George Mills

Contract Personnel • Inducted 1979

George Mills is credited with being one of the first bullfighter/clowns to hurdle a bull in the arena. Mills approached the bull from an angle while running full speed. When he got the bull’s attention, the animal lowered its head to hook him, and Mills became airborne over the top of the animal. His athletic career began on the racetracks but soon turned to professional rodeo. He began clowning and bullfighting to earn money to pay his fees in bareback riding and steer wrestling. Mills won the 1941 world bareback riding title and continued competing until he retired at age 46. For his courage and experience as a bullfighter, he was awarded a special trophy buckle by the bull riders at the 1945 National Western Rodeo in Denver. Mills encouraged and gave substantial assistance to other rodeo clowns who later became famous in their own times: Jimmy Schumacher, Andy Womack, Slim Pickens, Wilbur Plaugher, Wick Peth, Chuck Henson, and D.J. Gaudin, the Kajun Kid. Mills was born in 1912, in Palisade, Colo., and died in 1980.

World Championships: 1

Bareback Riding: 1941

Born: 1912 in Palisade, Colorado
Died: 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona

Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo / Ogden, UT
Steer Wrestling: 1955