Tad Lucas (September 1, 1902–February 23, 1990) is a ProRodeo Hall of Fame cowgirl inductee.

Life

Tad Lucas was born Barbara Inez Barnes on September 1, 1902. She was born the youngest of 24 children on a pioneer ranch in Cody, Nebraska in the sandhills country. Lucas starting riding at an early age. By the age of 20, she was a professional cowgirl. She soon met cowboy James Edward "Buck" Lucas and married him. She started competing in trick riding, soon reaching the top. When World War II arrived, many women's events were ended. In 1948, the Girls Rodeo Association (GRA) (now the

Women's Professional Rodeo Association The Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) is one of the largest rodeo sanctioning bodies in the world and is open exclusively to women eighteen years of age and older. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Association curr ...

) was created and stepped in to restore women's roles. Lucas's charter membership and fame assisted.

Career

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, she rode bulls in main streets in Cody to raise money for the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. In 1921, she was a bronc rider with California Frank's Rodeo Company in Mexico. After she had learned trick riding, she performed with the

Tex Austin Tex may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname * Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer Joseph Arrington Jr. Entertainment * ''Tex'', the Italia ...

Rodeo in the

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. Then she spent many years performing in several events with C.B. Irwin's rodeos. She also performed at Cheyenne Frontier Days, winning the trick riding there eight consecutive times. In 1933, at the Chicago World Fair, she crushed her arm while trick riding. Her arm was in a cast for three years. It did not stop her from performing permanently. She was 62 years old when she rode her last bucking horse in 1964. After that, she sat on the boards of the PRCA board of directors and the Rodeo Historical Society board of directors. During the 20s and 30s, Lucas was widely known, winning in events such as

bronc riding Bronc riding, either bareback bronc or saddle bronc competition, is a rodeo event that involves a rodeo participant riding a bucking horse (sometimes called a ''bronc'' or ''bronco'') that attempts to throw or buck off the rider. Originally ba ...

, trick riding,

relay racing A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, orien ...

, and all-around cowgirl at major rodeos. She toured with some Wild West shows. She also assisted with the GRA and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) by serving on their Board of Directors. The Rodeo Historical Society had the assistance of having her on their board.

Honors

* 1968 Rodeo Hall of Fame of the

National Cowboy & 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 ...

* 1978 National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame * 1997 Texas Trail of Fame * Tad Lucas Award - The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum created an award named after her in her honor * 2002 Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame * 2007 Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame

References

External links

Women's Professional Rodeo Association

Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Tad 1902 births 1990 deaths People from San Angelo, Texas Sportspeople from Fort Worth, Texas Bronc riders All-Around Trick riding American female equestrians Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductees