Bareback, Bull Riding, Team Roping
J.C. Trujillo was born May 10, 1948, and began his rodeo career at age 6 in Prescott, Arizona, his hometown. Trujillo won the Arizona Junior Rodeo Association Bareback Championship, and as a member of the Arizona State University Rodeo Team he won the 1968 Intercollegiate Bareback Championship. He joined the PRCA in 1967 and hit the rodeo road hard in 1972. Trujillo qualified for the NFR 12 times in bareback, 1972 through 1983 and 1985. He was the World Champion Bareback title holder in 1981. He won Prescott five times; Salinas four times; Ogden three times; the Pendleton RoundUp twice and won Calgary in 1982 for $50,000. He was co-champion bareback rider at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Rodeo in Washington, D.C. He helped start the Downhill Ski Races at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and managed the Prescott Frontier Rodeo and Fairgrounds for 18 years. Known for being a great spokesperson for rodeo, he says, “success depends on the ability to be realistic about yourself and acknowledge your limitations.” Trujillo was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1994. He lives in Prescott part time and on his ranch outside Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
