|
 In the 1930’s, Tuck Jackson whetted his boyhood appetite for bull riding at Dewey’s arena east of Galeton, Colorado. The arena was conveniently located on the perimeter of open range where cattle owners turned out in May and gathered in October. “Back then there weren’t any fences they’d just go out and gather some stock and bring them in to practice on,” shared Jackson. There would be quite an assortment ranging from cows to calves to get on. “When we were done why they’d just take everything back out to the prairie,” chuckled Jackson; “It saved on having to hay them.”
The practice sessions themselves could be pretty western according to Jackson. “We rode with regular ropes, no bull ropes back then and the chute went straight out,” explained Jackson as he held both hands up palm to palm and pushed them away from his body. With a healthy smile, Jackson recalled, “Oh, you’d get drug off sometimes!”
Jackson moved on from these practices to rodeos/try out sessions at Andy Barnett’s place situated on the prairie between Cheyenne and Galeton. (The present home of the Jack and Steve Anderson families.) “We would try out Earl’s (Anderson) new stock then he would take the good ones to the 4th of July rodeo in Greeley,” recalled Jackson. Due to success at these sessions Jackson entered his first professional rodeo in 1938 in Grover, Colo., at the age of 14.
Jackson journeyed to the rodeos with buddies Fred McKay and Jim R. White. “We traveled in a ’35 Ford and didn’t know what a hotel was!” related Jackson, “One time we stayed in a park in Kansas. We were in our bedrolls and my wife was in the car and it started to rain. I told Fred I thought we’d better get out of it and he said, “Oh it isn’t going to amount to much.” Well the next thing we knew we were washed away!” Verleda, Jackson’s wife of 59 years, said they used to pull what they called a camping trailer behind their car to the rodeos. “It slept two. You would crawl in and crawl out,” she recalled with a smile.
One of Jackson’s favorite bull riding memories comes from the time he made a liar out of a stock contractor. It seems Jackson had drawn a bull at McCook, Neb. that had yet to be covered, “I was puttin’ my rope on him and told the contractor to hang it in this ‘ol bull. He told me, ‘You take care of the front end and I’ll take care of the back, kid, you ain’t gonna ride him anyway!’” Shortly after Jackson made the whistle and won the bull riding the contractor gave Jackson five dollars. That was a nice bonus added to his $36 first place money. Another favorite recollection came in Kansas about 1947 when Jackson rode another previously unridden bull, Rainbow, to a first place finish.
He always desired to compete at the big rodeos in the east but the one winter he was going to be able to, he broke his leg. He caught a foot in the gate coming out on his bareback horse in Torrington, Wyo. on Labor Day.
Jackson continued rodeoing during the summers until 1954, when he decided to call it quits to better tend to his family and the farm they operated. His career ended on a high note with him winning the bull riding at the 4th of July rodeo in Greeley.
Tuck and Verleda raised four children and have eleven grandkids and one great grandchild to keep up with these days. Tuck still does a little cattle order buying but not like he has done in the years past. The Jacksons reside in Greeley, Colo. and still enjoy staying in touch with old rodeo friends and watching present day competitors.
Learn More About Rocky Mountain Roper
|
