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National Rodeo Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2026
Gail Woerner
Gail Hughbanks Woerner was born June 27, 1936, and raised on a ranch near Willard, Colorado, where she spent countless hours with her cowboy grandfather, Jess Hughbanks. She is regarded as one of modern rodeo’s most prolific authors and historians, having written 11 books and conducted more than 500 interviews with rodeo legends including Jim Shoulders, Ty Murray, Larry Mahan and Harry Vold.
During her 40-year career, Woerner chaired the Rodeo Historical Society’s Oral History Project for 21 years and organized 18 Rodeo Clown Reunions at major rodeos in Pendleton, Deadwood, Santa Fe and other communities. She also served for 11 years as the rodeo historian for RodeoAttitude.com and has been a hostess in the Gold Card Room at the National Finals Rodeo since 1982.
Woerner’s contributions to rodeo and Western history have earned her numerous honors, including the Academy of Western Artists’ Will Rogers Medallion Award, the National Cowboy Symposium’s American Cowboy Culture Award for Western Writing, the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association’s Lenora Reimers Heritage Award and the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame’s Western Heritage Award.
Her articles have appeared in Western publications throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. She has also contributed to documentaries about Casey Tibbs and Feek Tooke and has appeared on television, radio and online programs. Woerner lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Cliff.
Gail Hughbanks Woerner was born June 27, 1936, and raised on a ranch near Willard, Colorado, where she spent countless hours with her cowboy grandfather, Jess Hughbanks. She is regarded as one of modern rodeo’s most prolific authors and historians, having written 11 books and conducted more than 500 interviews with rodeo legends including Jim Shoulders, Ty Murray, Larry Mahan and Harry Vold.
During her 40-year career, Woerner chaired the Rodeo Historical Society’s Oral History Project for 21 years and organized 18 Rodeo Clown Reunions at major rodeos in Pendleton, Deadwood, Santa Fe and other communities. She also served for 11 years as the rodeo historian for RodeoAttitude.com and has been a hostess in the Gold Card Room at the National Finals Rodeo since 1982.
Woerner’s contributions to rodeo and Western history have earned her numerous honors, including the Academy of Western Artists’ Will Rogers Medallion Award, the National Cowboy Symposium’s American Cowboy Culture Award for Western Writing, the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association’s Lenora Reimers Heritage Award and the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame’s Western Heritage Award.
Her articles have appeared in Western publications throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. She has also contributed to documentaries about Casey Tibbs and Feek Tooke and has appeared on television, radio and online programs. Woerner lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Cliff.
