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The Arkansas prison rodeo was an annual event held at the Cummins Unit in Grady from 1972 until 1984. Prison commissioner T. Don Hutto created the rodeo in the wake of scandals about the treatment of prisoners in Arkansas, importing the idea from his native Texas, where he had previously worked managing the Huntsville prison. Lasting more than 10 years, the rodeo was stopped for financial reasons.
The first rodeo was held in late August 1972 at a reported cost of $12,000. The rodeo lasted three days and featured inmates as well as “free world” participants. Ninety prisoners took part, and 148 cowboys from across the country also competed for prize money. The attendance was estimated at 4,400. Tickets were between $2.50 and $3.50. Gov. Dale Bumpers, who had appointed Hutto, attended the entire first day’s activities, making his entrance on a gold-colored horse and dressed in blue jeans and a cowboy hat. State Representative Charles “Bubba” Wade of Texarkana was an announcer.
In the early 1970s, the penitentiary remained poorly funded, and prison officials hoped to make money on the rodeo. Hutto said the first rodeo broke even financially, but he promised to make money the next year. Funds from the rodeo were reported to have gone to the Inmate Welfare Fund to buy musical instruments, athletic supplies and art materials.
Wayde E. Stewart participating in a prison rodeo, likely at the Cummins Unit in Grady (Jefferson County), circa 1980s
(Courtesy of Rhonda Stewart)
Photographer Bruce Jackson, who published several books on prisons in Arkansas and Texas, attended the first rodeo at Cummins. Jackson wrote how inmates were “enthusiastic because it was something interesting to break the monotony of prison life.” Jackson noted, however, that the men had no experience in bronco or bull riding. The result, he said, was that “riders spent as much time in the air as they’d spent astride the animal they’d just been sitting on.” Despite the obvious danger to the convicts, Jackson underscored how popular the spectacle was. Female convicts were in attendance, and Jackson described women dressed “in gingham skirts and what looked like Frederick’s of Hollywood brassier(e)s.” Women also took part in the greased pig contest.
One of the contests that Jackson saw involved “Mad Money,” where participants attempted to snatch a bag containing $75 in cash from a bag suspended between the horns of a bull. “Almost always,” Jackson wrote, “one or two of the convicts would get stomped or gored by the bull, and while the stomping or goring was going on, another convict would reach over the bull’s horns and grab the bag with the money.” Jackson added that the prison rodeo was the only time he witnessed a convict wearing stripes.
Mark W. Smith, an experienced rodeo cowboy and Arkansas State Rodeo Champion in 1964, served as arena director for the first rodeo. While the “wild cow milking” might have sounded innocuous, the prisoners’ attempts to milk a wild cow were described as “hilarious and dangerous.” It is probably not surprising that even with professional oversight, prisoners did not avoid harm. Inmate Jerry Fraser, who was serving time for writing bad checks, sustained a serious shoulder injury when he fell from a bronco and landed on a steel railing. Another inmate, James Brown, was kicked in the stomach by a bronco and removed from the arena on a stretcher.
The Cummins Journal, the inmate-run newspaper, declared that the rodeo was “well received by all and they’re anxiously looking forward to repeat performances in the years to come.” Even the injured Fraser said he would sign up for the rodeo again.
Over the following years, the rodeos became more elaborate. By 1974, Cummins had built permanent bleachers and box seats. Officials also constructed new restrooms and concession stands. In 1977, a rodeo midway was added that included booths and activities for attendees, much like a state fair. The next year, the chariot race made its debut, in which inmates raced chariots pulled by bulls.
In a promotional article for the 1983 rodeo, the Madison County Record reported that the event would be the “biggest, wildest and best” ever, with the bucking stock appearing “to be the roughest and toughest that (then prisons) have ever had.” The rodeo would have “non-stop and furious” action.
The days of the rodeo, however, were coming to an end. The last rodeo at Cummins took place in 1984, two years after the Arkansas prison system achieved compliance with federal guidelines and was no longer considered unconstitutional. The 1984 rodeo made a profit of $23,000, but administrators cited additional and prohibitive costs as the reason for discontinuing future rodeos. A prison official acknowledged the popularity of the rodeo but asserted, “We really didn’t feel like the morale of the department would suffer” were the rodeo canceled.
By 2025, Louisiana was the only state holding a prison rodeo every year. — Colin Edward Woodward
This story is taken from the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas, a project of the Central Arkansas Library System. Visit the site at encyclopediaofarkansas.net.
