EVENTS
Rodeo Clown
Charley Shultz was born in 1891 in Sun City, Kansas. Several years after his marriage to Gertrude Annis in 1912, he moved to New Mexico. At old settlers’ picnics Shultz became interested in rodeo and soon began clowning at little rodeos. In 1926, he left New Mexico and joined his uncles on the Miller 101 Ranch and performed in their Wild West show.
Shultz came up with many tricks that he taught his little donkey, Danger. He was considered one of the best clowns in the business and could easily steal the show with “Dangerous Maud” and his Model-T Ford. Shultz taught Danger to sit on a 2 x 12 board on a 30″ pipe and teeter-totter with him, to work on a half barrel, and to push his son around the rodeo arena in a baby buggy. He trained several animals, including his donkeys, Dynamite and Honeysuckle, to waltz. Several of his tricks have been copied by contemporary rodeo clowns.
Charley Shultz taught his children to rope and trick ride and could provide the whole show for a rodeo. When he died at the age of 94 in 1985, he was the oldest living and performing rodeo clown at that time.
