8 seconds on Pistol Pete

The trophy saddle of a former All-Around Champion Cowboy at the Apache Rodeo. Photo by David Lansing.

Vincent Shorty doesn’t quite last the required eight seconds on Pistol Pete, and when he lands hard on the dusty red earth, it takes him a few minutes to catch his breath and stand up. I hear a few of the other cowboys talking about how Pistol Pete is bad all right, but he’s not nearly as bad as Gizmo, the next bull up.

All the cowboys shake their heads and watch as the gate opens and Gizmo explodes sideways, quickly sending his rider to the ground, where he is stomped on by 2,000 pounds of angry bovine.

The cowboys all chuckle nervously. They’re used to such things. There’s been a rodeo here on the reservation in Whiteriver for more than 80 years now, this one attracting more than 800 Native Americans from the U.S. and Canada hoping to bull-ride, barrel-race, steer-wrestle, and rope their way to the prize of a plate-sized silver buckle and a saddle branded “All Around Champion.”

That and a few bucks seem to be reward enough for getting busted up by a bull named Gizmo.