More of Our Canada – July 2019

fixed in no time. “All the boys in the coun-

tryside around here come into the town on

the weekend and they all get flat tires and

need them fixed before they can drive

home. I do most of my business on week-

ends,” he said.

Back on the road the next day, I drove on

to Williams Lake. It was a Friday morning

and I drove to the stampede grounds on the

outskirts of town and bought a ticket in the

VIP section at $25 each. There was a pret-

ty long wait until the grand opening at

12:30 p.m., so I looked at the cattle, listened

to the country western music and just sat

in the shade until the start.

To start the rodeo, cowgirls in a drill

team came riding horses into the arena, all

flying flags for the various sponsors. It was

a great introduction and I was taking pho-

tos like crazy. My seat was the best in the

house, as I was right at ground level, front

row. I could look down into the area where

the cowboys were doing their exercises and

pulling on their boots and protective gear,

and straight out in front where all the ac-

tion would take place.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up

by the various rodeo events. Time went by

in a flash. I watched bareback riding, bull

riding, saddle bronc, the wild cowgirls race,

barrel racing, team roping, tie-down rop-

ing, mountain race, the wild horse race,

ranch challenge, and ranch bronc riding. I

hadn’t watched any of this before and it

was an eye-opener. I now have the greatest

respect for those cowboys and cowgirls

who make their living working on ranches.

As I left the stampede grounds I questioned

a cowboy about why the grandstand seats

were half empty. “Oh, the real action starts

tomorrow, mister. Today was just a warm

up.” I guess that was true, but to my eyes,

the action was just as fast and furious as it

could possibly get. n

Clockwise
from top: The
fields and
hillsides around
Williams Lake
are dotted with
the evidence of
early settlers
and modern
day ranching;
at the rodeo,
cowgirls led the
way at the start
with a grand
flag-waving
entry; they also
took part in the
barrel racing
event, later.

12 More of Our Canada JULY 2019