EVENTS
All-Around Champion Cowboy, 1939
Bareback Bronc Rider, Champion, 1937, 1939
Born in 1912 in Colorado, Paul Carney grew up working cattle and breaking horses. He entered rodeo competition in Greeley at age 15. Tall, handsome, loaded with personality and natural riding ability, he won Cheyenne’s amateur saddle-bronc riding title the next year.
During his brief career, Paul Carney performed in England with Elliott and McCarty’s show in 1934. His first major professional victory came in 1936, when he captured the bull-riding title at Madison Square Garden. In 1937 he won both the bull-riding and the saddle-bronc titles at the Garden. That same year he went on to capture the honors in bareback riding, a feat he repeated in 1939. His skills brought him the coveted all-around championship in 1939. He was also a consistent winner in steer wrestling.
In 1940 Carney invested his rodeo winnings in a dude ranch near Chandler, Arizona. Semi-retired from rodeo, he also operated a construction company until his death in 1950.
