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First NFR: Dallas' cowboy Christmas

When cowboys first proposed a "world series" of rodeo in the early '50s, the motivation was threefold:

Leading cowboys such as Jim Shoulders, Casey Tibbs and Bill Linderman thought the season should have a slam-bang finish where everyone immediately knew who's champ.

An all-star rodeo with the top 15 money-winners and the best livestock guaranteed a big purse.

And real cowboys were tired of fake cowboys getting top billing.

Or as one '50s ad back East billed a rodeo: "Gene Autry, with 200 Cowboys and Indians."

The real cowboys ultimately entertained bids from more than 100 cities for the concept's debut in 1959 and narrowed the contenders to Louisville, Los Angeles and Dallas.

Dallas won, no doubt aided by its central location, Texas roots and the new Livestock Coliseum at Fair Park.

The format for the first National Finals Rodeo: Ten competitions spread over five days leading up to the Texas-Syracuse Cotton Bowl, a game rendered infamous by the new biopic on Syracuse's Ernie Davis.

Limiting the first NFR to five events – saddle bronc, bareback, steer wrestling, calf-roping and bull riding – hardly mitigated the fact that 10 competitions in five days was a bit excessive.

And the timing wasn't so hot, either.

"Christmas, for Christ's sake!" saddle bronce rider Les Johnson recalled at a reunion sponsored by the Texas Stampede. "Rodeo was the last thing on anyone's mind."

News accounts at the time indicated that the 8,000-seat coliseum averaged a little more than 5,000 at each performance, which might have been a stretch.

Promoted by John Van Cronkhite, who'd been Texas Gov. Allan Shivers' campaign manager, the first NFR earned good reviews from all parties, cowboys included.

Of course, they might have been unduly influenced.

"As much whiskey as you cowboys drink," Cronkhite told them, "you're gonna put me out of business."

The best show came in bull riding, where Bob Wegner entered the NFR just $42 ahead of Shoulders.

On his best ride, Wegner got hung up, then dragged. He worked himself free temporarily. The bull caught up and sent him flying. He landed with only bruises, which didn't hurt nearly as much as Shoulders' victory on his last ride.

Shoulders also won the all-around title, his fifth, and a $2,435 bonus.

One of the prizes: royalties for one year from a Texas oil well, donated by Dallas' Henry English.

A Sports Illustrated writer concluded, "This was a real cowboy world series, the first ever held, and the 60,000 spectators who watched the five-day contest in roaring excitement provided assurance that it will become an annual event."

The NFR ran two more years in Dallas and three in LA before a 20-year run in Oklahoma City. Since 1985, it's been held every December in Las Vegas.

"We've come a long ways," Wegner said. "But that first one, I thought it was fantastic."

Read more at the www.dallasnews.com