EVENTS
Trick Roper
Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1927, J. W. Stoker and his magic ropes have thrilled audiences since he was 10 years old. He learned to trick rope and ride from Pinky Barnes, a Wild West show and movie performer. He was 12 years old when his picture appeared on “Wheaties” cereal boxes as a juvenile champion trick rider. In 1942, he became a full-time rodeo performer.
Stoker rodeoed steadily except during his military service in World War II and the Korean War. Following his discharge from the service in 1953, he went on the road, performing with black lights (invisible ultraviolet light)– the first such use in professional rodeo. He performed in seven European countries during the 1970s, and worked for Casey Tibbs, who produced a Wild West show in Japan in 1973. Stoker entertained a second time in Japan in 1988 and from there went on to Helsinki, Finland, in 1990, and Paris, France, in 1992.
In the United States, he performed at the largest rodeos in the country ~ Denver, Fort Worth, and Houston. He has appeared on NBC’s Today show, ABC’s coverage of the Olympics in Calgary, was an entertainer at the Smithsonian Institution, and appeared from 1990 to 1999 in Michael Martin Murphey’s “West Fest.” He was honored two consecutive years by the PRCA as “Entertainer of the Year.”
