John Hawkins

Bareback Riding • Inducted 1979

The single world championship won by John Hawkins is one of the most deserved in rodeo history. In steady pursuit of the title, he was runner-up for three consecutive seasons, once missing the crown by only $18. A broken thigh, later mended with a steel rod, kept Hawkins out of rodeo for 18 months. He returned to competition only to bend the rod and re-break the thigh. He left the rod bent and won his only bareback title the following season. Born May 22, 1930, in Elk City, Okla., Hawkins was a Quarter Horse jockey and physical fitness buff long before fitness became fashionable.  Hawkins had one of the strongest riding arms in rodeo. Few rodeo fans remember Hawkins was also a bull rider and tie-down roper during his early years as a RCA competitor.

World Championships: 1

Bareback Riding: 1963

National Finals Rodeo Average Champion

Bareback Riding: 1962, 1963

Born: May 22, 1930 in Elk City, Oklahoma
Died: March 17, 2016 in Eugene, Oregon

California Rodeo Salinas / Salinas, CA
Bareback Riding: 1954, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1968

Cheyenne Frontier Days / Cheyenne, WY
Bareback Riding: 1960

Clovis Rodeo / Clovis, CA
Bareback Riding: 1960, 1967, 1971

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo / Fort Worth, TX
Bareback Riding: 1959

Grand National Stock Show & Rodeo / San Francisco, CA
Bareback Riding: 1959

La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Rodeo / Tucson, AZ
Bareback Riding: 1958 (tie)

National Western Stock Show & Rodeo / Denver, CO
Bareback Riding: 1955, 1956

Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo / Ogden, UT
Bareback Riding: 1959

Pendleton Round-Up / Pendleton, OR
Bareback Riding: 1956

Red Bluff Round-Up / Red Bluff, CA
Bareback Riding: 1957, 1958

Redding Rodeo / Redding, CA
Bareback Riding: 1955 (tie), 1959, 1960

Rowell Ranch Rodeo / Hayward, CA
Bareback Riding: 1959, 1962, 1967