Lester A. “Les” Gore was born in March 1925 in Marshall, Wyoming, to Elmer and Sarah Gore. Though he purchased his RCA card in 1950, Gore first began competing in RCA rodeos in 1946.
In 1946 he won the Amateur Bronc Riding at Cheyenne Frontier Days, with a photo of one of his rides there later gracing the covers of Western Horseman and Hoofs and Horns. At Fort Worth in 1956, Gore won the Bareback Riding Average by placing or winning in four of four rounds, and at an RCA rodeo in Las Vegas he won the Steer Wrestling Average. In all, Gore came out on top at El Paso, Calgary, Madison Square Garden, San Francisco, Denver, and Fort Collins. At one point in his career, he had scores on 73 bulls in a row. Gore first qualified for the NFR in
1963, but due to injuries was unable to compete. 1965 saw him back to the NFR, but on the way to a possible Bareback Average Title, he again sustained injuries that left him unable to ride in the eighth go-round.
Though Gore retired from the PRCA at the age of 55, he was instrumental in the formation of the National Old Timer Rodeo Association (now called the National Senior Pro Rodeo Association), winning National Bareback and All-Around titles before retiring for good at age 64. He died in 2016 at age 91.
