Cowboy Hall of Fame adds more history
By Tribune staffJuly 2 2005
Every year, a few more pieces of history are preserved and given to the public to learn about people that have roots embedded deep in North Dakota's culture.
The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame trustees have selected seven individuals for induction into the hall on Aug. 6 in Medora.
For one man, this summer will put an end to a 21-year ongoing project. But he's not done -- he still has a few more projects under his belt.
George Marback has spent the past two decades raising more than $30,000 to get some of his friends in the Cowboy Hall of Fame. This year, Frank Wetzstein, of Mandan, was selected in the Rodeo Producer category.
"Frank (Wetzstein) was good to the cowboys, and he was a good old cowboy himself," Marback said. He thought this year's inductees were all good contestants and that they had been good for the rodeo.
Marback is still trying to get Fred Kist, Tony Helbling, Lee Mohr and himself into the hall. "We'll just see how the wind blows," he said.
The seven 2005 inductees include two ranchers, two rodeo cowboys, one of whom jumped off an orphan train, two rodeo producers and a world famous Lakota war chief.
Those selected are:
3 Pre-1940 Ranching -- Edward S. Hall was the first white man to settle in Mountraill County and started the first horse ranch in western Dakota Territory.
3 Modern-Era Ranching -- Raymond "Butch" Luger, of FortYates, was an entrepreneur who started raising livestock at age 12. During the 1930s, his herd grew to 1,500 head and later added race horses. He began cross-breeding in the 1950s and received many honors for his ranch work.
3 Pre-1940 Rodeo -- Joe Wicks, of Cannon Ball, arrived in North Dakota on an orphan train and began his rodeo and ranching career on the Steve Weekes ranch near Almont. Wicks, later known as the "Heart River Kid," was an outstanding saddle bronc rider who began producing local rodeos in 1930.
3 Modern-Era Rodeo -- Alvin Gabbert, of Lefor, trained, rode and showed performance horses across the country, and held roping schools and horsemanship clinics southeast of Dickinson.
3 Rodeo Producer -- There were two nominees; both received the same number of votes and both will be inducted. Wetzstein, of Mandan, was instrumental as a Mandan Rodeo organizer in the 1940s and 1950s. Leslie "Jim" Barnhart, of Medora, was one of North Dakota's early rodeo producers, starting in the early 1930s with wild horse roundups.
3 Great Westerner -- Sitting Bull of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The great Sioux spiritual leader was born along the Grand River in the 1840s. One of the leaders of the Indian forces that defeated Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, he became one of the most famous men in America.
3 Legacy Award -- There will be a special eighth inductee in 2005. Evelyn Neuens, Bismarck, will be inducted in the newly created Legacy Award category.
Formal induction ceremonies will be held for the eight at 1 p.m. MDT Aug. 6, at the Tjaden Terrace overlooking Medora. The featured speaker will be former Rosenbluth International Travel CEO Hal Rosenbluth, Philadelphia and Linton. The Bismarck High School Strolling Strings will provide special entertainment beginning at noon.
At 4 p.m. MDT there will be a formal dedication of the recently completed North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame.