EVENTS
Rodeo Historian
Rodeo historian and journalist Willard Porter was born in New Jersey in 1920. While attending school in Tucson, he became an amateur roper. He competed professionally for a brief time before devoting his life to promoting the sport of rodeo.
Porter befriended many of the top cowboys of yesteryear while writing their stories for “Hoofs and Horns”. From 1949 to 1953 Porter edited the American Quarter Horse Association’s “Quarter Horse Journal”. A prolific writer, he published two books on roping–“Thirteen Flat” and “Roping and Riding”, as well as “How to Enjoy the Quarter Horse”.
Willard Porter served as Rodeo Director for the National Cowboy Hall of Fame from 1979 to 1986. He became well-known as the author of “Who’s Who in Rodeo” and as editor of the Rodeo Historical Society newsletter, “The Wild Bunch”. His historical articles on rodeo and rodeo hands have appeared in “Rodeo Sport News”, “Western Horseman”, and “The Daily Oklahoman”. Willard Porter died in Florida in 1992.
