Back to all
National Rodeo Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1998
Tuffy Cooper
EVENTS
Steer Roper
Calf Roper
Team Roper
Dale “Tuffy” Cooper was born in Lovington, New Mexico, in 1925. He entered his first rodeo–a junior roping–at age 10 and emerged victorious. Following service in the Pacific during World War II, Cooper entered the University of New Mexico, assisted in the organization of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, and captured the NIRA calf roping title in 1950.
Tuffy Cooper contested as an all-around roper at rodeos and matched ropings throughout the Southwest, achieving his greatest success during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1975, at the age of 50, he and his son (famed roper Roy Cooper) had a matched roping against Jim Bob Altizer and his son, in which Tuffy beat all of them quite soundly.
A long-time rancher and inspector for the New Mexico Livestock Board, Tuffy Cooper resides near Monument, New Mexico. The author of “If You Ride A Slow Horse You Need A Long Rope” was honored as “Working Cowboy of the Year” at the National Cowboy Symposium in 1994.
EVENTS
Steer Roper
Calf Roper
Team Roper
Dale “Tuffy” Cooper was born in Lovington, New Mexico, in 1925. He entered his first rodeo–a junior roping–at age 10 and emerged victorious. Following service in the Pacific during World War II, Cooper entered the University of New Mexico, assisted in the organization of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, and captured the NIRA calf roping title in 1950.
Tuffy Cooper contested as an all-around roper at rodeos and matched ropings throughout the Southwest, achieving his greatest success during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1975, at the age of 50, he and his son (famed roper Roy Cooper) had a matched roping against Jim Bob Altizer and his son, in which Tuffy beat all of them quite soundly.
A long-time rancher and inspector for the New Mexico Livestock Board, Tuffy Cooper resides near Monument, New Mexico. The author of “If You Ride A Slow Horse You Need A Long Rope” was honored as “Working Cowboy of the Year” at the National Cowboy Symposium in 1994.
