09/05/2024
Thought these 2 articles from Western Horseman and Ag Alert were appropriate for this weekend's Oakdale Ten Steer. Gone but never forgotten by those who knew and loved him.
Rodeo stars hang their hats in Oakdale
Back in the day, a cowboy's hotel room on the rodeo circuit cost a half dollar—a cup of joe at the neighborhood coffee shop just pennies—and a good day of work lasted eight full seconds. These days, the memories last a lifetime, and can be found in frames on the wall of a museum in a town nicknamed the Cowboy Capitol of the World.
To many people, Oakdale is known as a gateway to Yosemite Valley and the site of the Hershey Chocolate Factory. But those in cowboy circles know it's really where you go to find the world's best rodeo stars.
The town, with a population of 17,000, is home to more retired rodeo world champions than anywhere else in the country. With the likes of Ace Berry, Harley May, Sonny Tureman, Ted Nuce and the Camarillo brothers, just to name a few, Oakdale holds some stories you could say gave the Wild West its name.
Take Jim Charles, for instance. He found fame as the second man ever to ride the famous bucking bull, Tornado. He rode the horned giant in the world championship and took home the title. But he got his start bunking with a couple of other rodeo hopefuls who spent their days working for ranchers and nights dreaming of rodeo stardom. "It's just cowboy country," he admitted.
"We'd rent out somebody's house or apartment or whatever, or just stay in a motel," recalled saddle bronc star Bill Martinelli. "Jim and I were staying in a motel. Cost us fifty cents a day. Really expensive place ... fancy too," he said with a chuckle.
For many of the world's finest bull riders, steer wrestlers, saddle bronc riders and ropers, the cozy foothill town was geographically perfect for a cowboy to tie down. On the circuit, Oakdale held one of the first rodeos each spring.
At the same time, it was a town of dirt roads and ranches that gave the young cowboys plenty of opportunity to put in a hard day's work, albeit for not much money. Didn't matter. It didn't cost much in those days to enter a rodeo—and that's what all the young hopefuls would do on the weekends.
"I got on my first bull over here in Oakdale," said 44-year-old Ted Nuce, who clenched the world champion title at the age of 24. "Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a cowboy, and I knew that this is where the cowboys lived."
For so many, that's the way it happened. It wasn't that Oakdale raised great rodeo stars; it simply raised hard-working ranchers, whose work translated into sport. Chasing down cattle meant learning how to rope ... and how to ride. And as legend has it, that's how rodeo came to be. The word itself means "the gathering of cattle," or "round up."
Rodeo is still recognized, in fact, as the only sport that's born out of a lifestyle. Decades ago that lifestyle included a little friendly competition at the end of the day. Ranchers would place bets on whose ranch-hand would best be able to bring in the herd, or most quickly rope a steer. A competition grew out of their simple game, which, these days, is big money.
"I'd love to get on a bull for $10,000 or $12,000 like they do now," said Jim Charles. "Back in my time it was a couple hundred dollars. Three or four hundred was the most I'd ever won. But I was happy, boy was I happy."
Many of these old-time rodeo stars still find great happiness in the business, and are thrilled to see professional bull riding and other rodeo events gain such popularity.
Jerold Camarillo, who was a team roping champ with his brother Leo, now has a successful business training roping hopefuls from around the worldmall from his ranch in Oakdale. Camarillo himself, who won his first roping competition at the age of seven, still competes in old-timer rodeos, and still has quite a following. Like the others, he feels it's simply a lifestyle, and one that he's fortunate to have lived.
"Yeah, this is the life," said Martinelli. "Some of the folks out here, it's all they've ever known. Their folks rodeo'd and they go on to rodeo too. There's a lot of two and three and four generation cowboys who rodeo."
Still today, many rodeo hopefuls dream of following in the footsteps of those who put Oakdale on the cowboy map, and still reside there today. The town boasts 25 world champion rodeo titles, and seven inductees into the Rodeo Hall of Fame.
Last year the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City recognized another famous cowboy from the region with their most prestigious award, the Chester A. Reynolds Award, given to a true "American Cowboy." Eighty-five-year-old Phil Stadtler is a cowboy legend, respected for his business smarts that equated to the trade of millions of cattle across the Mexico border, not to mention punches he traded with famous Hollywood cowboy Slim Pickens. He also made a name for himself as a bulldogger, steer wrestler and team roper.
It is cowboys like Stadtler and the rest—more than a dozen others—who have truly created a gold-plated reputation for Oakdale. It's a town whose high school is still among a select few in the country, and the only one in the state, that allows students to earn a varsity letter in rodeo. People flock there every April to attend the famous Oakdale Rodeo. The Cowboy Museum, visited by tourists the world over, sits in the old Southern Pacific railroad depot in the center of town. More information about the museum may be viewed at www.oakdalecowboymuseum.org.
This is a town where rodeo history runs deep. Just look at the old cowboy hats and diesel trucks. You can't help but be reminded of exactly why Oakdale earned the title of Cowboy Capitol of the World.
