by Rhonda Schulte
October 2000

     Hot Springs County resident Bill Smith, a three-time world champion saddle bronc rider who will be inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, has every right to boast of his accomplishments ... were he a boastful man ... instead he gives credit for his success to chance.
     “I’ve been a lucky person all my life,” Smith said. “I’ve been in the right place at the right time.”
     Lucky, maybe. But his record of achievement is no less impressive.
     Smith was born and raised in Bear Creek, Mont., a small town where his father worked in a coal mine and Smith attended school in grades 1-8. He went to high school at Belfry and Red Lodge before graduating from Cody High School in 1958.
     That his career would revolve around horses was probably predestined, given the influence of second and third generations of “horse people” in his family.
     “Since I can remember all I could think of was horses,” Smith said.
     The Smith family members were acquainted with Red Lodge native Bill Linderman, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) rodeo champion in the 1940s and ‘50s. As a youth, Smith took Linderman into the mountains fishing. The idea of copying Linderman’s career took hold, and Smith turned to the glamour of rodeo.
     “(Saddle bronc riding) looked like a pretty good way (to make a living), compared to mining coal,” he said.
     He started riding bareback at the nightly Cody, Wyo., rodeos in 1958. The next three years were spent learning the trade.
During that time Smith started riding saddle broncs, and found an event he could master. His first big win was in 1961 in Cheyenne Frontier Days amateur bronc riding. Smith promptly bought a PRCA card and joined the ranks of professional cowboys. He spent the next 20 years traveling the rodeo circuit. He had his struggles but stuck with the sport. From ages 18 to 38 Smith was one of the best riders in the country. As top money winner in 1969, he was named world champion saddle bronc rider. He earned the title again in 1971 and 1973.
     Overall Smith was a 13-time National Finals Rodeo (NFR) qualifier. The first time he qualified, in 1965, he placed fifth. The next year he improved to runner-up. He qualified for every final after that until 1976 when an old back injury forced him to take time off for an operation to fuse lower vertebrae.
     Like most professional competitors, Smith failed to let injuries stop him from returning for another chance to win.
     “It’s basically why you do that,” Smith said. “It’s why you get on a horse and break your arms and legs.
     “(My bones) have all been broke at one time or another,” he said. “It’s just part of the deal.” Surprisingly, old injuries do not haunt Smith. At nearly 60 years old, he is fit and active.
     Saddle bronc riding demands balance and style. According to Smith, it also takes a good horse for a rider to score well. The cowboy, who must spur to the rhythm of the bronc’s leaps, kicks and twists, looks best on a hard-bucking horse.
     “There is no rough stock rider who can do anything with his ability unless the horse performs,” he said.
Smith’s career story isn’t complete without including Descent, a six-time Bucking Horse of the Year and the best horse Smith ever rode.
     “(Descent) and I had nine clashes through the years,” Smith said. “He won some, and I won some.”
     The official tally is Descent four and Smith five. Smith refuses to take full credit for his fifth win, which took place when the big palomino he admired and loved was at the end of its career.
     “I figure we broke even,” Smith said.
     The most memorable ride was at Nampa, Idaho, in 1971.
     “It was probably the best ride I can remember,” Smith said. “He was at the top of his game, and I was at the top of my game. I was lucky to ride him, and I did.”
     Like Descent, Smith’s rodeo days eventually came to an end. Not wanting to compete past his prime, Smith ended his career before reaching 40.
     “I’ve seen too many heroes hang on too long until they couldn’t do it anymore,” he explained.
     So in April 1979 Smith took his final ride at the Copenhagen Skoal Match of Champions at Fort Worth, Texas. The event matched the top 15 National Finals Rodeo saddle bronc qualifiers from past years plus the current college champion saddle bronc rider. It offered $18,500 for first place, the largest amount ever paid out at a rodeo at the time.
     “It just so happened that I won that thing,” Smith said. With that victory, he walked away on top.
     Smith was the first saddle bronc rider inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Champions PRCA Hall of Fame at Colorado Springs, Colo.
     That Smith’s friend and traveling partner, Joe Alexander, was inducted in the Hall of Champions as a bareback rider at the same time made the honor more special. Alexander, a native of Cora, was a five-time world champion.
     In conjunction with its opening, the Hall of Fame held a competition that matched Smith with then world champion Joe Marvel.
     “One of the greatest bronc riders I ever saw,” Smith said.
As Smith tells it, Marvel would have easily outridden him, but Smith drew the better horse and won.

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