Piper Cordes, a freshman from Wall, South Dakota, competes as a member of the Montana State University rodeo team.
(Jack Power/MSU Creative Services)
Once Gov. Greg Gianforte affixes his signature to House Bill 190, Montana will become the fourth state to adopt American Rodeo as the official state sport.
Other states have adopted official sports representing a facet of their heritage, ranging from the common – baseball in New York — to the increasingly popular — pickleball in Washington — to the less traditional — pack burro racing in Colorado, and dog mushing in Alaska.
During the last week the Legislature took its final votes on HB 190 and the bill will head to the governor’s desk for a signature.
Sen. Wendy McKamey, R-Great Falls, carried the bill in the Senate and wore her paisley scarf on the floor last Saturday when she spoke about the bill, because “this is more rodeo than almost anything else.”
“I don’t know that I can convey, really, how fun rodeo is here in the Senate chamber,” McKamey said.
“This is very unique in that it represents our heritage, the outdoors, and it’s an opportunity to have have a really unique statement about our state,” she added.
Some senators voiced their opposition to the bill — Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, said that more Montanans hunt than rodeo, and Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning, objected to the bill not specifically including Native American components.
“I just had hoped that they would have included the Indian Relay, which is a few centuries old here as part of this bill,” Webber said. “But we do have an Indian rodeo circuit that goes along with the National Rodeo Association. I just wish they would have done a little bit more.”
The bill was supported by the Montana American Indian Caucus, as well as by the congressional delegation and all six of Montanan’s statewide elected officials.
“There’s nothing better than a good rodeo all summer long. And the fine senator in the back near Kalispell said they have it all winter long going there,” Sen. Butch Gillespie, R-Ethbridge, said. “And as far as the Indian rodeos … nothing’s better than their rodeos and and the relay races, and they happen all over the place also. So let’s not let the other western states get the drop on us here.”
The Senate passing the measure 40-9, with an amendment making the law effective immediately. The House on Wednesday concurred with the amendment with only two votes in opposition.
Five colleges in Montana, including Montana State University, have rodeo clubs or teams. MSU hosted the collegiate rodeo finals for 24 years, until they moved briefly to South Dakota in the 1990s and then to Casper, Wyoming where they are still held.
At the high school level, Montana qualified 100 contestants to the National High School Rodeo Finals from the state championships held in Kalispell last J—une.
American Rodeo now joins the pantheon of state symbols, next to the duck-billed dinosaur (state fossil), Scobey soil (state soil), bitterroot (state floral emblem), blackspotted cutthroat trout (state fish), bluebunch wheatgrass (state grass), grizzly bear (state animal), and “Montana Melody” (state ballad) among others.