Latter-day Saint Cowboy Among Canada's Greatest Athletes

Two Latter-day Saint cowboys, Earl Bascom and his younger brother Weldon Bascom, were recent recipients of the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association Hall of Fame’s “Pioneer Award.”

Headquartered in Colorado, the PRCA honored the Bascom brothers posthumously for their contributions to the sport of rodeo, among which is their staging the first rodeos in Mississippi.

Most recent honors to Earl Bascom has been given by the Toronto Star newspaper in Canada which named Earl Bascom as one of Canada’s greatest athletes.

The eastern Canada newspaper chose 150 athletes from that nation’s history to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, commemorating the confederation of 13 North American provinces and territories that merged to form the nation of Canada.

Earl Bascom is the only rodeo cowboy on that prestigious list of great Canadian athletes, which includes such athletes as hockey player Wayne Gretzky and basketball player Steve Nash.

In conjunction with this national celebration, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame has a new display which includes Earl Bascom’s cowboy gear and some of his cowboy art. The exhibit is called “The Horse in Sports.”

Earl Bascom, who has been called the “King of Canadian Cowboys” because of his ancestry of European Royalty, was the first and only rodeo champion inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. The hall of fame is considered the premier sports museum of Canada.

The Bascom brothers, who were born in Utah and raised in Canada, have been called the “fathers of rodeo brahma bull riding” having promoted brahma bull riding as a rodeo event.

Earl Bascom is known around the rodeo world as the “father of modern rodeo” for his rodeo equipment inventions and innovations which helped rodeo become an international sport.

A descendant of Chief Miantonomo of the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island, Earl Bascom gained international acclaim as a rodeo champion and as a cowboy artist.

Earl Bascom served a mission in the Southern States Mission serving under President LeGrand Richards and later served as Bishop and Stake Patriarch in California.