| The legacy of Freckles Brown |
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| Written by Administrator |
| Friday, 30 April 2010 20:11 |
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By Weston Bates Hugo High School Student Reporter Here in Hugo we have all heard of the great bull rider Freckles Brown, but there are some things that are not so well known. Freckles is just a nickname. His real name is Warren Brown. He got his nickname at a rodeo in Wyoming from the announcer who thought that he needed something more creative. As his nickname tells you, he had freckles so the announcer put him down as Freckles Brown, and the name just stuck. In the late 1950s, he moved to Soper in a two-room house with no running water. He told his wife that if he won at Madison Square Garden he would get a new door for the outhouse. He won, and they built a new house just a couple years later. In 1962, he won the world championship and he, amazingly, did this the same year he broke his neck. Then in 1967, at the age of 46, he won the National Finals Rodeo and rode the famous bull Tornado, that had bucked off 200 other riders and been dubbed “unrideable.” There is a song written about Freckles riding Tornado. Most of us do not know it, but when he was still going to rodeos, he would run for exercise in between every job he did. If he was building a fence, he would run a mile when he was through. Also, he did at least 100 pushups a day and matched that in situps. Many of us know that he was a great bull rider, but he also was involved in steer wrestling, bareback riding, saddle bronc and wild horse racing, which was a rodeo event in the ‘50s and ‘60s. He also helped Lane Frost when he was young, and Clyde Frost, who is the father of Lane Frost, grew up competing in rodeos with Freckles. Lane Frost also won the world championship the same year that Freckles passed away. As we all know, there is a memorial rodeo every year in Hugo. It is held during the second weekend of October. This year, it will be Oct. 9. This is one of the area’s largest bull ridings. There will be a wild ride this year, which is when you dress up and ride broncs. They will also give away rifles and some of the bull riders will get belt buckles. |
