EVENTS
Rodeo Livestock Contractor
An Englishman born in 1891, James Henry “Harry” Rowell came to California at age 21 after serving seven years in the British Navy. He first went into the chicken and egg business, produced feed for poultry, and built a meat packing plant that was associated with his ranch near Hayward, California. When in 1921 he decided to produce a “cowboy show” for his neighbors, a rodeo legend was born.
For four decades Harry Rowell was known as “The Rodeo King of the West,” and his wife, Maggie, was celebrated as the West Coast’s “unofficial queen of the rodeo.” From their large ranch in Dublin Canyon, Harry and Maggie Rowell supplied rough stock for all of the West’s major rodeos. From 1921 through 1975 the family also produced the Rowell Ranch Rodeo, a week-long spectacle at Hayward.
The Rowells’ financial and spiritual generosity was legendary among those who competed on the western circuit. A cowboy could always find work at the Rowell Ranch. In 1951 Harry Rowell retired from all except the Rowell Ranch Rodeo. He died in 1969, and his wife, Maggie, continued the ranch rodeo until her death in 1975.
