Rodeo storytellers are important

Rodeo lost a couple icons over the past year with the passing of longtime announcer Hadley Barrett and the “Duke of Chutes,” stock contractor Harry Vold.

Both were legendary figures with PRCA rodeo throughout the country and Cheyenne Frontier Days in particular.

Barrett, the voice of the San Antonio Rodeo for 28 years, died on March 2 at age 87. Barrett was named PRCA Announcer of the Year on four separate occasions and was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1999.

Vold, whose family supplied bucking stock to Cheyenne Frontier Days for 36 years, also passed in March. He was 93.

“The Duke of the Chutes” was chosen Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association stock contractor of the year 11 times (1982, 1987-96), which is tied with current CFD stock contractor Stace Smith ProRodeos for the most in PRCA history.

They were part of the history, part of the west and we have one of those old rodeo guys right here in Moses Lake. Bob Ottmar, 74, isn’t a legendary cowboy or known throughout the country. But he has done something no one around these parts has ever done. Ottmar has been to every single Moses Lake Roundup over its 73-year history and will again take his place in the seats when the Roundup gets underway on Thursday.

Every single rodeo for the past seven decades is some kind of special and doesn’t go unnoticed among those who travel the rodeo circuit for a living

“I was at the Greeley (Colo.) Stampede (last year) and had a chance to sit down with Hadley Barrett and listen to all the history of the things he’s seen,” Moses Lake arena announcer Will Rasmussen said. “We need more people like Bob that truly love our sport. He was a longtime rodeo photographer, so those images will live on forever. But the history he can provide on just this event alone. He has seen the evolution of rodeo go from ranch hand against ranch hand to a multi-million dollar industry.

“Men like Bob are a treasure. Sometimes we need to shut our mouths and open our ears and listen to what they have to say. We can learn so much.”

Like everything else in this instant-access world, times have changed. But Bob was there in the beginning. His dad George used to work the chutes and started him on this journey before he could even walk.

“Rodeo’s changed quite a bit,” Ottmar said. “Way back in the ‘40s, they used to round up all buckin’ horses over here off of Crab Creek and the Sand Dunes. They put on the rodeo with the wild horses from the area. The ranchers would bring in their calves and steers, but the horses used to run wild between here and Ephrata.”

The spirit of the west still lives and the 74th annual Moses Lake Roundup will let ‘er buck, starting on Thursday at the Grant County Fairgrounds. I sure hope they pay homage to the one guy that’s seen ‘em all over the course of time.

America needs guys like Bob Ottmar. Who’ll tell us the stories when they’re gone?

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer at the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com