EVENTS
Rodeo Announcer
One-eighth Native American, Mel Lambert was born in 1920 at Chiloquin, Oregon, and raised on the Klamath Indian Reservation. There he learned to cowboy as the Indians did–gathering, breaking and training wild horses for sale.
Mel Lambert began his rodeo career as a bronc rider. When he was thrown from a rank horse in 1946, however, he decided not to climb back on. Instead, he stepped out of the arena to become one of rodeo’s great announcers. Although Lambert had no formal training, he did possess a powerful voice and a thorough knowledge of the sport. For more than a quarter of a century, he called the action all across the West, from Pendleton to Houston and from Salinas to Sidney.
Known as “the Voice of the California Rodeo,” Mel Lambert was named National Rodeo Man of the Year in 1979. He ranched near Turner, Oregon, until his death in 1999.
