis Pelissier and Elmer Clark considered Gore to be among the best. Gore is credited with being one of the few to ever ride Tipperary and Badlands Charley. Scott Gore died in 1955 and is buried in the Poker Jim Cemetery near his ranch home.

Alex LaSotta was born in Minnesota in 1895and moved to Golden Valley County, North Dakota, in 1902. Because of a mean stepfather, Alex, at age seven, along with his brother, ran away from home. For years, he worked on ranches, for room and board and soon became known as one of the best bronc riders in the country. LaSotta later produced rodeos and raised bucking horses. He also traveled with a Wild West show. A Stetson hat given LaSotta by movie actor Tom Mix is at the Pioneer Trails Museum in Bowman. He died in 1937.

In the Pre-1940 Ranching Division, there are four nominees, and Trustees will select two for the Hall of Honorees.

John “Jack” McCrory of Emmons Countywas a civil war veteran who began ranching along the Missouri River in 1877. He soon had major cattle and sheep ranching operations on both sides of the river and was shipping hundreds of carloads of cattle to Eastern markets. McCrory was also involved in business activities and was a stockholder in banks in Hazelton and Braddock. He died in 1933, and family members still operate some of his original ranch property.

Frieda Bohnsack of Ransom Countyinherited a 2,000-acre ranch in 1935. She took six calves, an old bunkhouse and barn and a big mortgage and built it into an award-winning operation. Although she had some help, Bohnsack stacked hay, fixed fence, doctored livestock and still found time to begin a saddle club, produce rodeos, organize a 4-H club and teach school. In 1954, she traveled to Texas and brought back two Blue Brahma calves and began raising Brangus cattle. Bohnsack died in 1959, and her daughter, Bonita Laske, now operates the ranch.

Theodore “Ted” Albers was born in Illinois in 1881. His family was among the first to homestead in Oliver County in 1884. Ted homesteaded, raised cattle, owned three stage lines that carried mail and became a rodeo stock contractor and judge. He served four terms as Oliver County Sheriff and, in the 1920s, was credited with breaking up a large, multi-state livestock rustling operation.

In the 1930s, Ted became foreman of the Gaines Ranch (today’s Cross Ranch State Park) along the Missouri River. Later, he returned to his own ranch where he earned national awards for his Hereford cattle. Ted Albers died in 1946, and the ranch is now run by Lyle Albers, Ted’s great-grandson.

William Lemuel “Bill” Taylor was born in Missouri in 1874. Bill Taylor wanted to be a cowboy and, after becoming a good horseman who could shoot and fiddle, he was hired by the Converse Cattle Company of Texas to trail 3,000 cattle to the AHA ranch in McKenzie County, North Dakota. Bill made other trail drives to North Dakota in 1897, ‘99 and 1900. In 1905, he began running his own stock and, in 1914, bought the T+ Ranch near the Killdeer Mountains. Later, he built a hotel in Dunn Center where he also served as a deputy sheriff, justice of the peace. He died in Dickinson in 1961.

In the Modern-era Ranching Division, there are two nominees, and Trustees will select one for the Hall of Honorees.

Alick Dvirnak was born in Dunn County in 1919. He moved with his family to the historic Diamond C ranch in 1929. As a youngster, he worked the ranch and helped ship cattle on the railroad from Killdeer to St. Paul and Chicago. In the 1930s, he and others ran cattle on the Fort Berthold Big Lease. In 1940 they bought an additional eight sections in and around the Killdeer Mountains and fenced the land. Alick and Grace Bovkoon married in 1949 and raised six children on the Diamond C. He and a brother bought the ranch from his father in 1965.

He was a member of the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association for more than 40 years and was named rancher of the year in 1994 by the Dickinson Roughrider Commission. Native American Tribes have honored Alick often for his hospitality and efforts to preserve the history of the Battle of the Killdeer Mountain that was fought near the Dvirnak home. His son, Craig, now runs the ranch with his family.

Harris Goldsberry was born 50 miles north of Beach in the Badlands in 1915. Today, he lives on the Goldsberry ranch just a half mile from where he was born. Harris’ father, James, like many others, went broke during the great depression. James told Harris he could have the ranch if he could pay off the debt. Harris spent a lot of time gathering wild horses and eventually bought back the ranch headquarters. He married Margaret Sullivan in 1937 and trapped, hunted, chopped posts and broke horses. In addition to raising Hereford cattle, the Goldsberrys were among the state’s pioneer Quarter horse breeders.

Harris and son, Ron, were also NDRA team roping champions for three years. Harris was named Rancher of the Year by the Dickinson Roughrider Commission in 1989. Today, he continues ranching with a son north of Beach.

In the Ranch Division, there are two nominees, and Trustees will select one for the Hall of Honorees.

The Stroud brothers started the Birdhead Ranch of McKenzie County after coming north with a cattle drive from Texas in 1891. The ranch at one time stretched from near Fort Buford to Alexander. It was purchased by Frank Banks in 1904 who negotiated “the big lease” on the Fort Berthold Reservation. In 1917, Banks sold the operation to Anders Madson whose holdings increased to 7,000 acres.

The Bird Head Ranch ceased operations in the early 1950s because of rising water from the Garrison Dam. At one time, the Birdhead Ranch was the second largest ranch in McKenzie County. Today, all that remains is the original ranch house surrounded by Missouri River waters.

The Patterson Ranch and Land Company was founded in 1905 by four Patterson brothers and George Duemeland. The group bought more than a million acres of railroad land between Bismarck and Jamestown for $1 an acre. The Pattersons returned east and left Duemeland in charge of managing the ranch and selling land. In 1917, the first Hereford was bought and that became the ranch’s main business for the next 70 years. At one time, the company owned and operated ranches near Napoleon, Pettibone, Wing and Sterling. Eventually, George and son Lorin Duemeland purchased the properties. Eight thousand acres of the ranch remain near Sterling. Over the years, numerous champions have been raised from the Patterson/Duemeland herds.

In the Rodeo Livestock Division, there are two nominees, and Trustees will choose between saddle bronc legend Figure Four and a bull called Yellow Jacket.

Figure Four was born on the Figure Four Ranch near Killdeer in the late 1940s.

Ranch owner Vic Christensen sold the colt to the Fettig Brothers, and he quickly became part of the family’s famed bucking horse string. Figure Four was selected for the 1959 National Finals Rodeo and also bucked at the NFR in 1961, ‘62, and ‘64. His last recorded performance was a bareback horse in 1966. Perhaps his most famous trip out of the chutes was at the 1956 Dickinson Match of Champions. World Champ Casey Tibbs rode him in the final go-round and split first/second with North Dakota legend Joe Chase who rode Whiz Bang. They still argue today whether Tibbs made the whistle or not. Figure Four died in the Little Missouri Badlands in the early 1960s.

Yellow Jacket, or Ol’ #7, was born in Florida in the 1950s. The bull that cowboys called “The Master” was bought by North Dakota rodeo producer J.C. Stevenson who wanted to raise bucking bulls. Yellow Jacket, Funeral Wagon and Peacemaker were among the first Brahman cattle to enter the state. Yellow Jacket became the foundation of the Stevenson

breeding program siring a string of outstanding bucking bulls that continues today. Yellow Jacket was a spinner, and he was smart. If he felt a rider leaning one way, he’d turn in the opposite direction. Yellow Jacket had a fearsome reputation, and NDCHF inductee Duane Howard was one of the few to ride him and take home a paycheck when he won the Valley City Winter Show in 1967. Yellow Jacket broke a leg and had to be put down in 1968, but an offspring, also called Yellow Jacket, was named the PRCA 1999 Bucking Bull of the year. Another offspring bucks in today’s PBR events.

In the Leaders of Rodeo and Ranching Division, there are two nominees, and Trustees will select one for the Hall of Honorees.

Pearl Cullen was born in Hazen. She graduated from Dickinson State College in 1934 and taught school. She married Clair Cullen, an avid horseman and roper.

From 1940-79 the couple ranched near Hensler in Oliver County. When the North Dakota Rodeo Association was formed in 1953, Pearl’s husband Clair was one of the founding members. Pearl could not attend the meeting, but was elected the group’s first secretary-treasurer. She created and became the first editor of the NDRA Rodeo News and served as secretary-treasurer for 11 years keeping track of contestant points and rodeo results. From the 1940s through the ‘60s, Pearl and husband, Clair, attended hundreds of rodeos. Clair competed or judged while Pearl assisted the local committees and timed events.

Pearl also loved riding sidesaddle and, for years, was known for appearing in parades and other events. Clair died a year ago. Today, Pearl lives in Bismarck.

Andy Moore was born near Blaisdell in 1921on the family ranch. As a young man Andy spent time in the CCCs, broke horses and boxed. He started ranching in the Blaisdell area in 1945. In 1956, Moore and 10 others started the Blaisdell Saddle Club. Andy donated the land for the arena and was an active member until his death. He also served as an NDRA director in the 1960s. Andy began an Appaloosa breeding program in 1959 and built it into a herd, producing and exhibiting horses throughout North America. He also judged Appaloosa horse shows across the U.S. and Canada. In 1966, Andy sold his cattle herd and began producing pregnant mare urine for a Canadian pharmaceutical company. In the 1980s, he had more than 200 mares. Andy was also a member of the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association and served as a local brand inspector. He died in 1983, and his youngest son remains on the family ranch, which is the largest register of Appaloosa horses in the Country.

The 190 NDCHF Trustees have been sent ballots and biographies of all the nominees. Those ballots will be returned and counted by a Bismarck accounting firm, and the names of those selected will be announced over the 4^th of July weekend.

Induction ceremonies will be August 3 and 4 in Medora and Sentinel Butte. Hall of Fame Executive Director Darrell Dorgan says portions of the induction ceremonies will be held Saturday, August 4, in Medora, and additional activities are planned for the following day at The Champions Ride at Home on the Range in Sentinel Butte.

NDCHF President Phil Baird of Mandan notes, “Those not selected for induction into the Hall of Fame this year are eligible for nomination in future years.”

Work on the NDCHF began with a Dickinson organizational meeting six years ago. Nearly a thousand people from across the county have become charter and annual members. NDCHF has a nationwide fundraising drive underway to pay for the $3 million project to be built in Medora on the site of the current Museum of the Badlands. About half the funding needed has been committed. Contributions for the project may be sent to The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, 1110 College Drive #212, Bismarck, North Dakota 58501.

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