Throwback Thursday: Boston Garden 1933

Rodeo history can pop up in the most unexpected places – such as this 1933 Boston Garden World Championship Rodeo program, which was found buried in newspapers from the late 1990s.

(Click the image to see the album)

The following championship purses were up for grabs in 1933:

• Bareback Bronk-Riding: $840 (about $15,741 in 2017 dollars)
• Cowgirls Bronk-Riding: $1,050 (about $19,676 in 2017 dollars)
• Cowboys Calf-Roping: $2,050 (about $38,414 in 2017 dollars)
• Cowboys Bronk-Riding: $1,800 (about $33,730 in 2017 dollars)
• Steer Wrestling: $2,050 (about $38,414 in 2017 dollars)
• Cowboys Steer-Riding: $840 (about $15,741 in 2017 dollars)

It’s interesting to note the massive difference in prize money between events because it’s how the PRCA ultimately came into existence.

Three years after this program’s publication, members of the Rodeo Association of America went on strike at the Boston Garden rodeo due to unfair distribution of prize money and demanding a bigger share of the gate as prize money. Boston Garden management forced Col. W.T. Johnson to relent, which set the gears in motion for the Cowboys Turtle Association to form. The CTA later went on to become the Rodeo Cowboys Association, and ultimately the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

So, in a way, the PRCA’s roots trace back to Boston Garden.

Courtesy of PRCA