Midway resident Brent Kelly, a rodeo announcer of over 50 years, got his start in the sport by watching the Wasatch County Rodeo, now called the Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo, as a kid.

As a teenager, he’d sneak onto organizer Swanny Kirby’s property to ride his calves, but he never snuck into the event itself.

“The rodeo used to be put on by the Heber Valley Riding Club. And they would patrol the fences so that none of the kids would get in free,” he said. “(My friend) Tom (Whitaker) said, ‘Remember when we pushed over that snow fence, and all of us ran in and got in free?’ I said, ‘Tom, I don’t remember that. I don’t think I was there. I always paid my ticket.’”

Ahead of the Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo this weekend, Brent recounted its history at the Wasatch County Library during the latest in a series of local history lectures. 

The rodeo began as an outgrowth of the Wasatch County Fair, which began in 1913.

“In the 20th century, local farmers, ranchers, 4-H groups, they got together and they showed livestock, they showed crops, they showed produce,” Brent said. “The fair (was) both competitive and a community celebration reflecting the most important part of farming to Wasatch County.”

The rodeo began sometime in the 1920s as an amateur event for kids and families. It got an upgrade when Kirby took over, the first of several organizers to transform the rodeo into a professional event. 

The first local rodeo clown was Ellis Clyde. A photo of his goofy expression sent a wave of laughter through the audience of seniors who recognized him. 

“Ellis always had a float in the parade,” Brent said. “He would ride down Main Street dressed as a woman, bra on the outside, playing a saxophone. And he had a band, the Ellis Clyde Band, and they used to play every Friday and Saturday night at the old social hall.”

After several iterations of stock contractors running the rodeo, the county asked Brent, his wife, Mary, and local Bob McPhie to take the reins in the 1970s. 

“We’ve been involved in rodeo pretty much all of our married lives. So when Bob asked us to come work with him, it was really an honor,” Mary said. “We had the same vision. We wanted to make it one of the best.”

The trio renamed it the Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo, which has evolved into the three-day event today. 

The Wasatch County Event Complex opened in 2005, its 7,000-seat outdoor arena opened in 2009, and its warm-up arena and livestock stalls were added in 2011.

“Wasatch is second to none in facilities that we have,” Brent said.

There has also been growth in the amount of prize money given out. Wasatch County Event Complex Director Jon Provost took over the rodeo about 20 years ago. At that time, the winners received about $40,000 total. At the rodeo this weekend, the county will distribute more than $200,000 in awards, generated from ticket sales and sponsorships.

That’s in stark contrast to the prize money Wasatch County advertised in rodeo magazines from 1956 and 1957 — about $700, or roughly $8,700 when adjusted for inflation.

There are nearly 500 competitors at this year’s event. Brent and Mary said it is the prize money that attracts National Finals Rodeo athletes.

“When you get them here, you sell out your crowds,” Mary said.

Members of the crowd at the library chimed in that it is not the professional athletes, but the amateur, hometown heroes who inspired them the most.

Brent and Mary, who received Gov. Spencer Cox’s Utah Treasure award last year for their involvement in the rodeo, could be considered two of those heroes. 

Brent became a competitor in calf roping, bareback riding and bulldogging while he was a student at Brigham Young University. Brent and Mary spent their years as a newly married couple constantly on road trips so Brent could compete in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association events. 

They funneled their paychecks into entry fees, or what they called “donations,” because Brent wasn’t winning any competitions.

“I was donating every weekend. Finally, one time, she says, ‘I don’t care what you do, just catch the calf!’ It took me about 20 seconds that time, but I caught it,” Brent joked. 

Brent’s love for the sport but inability to make a living competing in it is what led him to become a rodeo announcer. 

“I drive into a rodeo in a white shirt. I go up to a box that’s air-conditioned. And when I leave, I have a check and a hamburger,” he said, a grin plastered on his face. 

He’s announced at various rodeos across the state over the past half-century, including 20 years at the Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo. There, he began his tradition of announcing on horseback in the arena. He and his 26-year-old horse, Cash, have since hung up their spurs after many close encounters with bulls and broncos. 

In one instance, a horse mistook Brent for a pickup rider — a horseback rider who helps a competitor dismount during a rough stock competition — and chased him.

“He reached out and grabbed my belt with his mouth,” Brent said, making a chomping motion with his hand. “I felt that, and I kicked old Cash, and we went really fast that time. Cash has saved my life more than anything else.”

Brent, whose kids and grandkids are also involved in the rodeo, said the sport is “just coming into its own.”

“We’ve had more national exposure from the Cowboy Channel than anything. … There’s more money now than there used to be, which gives you more cowboys,” he said. “Back at the National High School Finals (earlier this month), they were roping calves in eight seconds. That was unheard of. If you had a 12-second run in my day, you would get a check. I never did get one, but anyway, eight seconds!”

After Brent’s presentation, Courtland Nelson, a Midway resident of 50 years, shared what he loves most about the Heber Valley’s rodeo tradition.

“There’s nothing really fun about raising pigs. There’s nothing that’s really exciting about milking cows. You can’t have cow-milking contests and have people really want to pay you to see it. And I think rodeo was the one thing that came out of those cultures,” he said. “To me, that was always a great thing about Heber Valley … that sense of the best parts of the Old West.”

The Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo takes place Thursday through Saturday at the Wasatch County Event Complex. Learn more and purchase tickets at wasatchparksandrec.com.

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Of the roughly 25 Wasatch High School students who qualified for the Utah High School Rodeo State Finals at the Wasatch County Event Complex late last week, seven will advance to the national finals next month in Nebraska. There, these cowboys and cowgirls will vie for a winner’s saddle and belt buckle, along with the chance to meet college recruiters and potential sponsors.

For most of the students, the four-day gauntlet of bronc riding, bulldogging and goat tying was a lesson in how to brush the dirt off their chaps and get back up after being thrown to the dirt, both literally and metaphorically.

“It’s definitely been a marathon trying to avoid burnout and have consistent runs and have fun. It’s been quite the journey,” said junior Isla Bell, who competed in breakaway and team roping events.

Breakaway roping involves the competitor roping a fleeing calf while on horseback. Team roping is similar, except the target is a steer, and there are two competitors — referred to as a header and a heeler — who rope the animal’s head and legs, respectively.

“It’s like catching a fish,” described Eva Hunsaker, a fellow junior and breakaway roping competitor. “It’s just a great feeling.”

On a hot day like Friday, the key to managing sweaty hands is baby powder, Hunsaker explained. Still, her lasso came short, in part because her little calf was as speedy as a shotgun.

Breakaway roping was challenging for Bell, too, in no small part because her breakaway horse of five years, Jerry, tore a deep flexor tendon mere days before the event. 

“His career is over,” Bell explained. “I had some really amazing friends offer me a horse to use this week, but I’d never ridden it before, so it was just a rough time trying to get the whole run to click.”

Ty Bingham, Bell’s stepfather and the director of the team, explained that the horse she had borrowed had come from an unlikely person: her rival.

“They’re competing against each other, and one of her competitors is like, ‘Hey, jump on my horse,’” he recalled. “That’s a very common thing in rodeo. Whatever you need, your competitors will typically do it for you.”

Although contenders came from all over the state, Hunsaker said everyone was more like friends than adversaries as they chatted in line for events and played an evening kickball game together.

The almost familial bonds of the rodeo world are rivaled in closeness only by the bonds competitors have with their animals.

That was true of Hunsaker and her steed, Holy Smokin’ Cayenne, or Cayenne for short. Hunsaker has been riding Cayenne since she was in eighth grade, but they only became best friends once they started rodeoing in Hunsaker’s freshman year. 

“Now, my parents say that we’re a lot alike,” joked Hunsaker. That includes both horse and rider’s fiery red manes.

She continued, “We’ve worked together super well, and I can feel what she’s feeling. … We just want to compete the best we can. No matter how fast the calf is, she always gives me a shot.”

Hunsaker’s love for Cayenne has blossomed into a desire to become an equine dentist.

Bell, on the other hand, hopes to work in marketing, ideally for a western-themed brand. She already has the poise and unwavering confidence of someone used to speaking with the media.

Her communication and public speaking skills can be owed to her experience serving as the vice president of the Utah High School Rodeo Association. In that role, she helps organize events like dances and activities during the state finals, votes on changes to state high school rodeo rules and bylaws and acts as a role model for her fellow competitors.

Next school year, Bell will be president of the association. She also plans to train hard and “kick some butt.”

Just as rodeo is a family tradition for Bell, it plays the same role in senior Jenna Jepperson’s family.

Like Bell, Jepperson switched horses after one of her team roping horses sustained an injury. She borrowed her older brother’s horse, which had a lot more energy than hers did.

“If you get after it, it’s going to bring out even worse in you,” Jepperson explained.

Something similar could be said about Jepperson’s brother, though he has been one of her greatest mentors.

“Me and my brother have gotten closer in ways, but we also know how to fight pretty good,” Jepperson laughed. “But it’s drawn us so much closer. He knows what bugs me and how he can help me when things are going wrong.”

And in rodeo, anything can go wrong, Jepperson explained, from ripping a brand-new pair of pants mid-competition to eating dirt. The key to enjoying rodeo is resilience.

That’s something Jepperson’s younger sister, sophomore Lydia, is learning, as well. She’s figuring out how to focus on the good aspects of a bad run and control her feelings amid high-pressure competition.

Now that Jepperson has graduated from high school, with plans to serve a Latter-day Saint mission in Pennsylvania and attend nursing school afterwards, she will carry the lessons she learned in rodeo with her.

“It is great to win, but you’re going to lose more, and you’ve just got to keep your head up and keep going,” she said. “Otherwise, you’re going to get stuck there and not go anywhere.” 

Here are the seven Wasatch High School competitors advancing to the National High School Finals Rodeo in July.

• Genevieve Graham: Rodeo Queen
• Sam Haderlie: Steer wrestling
• Jack Rodeheaver: Saddle bronc riding
• Westin Simpson: Bareback riding, bull riding
• Colton Smith: Trap shooting
• Wiley Thomas: Bareback riding
• Ellie Thompson: Barrel racing, breakaway roping, goat tying, All Around Cowgirl

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The Park City High School boys lacrosse team faced off against Juan Diego Catholic High School at Dozier Field Friday evening, April 7, 2017. The Miners beat the Soaring Eagle 11-5. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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The Park City High School boys tennis team faced off against Union High School at the PC MARC Tuesday afternoon, March 28, 2017, for doubles and singles matches. The Miners swept the meet 6-0. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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The Park City High School boys soccer team faced off against Union High School at Dozier Field Tuesday afternoon, March 28, 2017. The Miners beat the Cougars 1-0. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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The Park City High School water polo team played against Brighton High School Wednesday evening, March 22, 2017, at the Park City Aquatic Center. The Miners beat the Bengals 12-6. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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Skiers and snowboarders from at least three different states convened at Park City Mountain Resort to participate in the USASA Big Mountain West Series Championship halfpipe and slopestyle courses. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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Athletes from around North America convened at the Utah Olympic Park for the US Freestyle Aerial Finals. The three day event was the second stop at the park for the NorAm Cup. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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The Park City High School boys basketball team faced off against Highland Tuesday evening, Nov. 29, 2016. The Miners fell to the Rams 37-48. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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