Gerald Roberts

All-Around • Inducted 1990

His rodeo career began when Gerald Roberts was 13. He ran away to join a wild west show and was hooked. Four years later, Roberts was riding bucking horses and bulls in the Cowboys Turtle Association.

Roberts competed in all three roughstock events. Saddle bronc riding was his favorite, but he continued to ride bulls because he said he won more money at it and “couldn’t afford not to.” Form 1945-1955, he finished in the top five in the bull riding eight times, and in 1950, he won the North American All-Around Championship and at the Calgary Stampede.

Roberts worked several years as a Hollywood stuntman and later became involved in manufacturing rodeo equipment and clothing, starting with bull ropes. The purchase price of the rope included a tip sheet from Roberts.

World Championships: 2

All-Around: 1942, 1948

Born: October 5, 1919 in Council Grove, Kansas
Died: December 31, 2004 in Abilene, Kansas

California Rodeo Salinas / Salinas, CA
Bull Riding: 1947, 1954

Cheyenne Frontier Days / Cheyenne, WY
Bull Riding: 1939 (tie), 1953
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1949

Clovis Rodeo / Clovis, CA
Bull Riding: 1952

Deadwood Days of ’76 Rodeo / Deadwood, SD
Steer Wrestling: 1940

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo / Fort Worth, TX
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1945

Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo / Guymon, OK
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1951, 1955

Iowa’s Championship Rodeo / Sidney, IA
All-Around: 1941
Bareback Riding: 1947 (tie)
Bull Riding: 1942, 1951

La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Rodeo / Tucson, AZ
Bull Riding: 1948

Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo / Ogden, UT
Bull Riding: 1945, 1951

Reno Rodeo / Reno, NV
All-Around: 1948, 1949, 1951
Bareback Riding: 1951
Bull Riding: 1949, 1951

Snake River Stampede / Nampa, ID
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1953