Part 4

I loved looking through the LIFE magazine photos but my research led me to other photography resources. One amazing (online) resource was the Missouri Valley Special Collections. Here I found a photo that I instantly felt could fit into my project.

The image on the left is of Alice Greenough - widely regarded as the first rodeo queen. This picture was taken between 1930-1940 at the Kansas City Royal by R. Doubleday. Born in 1902 in Montana Alice grew up breaking horses and soon became a rodeo star. Her career hit a high when she was inducted into the National Cowboy and Heritage Museum. She highlighted her career with film work, performing trick riding in "The Californians" and stunt work for the television show, "The Little House on the Prairie."

Alice was the World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider for 1933, 1935, 1936, 1941. She rode in both the United States and Australia and when invited to ride in Europe she agreed (and didn't find out until she arrived that she had agreed to ride a Bull! She kept her word!)

Alice died in 1995 with ties to the area - her son lives in Grandview, Missouri, a town located a short distance outside of Kansas City.

Located on Main Street (just a half block away from the Plaza Library) is this statue shown on the right. It's called "The Main Event" aka The Honest Try. It's a 13 ft tall momunent of a bull and rider. Cast in 17 pieces it was created a 1.5X life size. Robert Macfie Scriver, the sculptor, was born in 1914, also in Montana (with Anglophone Quebec parents). Scriver began his work of rodeo statuary after he was commissioned to make a portrait of Bill Linderman, thus beginning a long and productive relationship with the rodeo community.

Scriver and his family (who lived for many years with the Blackfeet people in Montana) were at the core of a national outrage in the 1980's after they were found to have sold weaponry of the Blackfeet tribe and historic  RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)  uniforms to the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, Alberta. The items were then donated back to the Blackfeet Tribe by Premier Klein of Alberta.

Scriver died in 1999.

Although these are different images, I felt that the attitude and spirit of Kansas City was represented in each image. The connection of western culture and cowboy life is still prevalent in Kansas City. The American Royal is still one of the biggest events the city has to offer and draws competitors for events (like rodeo's and bull riding) from all over the country.