Ike Rude
The little man with the big loop, (Ike stood 5’5” tall and weighed no more than 160 lbs in his prime), his roping career spanned 60 years. He competed in Cheyenne from 1923 to 1970, only missing a few years. He won the calf roping at Cheyenne Frontier Days™ in 1925 and 1929 and the steer roping in 1941 and 1956 at the age of 64. He is an original member of the Cowboys’ Turtle Association and the following “Rodeo Cowboys Association.” Ike was a three times World Champion Steer Roper winning in 1941, 1947 and 1953. He still has the honor of being the oldest world champion of all times in PRCA standings. In the early 1920s, Ike was hired by rancher and rodeo entrepreneur, C.B. Irwin, to enter the country’s major rodeos. Born in 1894 in Oklahoma, Ike left home at the age of 16 and went to work on some of the largest cattle ranches in the west. Ike was known for his many good roping horses that he owned and trained which included the famous calf roping horse “Baldy.” He started competing in roping events in 1910 and his last rodeo competition was at Cheyenne in 1970 at the age of 76.