THE GLORY YEARS BY MICHAEL BALES


 Winners at the 1917 Round-Up: Yakima Canutt (center) took first prize in the bucking contest, Bob Hall (right) took second, and Dave White (left) took third. By L. Moorhouse in Low Collection.


“Pendleton treated me right when I was flat,”Gibson told the East Oregonian when he returned to Pendleton in 1924 to film Let ’er Buck.“It never forgets the cowboys that helped put the Round-Up over when it was young, and I wanted to show that the boys never forget Pendleton either.”


THE HOLLYWOOD CONNECTION I


n the early 1920s, movies and the Round-Up forged a symbiotic bond. The Round-Up provided movie-makers with a ready-made set filled with unscripted action and a large cast of colorful characters.Added attractions were Umatilla County’s wealth of sunny days and its countryside of illu- minated wheat fields, forests, and mountains. In return, the movies provided the Round-Up with a powerful tool for promoting itself nationwide. At the time, the motion picture industry was growing rapidly, churning out several hundred


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In 1917 Yakima Canutt met cowboy film star Tom Mix, who recruited him as a stuntman. Canutt had a knack for daredevil antics—wild pursuits, horse spills, leaps onto runaway horse teams, wagon wrecks and rescues. He quickly became one of Hollywood’s leading fall guys.


 Yakima Canutt in 1917. By W. S. Bowman in Low Collection.  Poster for 1924 film Let ’er Buck. Courtesy of Mervin Swearingen.


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