Beyond Tradition
Oral history as related by Fidelia Gilger to Levi Conry on February 6, 1997.
Fidelia Gilger has had and still leads a very interesting life. She was born in October 1919 in Belle Fourche. She has spent all of her life on a ranch, and she still leads the life of a rancher today. At the age of 78 she still checks her sheep on horseback and pulls the burr plants by hand. From teaching for a number of years to trick riding, Fidelia Gilger`s life has been anything but dull.
I probably started [Attending the Roundup] before I can remember. I think I was probably about two years old when my dad, Herbert Tope won the race [in 1918]. My parents were probably always interested [In the roundup].
I rode race horses before I started trick riding. They used to have the cowgirls and cowboys races. I started riding race horses when I was 15. I started trick riding when I was about 20 and I probably rode for about 8 or 9 years.``
When my sister and I were just thinking about going into the trick riding business . . . just buying the saddle was quite a deal. You had to have them made by someone who knew how to make trick riding saddles. I knew of a fellow who could make a trick riding saddle. He was at Beach Saddlery in Missouri.
We went to a rodeo in Newcastle when my sister was about 10 or 11. There we saw Juanita and Weaver Grey . . . he was an especially good roper and Juanita did some trick riding. She was a big help showing us about hand holds and things that you didn`t know. Some of the other entertainers would not show you, they wouldn`t even acknowledge you. Its like anything else, you get that jealousy in there and boy I tell you that doesn`t work for anybody really.
You have to train your horse to run straight, while you are doing a layout. The layout would pull a horse over to his side unless they learn to lean. Most cow horses are taught that once you start to get off they stop. So you have to teach them to keep going when you are leaning over. That mare my sister rode could just tell if your weight wasn`t right. A strap came loose on her one time and that mare just stopped. She knew it wasn`t just quite the way it always had been. Trick riding was quite an experience, we all thought we wanted to do it, and we got to do it. [A layout is a difficult move done by trick riders. First you set your horse to the correct pace and direction. Next both feet are slipped in loops or holds on the same side of the saddle. Once your feet are securely in the loops you lean away from the horse, parallel to the ground L. Conry].
I got paid to trick ride, a person would laugh at it now, we never got more than fifty dollars a day. Sometimes we got very, very little. But prices were different back then. People could get into the rodeo a lot cheaper too. It probably cost a $1.50 to get into the bleachers.
I think rodeo just kind of grew out of the competition between ranches, at a branding and things like that. After a while you began to notice who the good riders and ropers were. Then they would have little competitions or play days every once in a while. Some of the guys would have some success at these play days so they would try their hand at rodeo.
During the depression there were an awful lot of bronc riders. They always have paid mount money . . . it didn`t make any difference weather you stayed on or fell off, they would pay you a few dollars to get on. They also paid mount money on steers. It made a show and in some ways, probably better than they have now. Kids up to 12 years old could ride a calf, they would pay them a dollar a calf. What is missing now is the mount money, calf riding and the local people that did the square dance, they kept it a local rodeo. Those are some of the reasons why people around here as a rule don`t go as much as they would otherwise.
The rodeo has gotten to be a much bigger deal. When this rodeo started they used to get stock from around here. Art Richie from Buffalo brought the horses in the 30`s and Ben Powers brought livestock for several years. I don`t know about the steers so much, but generally some local rancher would furnish the calves. You kind of put those things together to make money for a war chest, and I suppose in a way to celebrate the 4th of July. Entertainment for local people. . . you know, you just didn`t go very far. At that time there were very few cars, we would ride our horse to town. Its just a whole different ball game. I guess you have to accommodate the present day situation.
I think that the smaller crowds stemmed partially from the rodeo getting to be a professional rodeo instead of a local thing. You`d have to join the PRCA, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, to compete in the Roundup. It got so that only the professionals could ride in a professional rodeo. That was quite a wrangle for a while . . . Belle Fourche hated to go pro. In order to get the tourists and people they just about had to go with the big names that people see on T.V.
I can remember when Casey Tibbs came up to Deadwood when he was about 16. I thought those kids have got a lesson to learn and they haven`t learned it yet. But that`s what it takes when those kids start out.
Years ago they always had this Indian Creek branding crew and all of the neighbors came. They had some pretty good sized ranches involved, like Jimmy Newland, McClures, Larson, and Davis to name a few of them. They would go from one place to another to brand the cattle that time of year.
The big cattle companies were the 3V, the 3L and so on, they went right up that river. That were holdings of those big cattle companies . . . like the Craigs, George and his brother Bob, they came right from Scotland. Belle Fourche at one time was the largest shipping point of cattle in the world. Riders would stay with your cattle until you could get them loaded onto the cars. Everybody would trail their cattle together, then the cattle would be shipped to Sioux City. If you had some acreage in there close, you could charge them for turning the number of cattle per night or day. Once the cattle were loaded on the railcars, most of these people would ride in the caboose, down to Omaha to see their cattle sold. A lot of ranchers would go down there because that was about the only vacation they got all year. Man they were in the big city and it was a whole different ball game! Then when they would come back they were ready to stay at home.
From interviewing Fidelia I have learned to live life to its fullest and not to be afraid to try new things.