Walter J. "Buzz" Bradley
Known to everyone as Buzz, Walter J. Bradley was a long time Steer Roper and Cheyenne native. He launched his rodeo career as a boy when Ed McCarty would bring bucking burros to Frontier Days. Trying to ride them at the age of 11 or 12, his career dated back to sometime before 1920. As a young man, he started working on ranches in the summer and began officially competing at Cheyenne Frontier Days™ in 1924 in steer roping. He was a member of the Turtle Association and a special friend to cowboys, loaning them horses, money and encouraging ropers from all over the country. He and his wife Ruth often had cowboys and their families camped out in their front yard and would feed all of them breakfast. He competed consecutively until 1986 with only one year missing due to injury. At the time he stopped competing, he was the oldest card-carrying steer roper in the PRCA.
