Daniel Earl Mortensen (born December 16, 1968) is an American six-time World Champion saddle bronc rider, and a one-time World Champion

all-around cowboy The All-Around is an award given to a rodeo competitor who is most successful in two or more events. Most individual rodeos and championships determine the winner of this award at the conclusion of the other events or championships. Championship ...

. He competed in the

Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States and Canada, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the National F ...

(PRCA) where he won those championships at the

National Finals Rodeo The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier rodeo event by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money-winners in the season for each event. The NFR is held each year in the fi ...

(NFR). The

ProRodeo Hall of Fame The ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy was opened in August 1979 as a museum designed to "preserve the legacy of the cowboy contests, the heritage and culture of those original competitions, and the champions of the past, pr ...

inducted him in 2009.

Early life

Mortensen was born in

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, to Sheryl and Don "Mort" Mortensen. He is the youngest of four, having three sisters, Dawn, Denise and Darcy. His father, Mort, was an electrician and his mother, Sheryl, has worked as a teaching assistant at the Lockwood Schools for over twenty-five years. Mortensen developed a passion for rodeo at and early age and won his first team roping competition at the age of 6. By the age of 12 he had progressed through steer (age 10) up to riding bulls at the local youth rodeos. He lives in Billings, MT

Education

Mortensen attended Lockwood primary, elementary and junior high schools (k-9) from 1974 through 1984, and Billings Senior High (10-12) from 1985 through 1987. While attending Billings Senior High, Mortensen was an active member of the

Future Farmers of America National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at Vi ...

and competed in the

high school rodeo circuit. During his Sophomore and Junior years at BSHS, Mortensen won the

High School Bull Riding Championship. Before graduating in 1987 he went on to win the Montana High School Saddle Bronc Championship and placed 2nd in the bull riding competition. After graduation Mortensen accepted a scholarship to attend

Northwest College Northwest College is a Public college, public community college in Powell, Wyoming. History Northwest College opened in 1946, as the "University of Wyoming Northwest Center," with the support of the University of Wyoming and the local school dis ...

in Powell,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. He spent two years on the Trapper rodeo team where he finished 2nd in the saddle bronc category to fellow future rodeo legend

Ty Murray Ty Monroe Murray (born October 11, 1969), is an American nine-time World Champion professional rodeo cowboy. He was one of the top rodeo contestants in the world from the late 1980s to early 2000s. He is an inductee of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame ...

in both the

College National Finals Rodeo {{Unreferenced, date=October 2021 The College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR), sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), is held every June. Since 1999, the CNFR has been held at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyoming. B ...

and the Final National Standings for 1989. Mortensen then accepted a scholarship to

Montana State University - Bozeman Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fiel ...

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...

. Mortensen joined the PRCA in 1990. Placing 15th in the standings Mortensen was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award. Mortensen followed up his rookie year in the PRCA by winning the National Intercollegiate Saddle Bronc Championship. In 1992 Mortensen graduated from MSU-Bozeman with honors, earning a degree in Agri-business and Economics. The university later awarded Mortensen with its most prestigious award, The Blue and Gold Award, for his great lifetime service bringing international distinction to Montana State University - Bozeman.

Career

Three years after joining the PRCA, Mortensen competed at the NFR and won the first of his six World Saddle Bronc Championships. He went on to win the saddle bronc titles in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2003. His six titles ties him for most all time with the legendary cowboy

Casey Tibbs Casey Duane Tibbs (March 5, 1929 – January 28, 1990) was a rodeo cowboy, and actor. In 1979, he was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Life and career Tibbs was born to John F. Tibbs (1886–1948) and Florence M. Tibbs (1889–1974) in ...

. At the 1997 NFR, Mortensen was also the World's Top Cowboy by winning the World All-Around Cowboy Champion title. During his 1998 NFR run for the saddle bronc championship, Mortensen became the first rider in PRCA history to win over $200,000 in a single event. The following year

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

named Mortensen one of Montana's top ten athletes of the century. Mortensen claimed another first in rodeo history at the 2003

Pendleton Round-Up The Pendleton Round-Up is a major annual rodeo in the northwestern United States, at Pendleton in northeastern Oregon. Held at the Pendleton Round-Up Stadium during the second full week of September each year since 1910, the rodeo brings roug ...

rodeo in Pendleton, Oregon, by becoming the first rough stock rider to exceed $2 million in career earnings. Rodeo was included as a cultural event at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. Mortensen participated on the U.S. team in competition against the Canadian team. Mortensen took home the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

for the competition. The Montana Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame honored Mortensen in October 2002 with the unveiling of an 18' statue of Dan riding the bronc Tee Box, as the center piece of their Wall of Fame monument at the Metra Park in Billings, Montana. The sculpture was the last work of western artist and fellow Montanan, R.F. Rains. Montana State University - Bozeman inducted Mortensen into its Athletics Hall of Fame on September 17, 2004, at a ceremony in Bozeman. At a ceremony in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, on July 9, 2009, Mortensen was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Mortensen officially retired from rodeo November 2008 at the age of 39. Dan is now coaching the Northwest College Rodeo Team in Powell, Wyoming, where he attended college for his first two years of schooling.

Honors

* 2015 Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame * 2009

* 2004 MSU-Bozeman - Athletics Hall of Fame * 2001

Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and featu ...

Guy Weadick George Guy Weadick (February 23, 1885 – December 13, 1953) was an American cowboy, performer and promoter. Today, he is best known as the founder of the Calgary Stampede in Alberta, Canada. He was married to famed cowgirl, Florence LaDue. Weadi ...

Award * 1997

Rodeo Hall of Fame The Rodeo Hall of Fame was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1955. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of cowboys and cowgirls from around the world. The ha ...

of the

National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Ame ...

References

External links

Dan Mortensen Biography at Lockwood SchoolBobcat Hall of Fame All-Time Inductees, Montana State UniversityNational Intercollegiate Rodeo Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortensen, Dan 1968 births Living people Sportspeople from Billings, Montana ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductees All-Around Saddle bronc riders