EVENTS
Trick Roper, Champion, 1938-1963
Born at Belfast, Tennessee, in 1918, Jim Eskew, Jr., grew up a rodeo performer. His father, Colonel Jim Eskew, operated a “Wagon Show” in the 1920s and 1930s before producing professional rodeos in the East during the following two decades. The son made his roping debut in Calgary at the tender age of nine.
Junior Eskew, as he was called in rodeo circles, entered professional competition in 1934 at Madison Square Garden. He won the World Championship Trick Roping title in 1938 and retained the honor for 25 years. At the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1966, Eskew defeated nine contenders from the United States, Mexico, and Australia to cap his career.
In addition to his unequaled rank in trick and fancy roping, Junior Eskew was a contender in steer and calf roping. In his later years he was honored to participate with the Mexican Charro Association, an elite group of traditional cowboys from south of the border. Junior Eskew died in Ardmore, Oklahoma, in 1977.
