In the late 70's there was a lot of enthusiasm for the sport of rodeo in north-central North Dakota, and little organization. Of course the NDRA was sanctioning rodeos in Towner and Blaisdell, but other communities in the area were holding open rodeos and getting an outrageous number of entries.

It was not uncommon for these open rodeos to just have tons of entries. Karen Finkbeiner was secretary for the open rodeo in Max in 1979, and she remembers having about 100 bullriders and 76 bareback riders enter that rodeo alone. Of course only about half of them showed up, and those that did show up thought they could do anything they wanted, Jerome Finkbeiner, relates. Of course they found it didn’t quite work that way.

Still, there was a need to organize, and this was first suggested by Calvin Nelson, the man supplying stock to the open rodeos being held at that time in Max, Sherwood, Mohall, and Velva. Nelson didn’t attend those first meetings in the winter of 1979-1980, but it was then that people from those committees formed the new association. Meetings were held at the Spice and Spirit in Minot. The main concept for the fledgling organization was that of a family rodeo. A rodeo organization that provided events for contestants of all ages and abilities was central to all discussions.

Jerome Finkbeiner was nominated president at the second meeting. Lynn Ashiem became the vice president, Jim Hystad the secretary/treasurer. Ray Steen and Myles O’Keeffe were directors of the new organization. Billy Steen became entry and points secretary. The group put together a rule book using the NDRA’s and PRCA’s as models. The next summer they held four sanctioned rodeos in Max, Sherwood, Stanley and Velva. That first year there was no finals, but a year-end banquet was held at the Riverside in Minot.

The next season more rodeos were added. Besides the original four, there were sanctioned rodeos in Newburg, Minot, and Towner. A two-day finals rodeo was held in 1982 in Mohall.

Dale Chilson, who was announcing many of those early rodeos, started pushing the organization to change its name from the Amateur Rodeo Association, which admittedly held some limiting connotations, to something a little more catchy, to a name a little more in keeping with the state and the spirit of the association. Chilson suggested the Roughrider Rodeo Association, and that was adopted after the 1980 season. Chilson also got a graphic designer to produce an association image, which is still in use.

The name change brought other changes as well. Schmidt beer became the association’s first sponsor. More rodeos were added to the schedule, and Devils Lake became the site for the year-end finals. The rest is history.

The RRA has the foresight of these individuals to thank for the opportunity for the whole family to travel, compete, and keep the sport of rodeo alive and well.