Lovers of all things rodeo gathered Saturday, Nov. 11 at the annual Dublin Rodeo Heritage Museum dinner and auction.
The Dublin Rodeo Heritage Association also presented awards to its 2023 Rodeo Heritage Museum Honorees.
The event and the museum help preserve the history Everett Colborn and Gene Autry’s World’s Championship Rodeo headquartered at Dublin.
The event was held at the Dublin Intermediate School with a fajita meal catered by Mi Cocina, followed by live entertainment, film presentations of the honorees made by Dr. Vernon Williams and a live auction to raise money for the museum.
In honor of Veterans Day, red, white and blue western decor was on display for the event and veterans in attendance were asked to stand for applause.
2023 honorees included Hughie Long, GK Lewallen and Janyce Guyger Bradberry Sledge along with a special tribute to Fritz Truan.
Film presentations began with one about Truan, a wellknown cowboy soldier.
Williams explained while researching Truan’s history that he became aware that the cowboy probably deserved more whether it was in the form of a book or a full length film.
Truan was known for riding tough broncs and winning big at rodeos.
As one of 11 kids, he took responsibility as man of the house once his father passed away. He started his rodeo career in the early 1930s, starting to bring in additional money to help support the family.
He won the prestigious Madison Square Garden saddle bronc riding title in 1939 and capped the year by claiming the world championship in saddle bronc riding. In 1940 he was crowned world all-around and saddle bronc riding champion.
But after Pearl Harbor, he joined the military.
“Some said John Wayne’s Sand of Iwo Jima was based on his final years,” Williams quoted in the film.
After being injured in combat, Truan was sent back to Hawaii and in 1944 he won the Hawaiian bronc riding championship.
“Most everyone looked up to him as he led them through the hell that was Iwo Jima,” Williams stated in the film.
Truan was killed in action Feb. 28, 1945, on one of the deadliest areas of the Iwo Jima campaign.
“Most likely one of the last things he heard and saw were the cheers from the men raising a flag atop Mount Suribachi,” Williams said, referencing a Pulitzer Prize winning photo of six U.S. Marine raising the flag, which was later used for the construction of the Marine Corps War Memorial statue at Arlington National Cemetery.
“The 29 year-old died while his men did what he expected them to do ... kept fighting,” he said. “He left behind a 20year-old widow.”
The three other inductees were represented in a film detailing their connections to the Dublin rodeo.
G.K. Lewallen lived from 119 to 2014 and his rodeo career spanned for more than 20 years. He entered competition in 1937 and actively contested in the bullriding, saddle-bronc riding, and bareback-bronc riding events.
In 1945, Lewallen won a saddle at Madison Square Garden and competed in rodeos from Texas to Iowa and from New Mexico to Montana.
After retiring from the rodeo in the mid-1950s, Lewallen owned and operated a western wear store in Stephenville.
Hughie Long was also honored at the annual event as a well-known saddle bronc rider that resided in Cresson.
As a Canadian, he was born in 1907 in Battleford, Saskatchewan and was raised on a farm to break and herd horses.
He often competed in bareback riding, bull riding, steer and calf roping and wild horse racing and served in the Army during World War II.
In his later years, he trained roping horses he served as an American Quarter Horse Association show judge for two decades until his death in 1987.
A well-known Dublinite, Janyce Guyger Bradberry Sledge, had the largest family attendance at Saturday’s event.
Born in 1938, Janyce and her family were on hand for the first Dublin rodeo as her father Hix Guyger was on the board of directors and designed the Colborn Bowl.
She served as the 1958 Dublin Rodeo Queen and was an avid supporter of the Dublin Rodeo.
For those who are further interested in learning about the history of the Dublin Rodeo, stop by the Dublin Rodeo Heritage Museum located at 118 W. Blackstreet. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 1-5 p.m.
The museum is free but donations are encouraged.