Email
PrintThe First NFR
A genuine piece of the West made its way into America’s living rooms as the first NFR was broadcast in 1959.
Jim Shoulders rides Grubstake in the sixth round at NFR in 1960.
© Bettmann/CORBIS
After years of debate, the Rodeo Cowboys Association had finally decided that it was high time to have a World Series of rodeo. And so it was that the first-ever National Finals Rodeo was held at the Texas State Fair in Dallas, December 26–30, 1959. Americans tuned in to CBS to watch the top 15 money-winners of each event rope, wrestle, and ride in what was, to many, their first viewing of authentic, unscripted cowboy competition. Glued to their black-and-white TV sets, viewers watched skilled competitors such as Harry Charters, Jack Buschbom, Casey Tibbs, and Jim Bob Altizer conquer their events. But it was Jim Shoulders who made rodeo history when he placed in six bull-riding rounds, winning the NFR average and world championships in bull-riding and becoming the All-Around Cowboy of the Year.
Click here to watch Jim Shoulders ride in the bull-riding and bareback events in the 1959 NFR.
