Photo: Roseanna Sales

This week St. Paul, Oregon turns into Rodeo Central, when more than 750 rodeo contestants will descend on the town for the Nation’s Greatest Fourth of July rodeo.

With a payout of nearly a half-million dollars, winning money at the St. Paul Rodeo is a big boost in the pocketbook for a cowboy or cowgirl.

Defending champion steer wrestler Dalton Massey will be among those headed to St. Paul.

The Hermiston, Oregon cowboy is ranked fifth in the world standings, on the hunt for his third Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualification. He’s never missed competing in St. Paul since he got his PRCA membership eleven years ago.

His horse is a thirteen-year-old palomino named Rooster, who was ranch raised and started by Massey. Rooster was injured with a torn suspensory for much of last year, but he’s been back to competition the last two months, and “he’s been doing good,” Massey said.

The St. Paul Rodeo is in the middle of the busiest part of the rodeo season: Cowboy Christmas, when some of the most lucrative rodeos take place. Cowboys and cowgirls hustle to compete at as many rodeos as they can, to earn as much money as they can, all in pursuit of a trip to the Wrangler National Finals.

For Massey, he’ll compete in St. Paul on July 3 and at the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta the next day.

It’s a thirteen-hour drive, and he and his traveling partners share the nighttime driving duties.

Sunflower seeds, strong coffee, and energy drinks get a driver through the night shift.

Or, the adrenaline from winning helps, too.

“If you win the round at St. Paul, you might drive the whole way there,” Massey quipped.

Another Oregon cowboy should be coming to St. Paul this week, but injuries are keeping him home.

Bull rider TJ Gray, Dairy, Ore., broke his ankle when a bull stepped on it at a rodeo. He had surgery in late June and is expected to be out for a month.

Gray is the 2024 St. Paul Rodeo bull riding co-champion, along with Kase Hitt.

He loves competing in St. Paul. “I absolutely love that rodeo,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s a nostalgia thing, but it has a different atmosphere than others.” Gray competed in the St. Paul Rodeo arena as a youngster, starting at age five.

“There’s just a smell to the place. I got out of the car last year, I hadn’t been there for eight or nine years, and you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.”

Before his injury, Gray was sitting in third place in the PRCA world standings.

A hometown cowboy will ride in front of his friends and family at St. Paul.

Bareback rider Rawley Koch, St. Paul, will compete at the historic rodeo for the third time.

With two generations of bareback riders behind him (dad Todd Koch and granddad Steve Coleman also rode barebacks), Koch is balancing work on the family farm and rodeoing on the weekends.

He’s competed in the regional associations, too, including the Northwest Pro Rodeo Association, where he has made their finals the last two years.

He’s also a member of the local St. Paul Jaycees group. One of the group’s fundraisers is to run the beer garden, the Bull Pen, during the rodeo, but Koch will be rodeoing, so his younger brother will cover his shift.

He has a different perspective about the St. Paul Rodeo than his bareback riding buddies.

“I grew up around it,” he said. “It was always fun to go there and hang out with friends. Now I’m competing there, and it’s special to compete at a rodeo that I’ve grown up around.”

Koch’s dad Todd is a current St. Paul Rodeo director; his granddad Coleman is a former director and past president.

The rodeo kicks off July 1 and runs through the 5th. Shows are at 7:30 pm each night, with a 1:30 pm matinee on July 4.

Fireworks follow each night of rodeo and a Fourth of July parade takes place on July 4 at 10 am.

Tickets range in price from $26-$80 and are available online at StPaulRodeo.com.

Source: St. Paul Rodeo