Customer Reviews

Pendleton Round-Up at 100: Oregon's Legendary Rodeo

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As someone who grew up in Pendleton watching and experiencing the Round Up, the Pendleton Round Up at 100 captures its essence. The photographs and narrative are tops! A great trip down memory lane for me but a wealth of information for anyone who has never attended the Round Up.

With all the intensity of a bronc bustng out of a chute, this remarkable archive of 100 years of the Pendleton rodeo reads like a history of the West itself--cowboys, Indians, showmen, politicans, cowgirls, and legendary celebrities. Beautifully conceived and well designed, it's pleasurable reading chock-full of some of the most amazing photographs ever combined, many never before seen in rodeo annals. Text by Bales and Hill is smooth and easy to read. In all, this is a book for any Westerner's library and the perfect place to start for anyone who loves rodeo anywhere.

Pendleton Round-Up at 100: Oregon's Legendary Rodeo

This is far and away the most comprehensive rodeo book I've ever seen -- one that will be on my coffee table or in my library for years to come.
No rock along the Oregon trail side is left unturned as the researchers tirelessly uncover facts, figures, quotes, and at times a few hilarious tidbits -- such as information about one crusty cowgirl that wore diamonds in her front teeth that she'd hock if she needed entry fees. The historic photographs are priceless, showing the times before bucking chutes when cowboys mounted the broncs in center of the arena, and when women competed in split skirts. The tightly braided nature of the Pendleton Round Up is also illustrated in prose and photo, with considerable space given to the Native American participation from the very beginning, as well as black and white.
A lot can happen in a nation and in the world of rodeo in 100 years. I enjoyed the ride with Bales and Hill as they compiled a century of rodeo into one delightful book that kept me spellbound from beginning to end.

After years of watching the Round-up and enjoying the excitement of the overall event, we haven't been back in recent years. Anyone who cares for the rodeo experience, and Pendleton in particular, will find every bit as much excitement in this collection of memorabilia as we did! Our other "coffee table" books will have to take a back seat! The stories and photos and the overall composition are superb!

Talk about a walk down memory lane, "Pendleton Roundup at 100" is the best! Having been to the roundup and its attendant "festivities", we felt like we were front row center in the middle of the event. And, though we thought that we were well versed in the history of the Roundup, we soon realized that attendance at the event was merely the tip of the iceberg.

Wonderful illustrations, the history of the area and the Pendelton Roundup, snippets of little known facts, and a revealing overview of the differences while, at the same time, the similarities between the cowboys and the indians.

Journalism at its finest, Hill and Bales have done justice to this historical journey through the past. A "must read" for all that appreciate the sport of rodeo and the multi-faceted history of Eastern Oregon.

Congratulations, and "Let'er Buck"!!

Hap and Martha McGill
Greenbrae, California

Pendleton Round-Up history comes to life with vintage photos. Cowboy and cowgirl stories tell of the glory days as well as the hardships. From the early days to modern times, the second week in September is the Round-Up time complete with Native Americans. 2010 is the 100 year celebration. "Let 'er Buck!"

This is a good updated book covering the past 100 years of the Pendleton Roundup. Excellent pictures and detailed history. Worth keeping in your book collections for younger generations to look at in the future.

This is a gorgeous book full of Pendleton Round-Up history in pictures and words. Everything you could have ever wanted to know about rodeo and the people that have and do participate in them. A feast for the those that love the history of the American West. You will look at and read this book over and over!
On another note . . . It took Amazon three shipments to get this book to me as the first two were damaged in shipping. Even the third book had some faint scrape marks on the cover due to the book sliding inside the box with no protection. Amazon is not packing and shipping this book properly, and it is too big and heavy to be unwrapped in a carboard box with some air bags sitting on top of it, not even wrapped around the book.

Pendleton Round-Up at 100: Oregon's Legendary Rodeo moves beyond historical non-fiction and reads like a novel as it provides a history of a rodeo that began in 1910 and shaped a community. Lavish photos and history will attract any rodeo fan or rural library collection, and makes for an outstanding survey recommended not just for Oregon history collections but for any library interested in American West history and culture.

My local bookstore said this book was out of print and couldn't get a copy for me. Many thanks to Amazon for having it and even sending it quicker than they said they would. It came in plenty of time for Christmas for my mother-in-law who lived in Pendleton and knows some people in the book!