EVENTS
Calf Roper
A quick rope and a good horse brought Jess Goodspeed success in professional rodeo. Born at Leedey, Oklahoma, around 1912, Goodspeed started roping as a young child. Taught by his brother, Buck, Jess began roping at amateur rodeos in western Oklahoma. In 1931 he entered his first professional contest, earning the money to pay the mortgage on his parents’ cotton crop.
In the mid-1930s Jess Goodspeed went on the circuit with champion roper Clyde Burk. For two decades Goodspeed competed against the best calf ropers in rodeo and usually finished in the money. In 1950 he won at Cheyenne, and in 1952 he placed second nationally in the event.
Retired from competition in 1958, Jess Goodspeed raised and trained roping horses, many of which have been American Quarter Horse Association champions. Goodspeed passed on his talent and knowledge to his son Bobby, who regularly placed among the nation’s top 15 calf ropers in the 1960s. Jess Goodspeed died in 1983.
