Pendleton Round-Up

Rodeo in Oregon, United States

The Pendleton Round Up is a major annual rodeo in the northwestern United States, at Pendleton in northeastern Oregon. Held at the Pendleton Round Up Stadium during the second full week of September each year since 1910, the rodeo brings roughly 50,000 people every year to the city. The Pendleton Round Up is a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado, inducted the Pendleton Round Up in 2008. The Round Up was incorporated as a 501(c)(4) not for profit organization on July 29, 1910, as the "Northwestern Frontier Exhibition Association". The rodeo was primarily a creation of local ranchers led by Herman Rosenberg. The Pendleton Round Up has won the PRCA Large Outdoor Rodeo of the Year award seven times: 2003, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Bronc rider Bonnie McCarroll (1897–1929) died in a rodeo accident at Pendleton. The PRCA, formed in 1936, initially scheduled no events for women as a result of her death.

The first Pendleton Round up was held in 1910, born of a "communistic" desire to establish a city park for Pendleton. It was an immediate success, and grew in scale dramatically in each of its first several years.

Every Round Up week begins with the Dress Up Parade, on the Saturday before the rodeo, in which different groups throughout Eastern Oregon, including Boy and Girl Scouts, Pendleton High School Band, the Children's Rodeo, and many local businesses, build floats and compete for 1st place. The Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show was designated the state's official outdoor pageant in 2017. Friday of Round Up week is the Westward Ho! parade, in which every entrant must be in a non motorized vehicle, most of which are authentic covered wagons and horse drawn buggies, though some choose to ride horseback or walk. The Monday and Tuesday before the rodeo begins, the PRCA Xtreme Bulls Tour Finale takes place in the Happy Canyon Arena. Wednesday is when both Round Up and Happy Canyon begin.

The rodeo starts with an extreme run in on horseback of flag bearers; the Flag of the United States, the Flag of Oregon, the Flag of Canada, and the flag of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, then the Round Up Queen and her court run in on their horses at full speed, make two jumps and stop just before the fence in front of the south grandstand.

The current announcer of the Pendleton Round Up is Wayne Brooks, while the bullfighters are Dusty Tuckness and Tim O'Conner.