Bull riding, pictured at CSU’s Skyline Stampede rodeo in 1958. Photo courtesy CSU Libraries, Archives & Special Collections
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Its history — and the legendary cowboy central to PBR
When Jerome Robinson was 3 years old, he and his grandmother went to a rodeo at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. When the bull riding began, the little boy from a farm family in western Nebraska declared that’s what he was going to do — ride bulls in the rodeo.
And it’s exactly what he did. Robinson, who died at his home in Fort Collins in 2022, came to Colorado State University in the mid-1960s, telling his family he wanted to become a veterinarian. In fact, he was attracted by CSU’s rodeo team and later joked that he majored in rodeo. Here, he got his start in the dangerous, high-octane sport of bull riding, the most popular event in rodeo.
Bull riding, pictured at CSU’s Skyline Stampede rodeo in 1958. Photo courtesy CSU Libraries, Archives & Special CollectionsCSURodeo1-RFP-071425
Robinson went on to a legendary career as an 11-time bull riding competitor in the National Finals Rodeo — a rare feat — and, later, left his mark on the sport as one of the world’s best known rodeo producers. For 25 years, he managed virtually every aspect of Professional Bull Riders performances nationwide, bringing the fast-growing format to millions of fans and helping to cement PBR as a nucleus of “the toughest sport on dirt.”
“His lasting impact was his commitment and love for the Western world and how he passed that on to others,” his wife, Dorya, recently said. “He was generational in his impact. You can’t throw a rock in the Western world without hitting someone who knew Jerome.”
FULL CIRCLE
Now, Robinson’s story is coming full circle: PBR stops in Fort Collins for two of its Last Cowboy Standing shows at CSU’s Canvas Stadium on July 21 and 22. Each performance will be accompanied by a concert — featuring the country rock band Cross Canadian Ragweed on July 21 and multiplatinum hitmaker Jon Pardi on July 22.
CSU rodeo dates to 1921; the event was officially named the Skyline Stampede in 1950 and is now the longest continuously running college rodeo in the nation. Photo courtesy CSU Libraries, Archives & Special CollectionsCSURode3-RFP-071425
“He would have been thrilled to see what happened,” Dorya Robinson said of the first PBR shows on Colorado State’s campus. “He never forgot his connection to CSU.”
That connection began when Robinson joined the CSU rodeo team and started competing on the collegiate circuit. He graduated in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in vocational agriculture. But, by then, Robinson was on the rise as a bull rider on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit; he qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo in 1970, just a year after graduating from CSU. In later appearances, he twice finished fourth in the PRCA’s world bull riding standings.
FROM RIDING TO PRODUCING
In 1982, injuries forced Robinson to leave bull riding competition; he quickly turned his focus to rodeo production through his company, Western Trails Rodeo, based at his home in Fort Collins. He produced events in small towns, major U.S. cities and at many international venues. He became a seminal figure with PBR — and the weekend before his death, managed an event at New York City’s iconic Madison Square Garden.
Among his innovations was creation of PROCOM, a centralized computer system for rodeo entries.
For his contributions, Robinson was inducted into the PBR’s Ring of Honor in 1999; the PRCA’s ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2019; the Bull Riding Hall of Fame in 2019; and the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 2020.
The late Jerome Robinson was a legendary bull rider and PBR producer who got his start in the mid-1960s on the CSU rodeo team. His story comes full circle as PBR stops at CSU’s Canvas Stadium July 21-22. Courtesy photoCSURodeo-RFP-071425
In January 2022, he died at the age of 74 at his home in Fort Collins — while he was working on an event at the National Western Stock Show. Friends remembered Robinson as a storyteller, mentor, fan of steak sandwiches and innovative professional with immense integrity.
“It’s an honor to continue a legacy he helped build at CSU. He truly was a trailblazer,” said Whitney Simmons Lee, head coach of the CSU rodeo team.
Like students today, Robinson joined a team that hosted one of the nation’s earliest intercollegiate rodeos. CSU was among the first universities to establish a college rodeo program and to hold organized competitions; it was later instrumental in forming the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association to standardize collegiate rodeo competition.
This year, about 22 students form the rodeo team, and 15 regularly compete. The students are responsible for raising funds to support team activities.
The Skyline Stampede queen and attendants are pictured in 1967. Photo courtesy CSU Libraries, Archives & Special CollectionsCSURodeo4-RFP-071425
COLLEGE DAY
CSU’s rodeo dates to 1921, when an annual springtime celebration called College Day evolved from a school picnic into a rodeo and dance, according to “Democracy’s College in the Centennial State: A History of Colorado State University,” by James E. Hansen II.
As that celebration became College Days, spanning multiple days, the rodeo remained the main attraction. In 1950, when CSU was known as Colorado A&M, the rodeo was officially named the Skyline Stampede and grew into an intercollegiate event. It is now the longest continuously running college rodeo in the nation.
“Members of our rodeo team have done a lot to put the Aggies on the map and deserve much more recognition than they have received,” a news story in the Rocky Mountain Collegian proclaimed at the start of College Days in 1951. “We hope that all Aggieville will let its hair down and enjoy the whole College Days program in the good old Western tradition for which the Aggies are famous.”
The event has changed venues through the years, appearing on the main campus, at equine facilities on the Foothills Campus and, most recently, at The Ranch Events Complex off Interstate 25 in Loveland. The Skyline Stampede marked its 75th anniversary during its two-day run last April.
“We put on the best rodeo of the year in our region,” said McKinlee May, a junior in equine science who is active with the CSU rodeo team. She competes in barrel racing, breakaway roping and goat tying. “We have so much tradition behind our team – it’s really a bragging point.”
Rodeo queen candidates posed on campus in 1943. Photo courtesy CSU Libraries, Archives & Special CollectionsCSURodeo5-RFP-071425
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