by Terry Lidral
In 1949, J.C. Ward and his brother Bill put on their first rodeo in Coalgate, Oklahoma. It all started at Medicine Springs as entertainment for the crowd that gathered at the site of the natural spring there. In 2019, J.C. Ward’s sons are carrying on the rodeo tradition that grew from those humble beginnings into a full service rodeo company.
“We’re officially celebrating the 70th anniversary of Ward Rodeo Company,” said Terry Ward, son of J.C. Ward and current head of the rodeo operations. “I’ve heard that my grandfather, Jack Ward, did some earlier western show entertainment for the crowd at the springs, but there’s no one to ask about that story. So we say that the rodeo began in 1949.”
Medicine Springs was on Jack Ward’s land and was the source of water for folks in the surrounding region. It was a great opportunity for J.C. Ward to try his hand at rodeo and it was a fit. Forming the Ward Brothers Rodeo Company with his brother Bill, who later left the organization, J.C.’s company became a mainstay in the rodeo business in Southeastern Oklahoma over the past 70 years.
J. C. Ward spent his career putting on a variety of rodeos. He put on the first two International Rodeo Association events in Oklahoma which established a tradition he continued when the IRA later became the International Professional Rodeo Association. J.C. Ward was instrumental in starting the Oklahoma Junior Rodeo Association and put on OJRA events for many years. He provided livestock for the International Finals Youth Rodeo in Shawnee, Oklahoma for the first 20 years of its existence. As well, Ward Rodeo Company put on open and other sanctioned rodeo events.
J. C. Ward had been a stock contractor for awhile when he went to Louisiana to announce rodeo for Donald Perkins. Perkins was a cattleman and a rodeo producer. Ward, who was noted for his announcing skills, took along some of his company’s best bucking horses and bulls. He worked in Louisiana for about two years and when he brought his rough stock home to Oklahoma, he was accompanied by a wife.
“My father went to Louisiana to announce rodeo. There he met Murl, who was a friend of Donald Perkins’ wife,” Wes Ward, another of J.C.’s sons who is a rodeo announcer and announces rodeos for the family company, related the story of how his father met his mother. “Murl was talking with Donald’s wife and asked who the best announcer was. Murl said she kind of liked the one she’d heard in Many, Louisiana. Donald’s wife told her it was J.C. Ward, who was standing right there. ‘You want to meet him?’ she asked Murl and the rest is history.”
J.C. Ward took Murl back to live at the ranch in Oklahoma. With the help of 11 sons and a daughter, Ward and his wife cared for all the Ward Rodeo Company stock right there on the ranch.
“My dad never moved up to the Professional Rodeo Association,” said Wes Ward. “I don’t know why. He went through the PRCA approval process and was approved. But he just didn’t become a member.”
“Dad was a very gifted announcer and often announced his own rodeos,” continued Wes Ward. “He also worked as an announcer for Audie Owens out of Missouri, another rodeo producer, who encouraged J.C. Ward to get his PRCA announcer card. But dad didn’t do it. Dad told me, when I asked him why not, that he was happy doing his own thing as a rodeo livestock producer.”
J.C. Ward had good stock, and in 1966, Ward Rodeo Company’s bull Rodeo Red was the International Rodeo Association (later becoming the International Professional Rodeo Association) Bucking Bull of the Year. Rodeo Red was a rank bull with power. He bucked for 7 years and during his illustrious career the bull was only ridden 3 times.
“Us kids called him Booger Red,” Terry Ward laughed. “He was a red, bald faced bull with nub horns. He bucked hard and he was rank. That made him hard to ride.”
Ward Rodeo Company raised all their bulls used in their rodeos. It was a necessity that kept the company stocked with good bulls.
“My dad raised all his bulls because he couldn’t afford to buy bulls at the sale barn,” Wes Ward told us. “He had a bucking bull named Tiger that he got a few calves out of. That bull Tiger was tough. And then there was the bull named Polecat.”
“Polecat started out as a roping calf,” continued Wes Ward. “Dad used Brahma calves for roping and he had the Louisiana connection through his wife. So, he’d go to Louisiana and buy up Brahma calves. One of those calves he brought back was Polecat. The bull wasn’t a world champion. He was small, but he was tough. He had one floppy horn and one horn that stuck up. No one knew until near the end of his career that he was a clown bull. But that’s how Polecat became famous.”
Polecat liked to put on a show in the arena after he got done bucking. And people loved to watch him show off.
“The clown had an inner tube and Polecat hated it. The clown would roll the tire in Polecat’s direction and that bull would throw that thing in the air with his funny horns and hook it clear out of the arena,” Wes Ward said with a chuckle. “The bull would get the inner tube around his neck and he’d go crazy trying to get at the thing. He’d shred it if he could. We’d buck him last and then let him put on his show. The crowd loved it.”
Polecat bucked for a long time and when he finally died, he was 18 years old. Right before Polecat died, J.C. Ward put his Brahma bull out on some Brahma cows.
“Dad used white Brahma cows he bought as roping calves from Louisiana for breeding. He put Polecat out with some of those white Brahmas the year Polecat died. We got 6 or 7 black and white spotted calves out of him. And every one of the bulls bucked. That’s where the Polecat line started. My dad came up with the idea to give every bull in that line a “Cat” name.”
“Polecat was a black and white spotted bull and you see those black and white spotted cattle around our ranch,” Terry Ward continued. “It’s one of the older bloodlines and my dad kept it all to himself.”
J.C. Ward made sure no one would get his Polecat genetics. He would never sell any cattle, especially after a bull’s bucking career was over.
“Once a bull got old or hurt and couldn’t buck any more, my dad took him to the slaughterhouse. He did not want anyone to get hold of the Polecat bloodline so he wouldn’t send them to the sale barn. He’d say, ‘No one’s getting my bulls’,” Terry Ward related.
But when J.C. died, the decision was made to promote the bloodline J.C. had been so proud of.
“My dad had 11 sons and one daughter and we all grew up in the rodeo business,” Terry Ward told us. “My dad’s last request was that we keep the Ward Rodeo Company going. We decided that it was in the best interest of the company to sell some bulls from the Ward bloodline.”
“Stray Cat is a Polecat descendant that I raised,” said Wes Ward. “I took him to Ty Murray’s Invitational PBR event and Diamond S saw him buck. They bought him and hauled him on the PBR tours and he went to the PBR Finals. Move It was another bull out of the Polecat line. He bucked on the PBR tour and was chosen for the PBR Finals.”
Wes Ward is proud of the bloodline his father developed. It’s been proven that those genetics buck.
“There’s a high percentage of Polecat offspring that can go and buck in rodeo,” stated Wes Ward. “ It’s a strong bloodline. And we’ve done some experimenting. We’re getting grandsons and granddaughters now. We’re excited to see what we get.”
Besides the Polecat bloodlines, Terry Ward tells of another legacy that the Ward Rodeo Company built over the years.
“My dad made a competition arena in the front yard of the ranch and it was a popular place for cowboys to come to ride. Some of those guys who came there went on to be world champions. The story goes that Lane Frost got on his first spinner bull in that arena in the front yard at our ranch.”
“People like Cord and Jet McCoy, who were IPRA world champions, started out rodeoing in the OJRA in the Ward arena,” Wes Ward added. “Justin McDaniel, PRCA World Champion bareback rider, got on his first horse at our place.”
Today, Ward Rodeo Company has moved to a location about a mile and a half from the Medicine Springs where it all began. The original wooden arena was torn down and a new, more modern version has been built on the current property. It’s still a full service rodeo company that now puts on open rodeos and events for the Cowboys Regional Rodeo Association and the American Cowboys Rodeo Association.
The directorship role of the company is on a rotating basis between the brothers. It’s currently Terry Ward’s turn to be the director and his brother Wes is taking on duties as announcer. And, at the hub of the organization is the boys’ mother and J.C.’s wife, Murl.
“My mother is 81 years old and she goes out and feeds the stock every day. She’s the rodeo secretary for all the open rodeos. She’s totally involved.”
When asked what has kept him involved in the rodeo company all these years, Terry Ward doesn’t have to think about the answer.
“I don’t know anything else. I’ve been in rodeo all my life. I’ve competed in bull riding and rodeo is something I’ve always done. Running the rodeo company is a lot of hard work but I love it. There’s a good payoff. I like handling the stock. I have friends in every little town we’ve been in. I like working with the rodeo committees and boards. It’s my way of life.”
Wes Ward, who spent years competing as a professional bareback rider, can’t imagine his life without rodeo.
“I grew up in rodeo and I’m still going to rodeo. I don’t know anything else. My dad was an announcer and I never even thought that I would be an announcer too. But here I am. I’m 56 years old and I’m still working to see how far I can go with it. If I’m not announcing, I’m at a rodeo listening to other announcers to find out how they do it. For me, rodeo is not just a way of life, it’s a lifestyle.”
Terry and Wes Ward are proud of the family lifestyle that J.C. Ward started back in 1949 at Mineral Springs.
“Dad worked hard,” said Wes Ward proudly. “He could have moved up to the PRCA. But he chose the simpler life. His was one of the oldest rodeo companies right there along with the Beutlers.”
Now, the sons are working to carry on that proud tradition of Ward Rodeo. Times have changed since Ward Rodeo Company started out 70 years ago. But the family passion for rodeo is as strong as ever.
Today I was thinking about Rodeo and I just love it. So. I researched the J C Ward Rodeo Co to see how long they were producing Rodeo’s. In 1964 I worked for J C and Murl Ward and don’t remember them having any children and if so they were babies. They were set up in Cartwright, Ok and my living quarters was in a Frito Lay type truck with bunks on each side. I treasure the year that I spent with the Ward’s and still enjoying telling folks that I worked for the J C Ward Rodeo Co. BTW Murl, you were a great cook and feed us well. Murl, it was a pleasure to see You and J C in this great article. God speed and I Love You all. P.S. I live in Norman, Ok and would love to see any of the Ward Bros. Rodeo Company.