"All Around Cowboy Champion" Gene Rambo's Cheyenne Frontier Days 1948 Championship Trophy Saddle, Buckle and Crockett Spurs. Won by Rambo for Calf Roping. The fabulous unmarked, silver and gold buckle is unused, and is in mint condition. It has a high relief gold rope edge and flowers with red stones. 2 1/4" x 3 1/2". The spurs are classic period stainless Crockett bronc hooks, heavily polished with engraved overlay. The saddle is by Colorado Saddlery, Denver, and is tooled in a floral pattern with "Presented by Montgomery Ward" on each of the rear jockeys. The fenders are maker-marked along with "Champion Calf Roper 1948 - Cheyenne Frontier Days". The seat is quilted and is 14 1/4"; the Cheyenne roll low roping cantle is 2 1/2". The spurs and buckles, along with other trophies, have been in a showcase for decades, and are descended through the Rambo family. Included in the lot are items of Rambo ephemera, including 2 circa 1950s coloring books "World's Champion Cowboy - at the Pendleton Roundup", original pay envelope, newspaper articles and other related items.
Lot 51, Brian Lebel's Old West Auction - January 20, 2017, Mesa, AZ.
Sold $6,490
Gene Rambo (1920-1988) was one of America’s first great all-around Rodeo Cowboys. He was active in the International Rodeo Association in the 1940s and 1950s and won the IRA all-around cowboy season championship four times, including 1948. Rambo’s versatility was often praised, being one of the rare competitors to consistently win all three roughstock events (bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding) and all four timed events (steer wrestling, team roping, tie-down roping and steer roping).
In 1955, he was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum's Rodeo Hall of Fame. The Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame inducted him in 1969. The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted him in 1989, and the California Rodeo Salinas Hall of Fame inducted him in 2010.
