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August 4: Herman Linder
Howdy folks, it’s the first week of August 2025 and welcome to This Week in The West.
I’m Seth Spillman, broadcasting from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
On this podcast, we share stories of the people and events that shaped the history, art and culture of the American West—and those still shaping it today.
It was October 30, 1936, in Boston when a steady stream of cowboys walked out, their horses in tow, of the rodeo they were supposed to be competing in at Boston Garden.
They’d had enough of poor conditions and low prize money. For the first time ever, rodeo cowboys were on strike.
From that day, their sport would be forever changed. Among the crowd of 61 walk-outs was Herman Linder, a rodeo legend, whom we remember on the week of his birth, August 5, 1907.
Long before he was called “King of the Cowboys,” Herman Linder was born in Wisconsin, the son of circus performers.
Not long after his birth, the Linder family moved north to Cardston, Alberta, nestled in the foothills of southern Canada’s ranch country.
It was there, surrounded by open pastures and wild stock, that Linder and his brother Warner started testing their grit — riding yearlings and unbroken range horses for the fun of it.
But the skills learned on the back of those animals were soon developed into rodeo talent.
At just 17 years old, Linder entered the Calgary Stampede for the first time. He stunned the crowd by winning both the Canadian Saddle Bronc and Bareback Bronc Riding Championships in one go. It was an early sign of what would become a decade-long dominance.
From 1929 to 1939, Linder earned the title “King of the Cowboys” by winning the Canadian All-Around Championship seven times and capturing the North American Championship five years in a row.
He won a staggering 22 events at the Calgary Stampede over his career.
So it was no small matter when Linder, at the height of his career, joined his fellow cowboys on strike in Boston.
That act of defiance helped lay the groundwork for what would become The Cowboys Turtle Association, so named by the cowboys “because we were slow as turtles gettin’ organized,” or “just like a turtle, we’re slow but sure.”
According to the magazine Western Horseman, the following year cowboy Hugh Bennett addressed the convention of Rodeo Association of America event manager, explaining the goals of the CTA — all entry fees added to publicized purse money, a working relationship with rodeo management, and a pledge for rodeos to allow only CTA members to compete, along with local contestants. Also, there would be no more strikes by contestants. Linder was elected the group’s first vice president.
At a special meeting of the Cowboys’ Turtle Association held at the Blackstone Hotel in Fort Worth on March 16, 1945, the board voted to adopt a new name: the Rodeo Cowboys Association. Along with the name change came a move of headquarters from Phoenix to Denver, signaling a new era for the sport.
Three decades later, the association would undergo one final name change—becoming the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, or PRCA.
Part of the reason Linder wanted to professionalize his sport had to do with the rough-around-the-edges reputation some of the events were getting on the circuit. Linder was one of the few men who traveled with his wife, and he saw the behavior that the cowboys would get into as they rolled into a new town.
Without an organization, those characters weren’t held accountable, he said. “There used to be a lot of cowboys who weren’t the best kind of guys. (With organizations in place) if he doesn’t behave himself in a mannerly way, he’s put on the carpet and fined and maybe expelled.”
Linder played a similar organizational role in Canada, helping to establish the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, ensuring riders north of the border had the same opportunities and protections.
Linder would continue to be a giant in Canadian Rodeo after he retired from competition.
He became a rodeo promoter, producing shows that brought western tradition to new audiences. He helped organize a rodeo at Expo 67 in Montréal.
He joined the National Rodeo Hall of Fame here at the Cowboy in 1980. In 1982, he was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.
Later in life, he was also named a recipient of the Order of Canada, one of his country’s highest civilian honors.
On January 18, 2001, Herman Linder died at his ranch near Cardston, Alberta. He was 93 years old.
And with that, we’ve closed our turtle shell on another episode of “This Week in The West.”
Our show is produced by Chase Spivey and written by Mike Koehler.
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We leave you today with the words of Calgary Stampede president Roger Jarvis, “Herman (Linder) was quite simply a legend of the rodeo industry . . . his exploits will likely never be equaled. He’s an icon of the Western way of life.”
Much obliged for listening, and remember, come Find Your West at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
