Welcome To The Juniper Joust….

Welcome To The Juniper Joust In Juniper Canyon!

The Juniper Joust Rodeo was formed in the 1940’s by two like-minded neighbors and friends, my Dad and Fred Hill…who invited their friends to come out to Juniper Canyon to the ranch for a fun rodeo play day….you can click on the photos and they will enlarge!

Horseback games, like the boot race and musical ropes, figure eight race, pole bending and barrel racing, along with lots of visiting, lots of good eating and lots of good times! Not only were they making memories out here in Juniper Canyon…they were making history and heritage to pass on.

And they did, as the Juniper Joust was born before I was born, and here I am all these years later, sharing the stories and memories of two great friends living the cowboy life in the mid 1940’s.

Can you believe a local rodeo began across from our house…in the middle of my horse pasture?

Yet, here is the proof, it’s rodeo day and people were showing up…some of them rode their horses out from Pendleton to the rodeo…about 20 miles away…while some trailered their horses to the ranch. Our house is on the very far right of the photo, you can see just a small corner of it…note the dirt/gravel road…no paved road in those days!

The Juniper Joust program above dated April 28, 1946, included the Mustanger’s (Saddle Club) as joint sponsors with the Joust…I’m not sure how many years the Juniper Joust continued…

I would love to go back in time to see the rodeo across from our house…right there where Buck is munching away…

The day before the rodeo, the cooking crew dug a b-q pit in the ground to cook a whole beef…they had 200-300 people show up for the rodeo and lunch…its amazing no one from the cooking crew fell into the pit, with the beef, from some stories I was told!

Old days and good times were had by all, eating mouth-watering b-q beef on a bun with barbecue sauce for lunch and visiting…the old way of relationship and connection that we have lost today, which makes me sad…I miss those old days!

My beautiful classy Mom, with her long hair up in braids, wearing her well known smile!

And my Dad roping on “Jingo” at the rodeo…

I’m not sure if they are doing the stake race or the bending race…

Old-time stories are still here, with the good times of community and family coming together. Above photo was taken in the early 60’s in Dad’s roping arena, my Dad is on the far left, my uncles and his brothers Tom, Jens, Ralph in the back row and brother Ron far left on the bottom, cousins Gerald and Steve, with Ron’s twin brother Rich. My two younger cousins, Steve and Gunder were with their Dad, Uncle Ralph.

The old roping arena is still here today…its gone through many stages from roping to barrel racing to working cattle to training young horses and adding a round corral a few years back…