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National Rodeo Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1997
Cuff Burrell
EVENTS
Rodeo Livestock Contractor
Born in 1894 on a ranch near Grangeville, California, Cuthbert “Cuff” Burrell quit school in the sixth grade to become a rodeo performer. By age 18, he was a versatile hand, entering all five of the main events and also riding in the Roman, relay, and pony express races.
A six-year series of wins in nearly every event at the Salinas, California, rodeo, coupled with the all-around championship at Chicago in 1919, capped his performing career. By 1912, he had gone into the stock contracting business, and he expanded his string through the 1920s.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Cuff Burrell’s rough-stock string included the rank broncs Pancho Villa and The Crying Jew. His Brahma bulls, which he introduced to California rodeo, were among the sport’s meanest. In a half-century career, Cuff Burrell supplied stock to shows in every state in the Union.
Burrell is also known as the man who gave rodeo cowboy Louis Lindley the name he would later use in a Hollywood career — “Slim Pickens.” Cuff Burrell retired from the business in 1954 and died in 1976.
EVENTS
Rodeo Livestock Contractor
Born in 1894 on a ranch near Grangeville, California, Cuthbert “Cuff” Burrell quit school in the sixth grade to become a rodeo performer. By age 18, he was a versatile hand, entering all five of the main events and also riding in the Roman, relay, and pony express races.
A six-year series of wins in nearly every event at the Salinas, California, rodeo, coupled with the all-around championship at Chicago in 1919, capped his performing career. By 1912, he had gone into the stock contracting business, and he expanded his string through the 1920s.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Cuff Burrell’s rough-stock string included the rank broncs Pancho Villa and The Crying Jew. His Brahma bulls, which he introduced to California rodeo, were among the sport’s meanest. In a half-century career, Cuff Burrell supplied stock to shows in every state in the Union.
Burrell is also known as the man who gave rodeo cowboy Louis Lindley the name he would later use in a Hollywood career — “Slim Pickens.” Cuff Burrell retired from the business in 1954 and died in 1976.
