Piecing Together the Social Fabric BY ELIZABETH HEATCOAT


First Nation there is a natural amphitheatre located along the old Bryson Trail. Although it is in the Cypress Hills, the


T


ampitheatre is not as “rugged” and “dramatic,” as the rest of the Centre Block of the park. Instead, there are lot of tall poplars, quaking aspen, lush green grass and fresh air. On July 8th, you can’t miss this picturesque


location. Vehicles will be heading there and the dust will be rising from the roadway. For more than 100 years families have travelled that dusty trail to the more than a century old Murraydale Rodeo grounds. When asked “what is it that has made


Murraydale successful for 104 years?” Connie Martin needed a moment to pause. “It is the tradition and the community,”


she replied. “I think people looked forward to the social event and so they have taken their children there and their grandchildren are going,” she continued. Not to mention, “the setting is wonderful.” Martin comes from a long-line of relatives


who have been pivotal to the longevity of the Murraydale tradition. At a quick count — she has at least 15 family members that have participated in the rodeo. “Since great grandfather, every generation


would have attended the event,” said Martin. T ere is only one year she has missed due to being up north. “I remember a man telling me that in the


thirties they liked to go out to Murraydale for the picnic because that was the only green they could see,” she added. T e event started as a picnic and in 1912


there is a photograph marked C. Armstrong riding stock. By 1928 there is record that Dave Perrin produced the show, “so there was defi nitely a rodeo that year,” added Martin. She is now touted locally as the Murraydale history keeper. In preparation for the 100th celebration, which 1,600 people attended, she spent countless hours digging up old photos and talking to old-timers about their rodeo memories. “I was at a funeral last winter and it was


mentioned right in the eulogy that you had to get to Murraydale early to get your favourite spot,” she added. For many people, the day isn’t necessarily


Steeped in history Rodeos in southwest Saskatchewan are ...


hirty four kilometres southeast of the Maple Creek just north of the Nekaneet


about the rodeo. It is about the picnic, getting together and socializing, taking a day to share in a traditional way of life, attitude and culture. T e following is a description of events


written by Terri Mason for the Canadian Cowboy Country Magazine following the 100th anniversary celebration that sums up the determination, spirit and traditions encountered at a rodeo event. “Cassidy Gordon (3) leads Sarah Beierbach


(2) on Sarah’s pony, Willy, in an almost- blazing run around the barrels at the 100th Murraydale Stampede and Picnic. When they came around the third barrel,


however, the crowd started to cheer; the pony spooked, knocked Cassidy down and Sarah fell off and got a face full of dirt. Both mom’s rushed to their aid. T e kids “Cowgirl’d Up” and later were back in the saddle. “T e children’s bloodlines include


Moorheads, Beierbachs, Udals, Lawrences, Faulkners and Gordons — all long-time supporters and players in the annual event. Cassidy and Sarah are defi nitely not the fi rst among those clans to hit the Murraydale dirt – and they won’t be the last.” “For ranching to be successful it is a


lifestyle. It is a commitment and you are not going to realize huge profi ts,” said Martin. T at is why another popular rodeo, the


Maple Creek Ranch Rodeo, is also held at the beginning of July. According to a description online, “It is designed to replicate the functions cowboys have to perform, out on the open range, miles from the ranch buildings and corrals. “Range cowboys have to herd the cattle,


‘cut out’ the ones which need attending to, rope them and secure them so they can brand them or doctor them. T ese cowboys also have to herd horses, capture them, and break them to the saddle.” T ey are skills that can only be passed


down through hands-on experience and practising the art of being a cowboy. Allan Moorhead, grew up with peering


over the fence and watching cowboys race and ride stock while his father Albert consistently helped them out of tough situations as the Murraydale Rodeo pickup man. T en it was his turn to rodeo. “As kids we started out riding cows, and they were rank cows,” he chuckled. “I started


riding cows when I was about eight or 10 years old and then I rode bulls aſt er that for 15 to 20 years.” “I got some aches and pains and my wife


tells me, ‘you should have rode a few more bulls,’ so there is a lot of sympathy there,” he laughed again. “But you know what, I enjoyed it … I went for the sport of it …. It didn’t matter if I rode or was bucked off , I still had a smile on my face,” he explained. “I had a bull at Murraydale one time, it


was a Gilchirst bull, I will tell you what, that bugger was a great big Charolais bull. He probably weighed 3,000 lbs and he come up and got in spin on me, dropped me down inside the well and then stepped a foot on each side of me … T at was the only time I was hurt a little bit from riding bulls, but he is the one that made me think a little bit,” said Moorhead. “Riding bulls is a young man’s sport.”


With bull riding behind him, Moorhead


continues to participate in the Ranch Rodeo. As a former president of the Murraydale Stampede and Picnic Society, he has some of his own ideas why the two very diff erent rodeos continue to be time-honoured traditions. “(T e Ranch Rodeo) brings out the real


ranch hands … T ey are all local people, which is another reason it does good in Maple Creek,” he explained. Most importantly everyone is out to have a good time. Similarly, Murraydale has been the starting


point for the locals. A number of which have went on to become pro-rodeo cowboys. “It always stayed local, we never had


too much money, then it gives the guy that is a greenhorn a chance to get going,”


he


continued. “So as long as we are making enough to pay the guy that brings the stock you really don’t need a lot of extra stuff .”


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Southwest Progress Report 2012 5


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