B. J. Pierce was born August 22, 1926, in Clovis, New Mexico. In 1952 at the Clovis Mounted Patrol 2nd Annual Calf Roping he won against 70 other skilled ropers. He won Pendleton Round-Up that same year and again in 1955. He won the Cow Palace and Cheyenne twice. He won Los Angeles in 1954 and other wins came in Salinas, Denver, Chicago, Tucson, Calgary, Madison Square Garden, Boston, Houston, Fort Worth and San Antonio.
Pierce had a famed career as a champion calf roper in the 1950s and 1960s. He won the International Rodeo Association world championship calf roper in 1952, 1953 and 1954. The IRA was the former Rodeo Association of America, the first organization ever former for rodeo. In his PRCA career, he also was third in calf roping in 1952 and 1953 and fifth in the world in 1955.
