Cowgirl Up! (15 page)

“She wanted it to be fun,” Kay said. “She wanted people to remember her with smiles, not tears. She showed us all that we could follow our dreams, and not forget what we're here for.”

Trixi's Antler Saloon and Family Diner is still operated at Ovando by Ray and Cindy Francis, and it features a photo and memento corner dedicated to Trixi. There is also a museum collection of local history and unique antiques from “old-time” Ovando, with many items dedicated to Trixi, run by the Ovando Historical Society in the former Brand Bar building.

Birdie was “one to ride the river with.”

—
T
RI
-S
TATE
L
IVESTOCK
N
EWS

A
s Bob Askin of Ismay prepared to mount a gnarly looking saddle bronc at a rodeo October 23, 1932, someone handed him a telegram, advising him a baby daughter had been born to him and his wife, Helen. Snugging his hat firmly on his head and with a wide grin, the champion bronc rider rode his horse to the finish. Then he sent a telegram home: “Name her Birdie,” for her maternal grandmother, Bertha, nicknamed “Birdie.” She was one of eight children born to Helen and Bob.

Bob Askin was known by some in Montana as the “Grandaddy of rodeo.” He won the 1925 Saddle Bronc Championship at the Pendleton Roundup, was a four-time world champion, and rode some of the toughest horses in the game. He was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1978.

Following in her father's ranch and rodeo footsteps, young Birdie took her first ride as soon as she could “crawl up a leg and climb on its back” on her own, at about age three. She immediately fell in love, and the family could hardly get her off horseback from that moment on. She became her dad's “right-hand man” while her brothers were away.

Birdie accompanied her dad to rodeos, and after watching a trick riding exhibition, she began to teach herself tricks “out behind the barn, where I couldn't be seen.” But her dad saw her and bought her a trick saddle tree. He later took the silver mountings off his prize saddle and put them on hers.

She explained in an interview with Addison Bragg of the
Billings Gazette
that much of the “trick” to trick riding, is the construction of the saddle, which is made without a cantle and swells. It also has a high horn to aid in vaulting from one side to the other, and straps for various foot, toe, and handholds.

Another major component in trick riding is the horse, according to Birdie. “He's got to run straight, and he's got to be calm enough not to shy at things. And for me he had to be fast.” She said her horse, Melody, was one of the fastest. “I always felt the faster I rode, the more showy the act was.”

The excitement and appeal of rodeo competition drew Birdie in, and her first performance, at age thirteen, was at an Ekalaka rodeo in 1945, where she won her first seventy-five dollars. Later, while still a teen, she did trick and stunt riding for Gene Autry and other rodeo producers in arenas across North America.

Birdie had no concept of danger or fear while doing headstands on a running horse or hanging from the side or rear of a horse, head only inches from the ground. She said she never thought about the danger or felt any fear.

But there was one time, she admitted, she had a close call. “I was working a rodeo for Leo Cremer at Miles City. I guess was about sixteen,” she told her interviewer. “I was doing the Cossack Drag—hanging by my toes from the back of the horse at a dead run—when one of my straps broke.”

Birdie didn't use a safety strap, which most riders did to pull themselves back up. “I could have gotten a head full of hoofs, and that would've been it, if it hadn't been for Wally McCrae.” The rodeo clown caught Birdie's horse and brought it to a stop, all the while other riders stood by and watched in horror. “I'll never forget Wally for that. He saved my life that day.”

Birdie graduated as valedictorian of her high school and attended Eastern Montana College, following her mother's career as a school-teacher. While still in school she was called back to Ismay to fill in as a temporary teacher, and she stayed through the year.

In Billings Birdie met a young champion bareback bronc rider, Dick Johnston. He left to serve in the Korean War, but after he returned, they were married on November 29, 1952.

“I married a cowboy,” Birdie said. They rodeoed together, but she “retired” after they were married. “Dick didn't want me to ride, so I finished out my contract for that season and quit.”

Birdie later said she thought she'd gotten out of trick riding at the right time. “It's almost a vanished art now,” she admitted in a 1972 interview. Although she had an impressive collection of buckles, ribbons, and cups to show for her career, she also had an equally impressive collection of x-rays on file.

One injury was a broken leg, which happened when she attempted to vault over a running horse in Fort Madison, Iowa. The layoff gave her time to attend Eastern Montana College, she said.

Another performance resulted in a broken arm; her broken toe came from a rodeo at State Line; and she didn't remember where her several broken ribs came from. “The toe hurt worst of all,” Birdie said, “but none of them were serious at all.”

After retiring from rodeo, and while raising three children during the 1950s, Birdie worked as an ad executive for radio and television, and she ended up hosting a TV talk show. She and Dick also owned the Pack Trail Inn, a popular restaurant in Billings, for many years. Continuing to serve their love of rodeo, they were on the board of directors for the five-state (Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota) Northwest Ranch Cowboys' Association.

In 1969 Dick landed a job as wrangler, teamster, and driver for the filming of the 1970 movie
Little Big Man
, and when he was injured, Birdie stepped in to take over. This role led the Johnstons to a new career, and they moved to Tucson, Arizona, to wrangle horses for many films shot in Arizona, Colorado, and California.

The Hollywood film industry has used southern Arizona since 1925 to provide stunning vistas and charming locales to produce dozens of Westerns and feature films. Film production has been an integral part of Tucson's economic and cultural identity since 1940, the year the film
Arizona
was released. Other well-known movies include
The Bells of St. Mary's
, the 1957 version of
3:10 to Yuma
,
The Last Outpost
, and
The Outlaw-Josey Wales
.

Birdie spent the next thirty years with a wardrobe and makeup trailer, catering to such stars as Ann-Margret, Dean Martin, Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Ben Johnson, Steve McQueen, James Garner, Robert Conrad, Richard Pryor, John Candy, Keifer Sutherland, and Tom Cruise.

Also working for television, commercial, and video production companies, she worked with many singers, including Frank Sinatra, Tom Petty, Clint Black, and Kathy Matea.

After the Johnstons were divorced in 1990, Birdie formed a production company and heavy film equipment rental company of her own, and she helped found and serve on the board of directors of the Southern Arizona Film Commission. In between all of her jobs and positions, in 1994 she wrote and produced a music video, “Climb the Ladder,” sung by Carol Collins, to commemorate her famous dad.

“Daddy taught us how to climb the ladder,
Boy or girl, it didn't matter.
How to be a hand,
Not take a back seat to any man.
Daddy taught the Golden Rule . . .”

Birdie is listed on the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame in Billings under “World Champion” for Trick and Fancy Riding; along with her father, Bob Askin, for Saddle Bronc Riding; and her ex-husband, Dick Johnston, for Bareback Bronc Riding. Dick preceded Birdie in death in 2007.

After her death on September, 25, 2010, her obituary in the
Billings Gazette
honored her with these words: “Birdie had a profound effect on folks whose paths she crossed. She worked with and helped people from all walks of life. She was always strong-willed and strong-minded and accomplished her successes her way. She cared deeply for her family and was there for many more than can be told when they needed a hand. Birdie was quiet about these things, and no one ever truly knew the extent of her compassion.”

And in the
Tri-State Livestock News
: “Birdie's name is indelibly inscribed on the hearts of all those profoundly touched by her dynamic personality and grace through the years of her life here on earth . . . the multitudes who knew her as ‘one to ride the river with.'”

Author's note
: I had the great pleasure to meet and share lunch with Birdie Askin Johnston in June 2009. She was a delightful lady, and this was one of the highlights of my Montana book tour, a memory I still cherish.

“If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

—C
HARLES
-G
UILLAUME
É
TIENNE

D
espite the success of many cowgirls in the 1940s, such as Trixi and Birdie, who were able to continue in various ways with their love of rodeo, many were still frustrated by the lack of professional competition on rough stock—like they used to do.

Because of World War II, rodeos all over the country were canceled, many women were forced to take over ranch operations as men went off to war, and the professional cowgirls' role was reduced to beauty pageants with prizes such as cigarette cases.

This next generation of working cowgirls hated the restrictions. They wanted to be judged—like their predecessors—on their riding skills rather than on their beauty and who looked the best in tight pants. Fay Kirkwood, a Texas cowgirl, produced a women's-only exhibition in 1942 to protest against male-dominated rodeos. Women's barrel racing was introduced that same year, at Madison Square Garden's annual rodeo.

Amateur cowgirls in the Southwest began to put on informal all-girl rodeos to provide entertainment for the troops and riding opportunities for themselves.

In September 1947 a group of Texas women produced an all-girl rodeo at Amarillo. Then, after a dispute over rules in an RAA event, thirty-eight women met in February 1948 to form the Girls Rodeo Association (GRA) with its own set of rules.

The GRA was open to cowgirls of all ages and was set up to “organize professional rodeo contestants for their mutual protection and . . . raise the standards of cowgirl contests so they rank among the foremost American sports [and] protect members from any unfair practices on the part of rodeo management.”

The first president, Margaret Owens Montgomery, met with the directors of the RCA to include women's contests at the men's sanctioned events. Later, in 1955, Bill Linderman of Montana, RCA's president, signed an official agreement with the organization that women's events at RCA-sanctioned rodeos must also be GRA sanctioned.

That first year saw seventy-six members join GRA, and the organization sanctioned sixty national contests. Titles were awarded in seven categories, including bareback and bull riding, and in 1949 its only saddle bronc title.

All-girl rodeos usually consisted of at least five events, including bareback riding, calf roping, barrel races, ribbon roping, cutting horses, bull riding, wild cow milking, or team roping. Broncs and bulls had to be ridden for six seconds, two reins allowed, and the rider could use hobbles if she wanted to.

Entry fees were ten dollars in each event, and prize money was determined by points. One point was awarded for each dollar won at any approved GRA rodeo that was also an RCA point award rodeo. The All-Around Champion Cowgirl for the year was determined by points won at all-girl rodeos only.

GRA rules were strict about the cowgirls' clothing and area appearance. If they wore jeans, they were to be covered by chaps. Grounds for being banned for the arena included the following:

• Refusing to ride the animal drawn or selected
  
• Being under the influence of liquor
  
• Rowdyism
  
• Mistreatment of stock
  
• Altercation or quarreling with judges or officials
  
• Failure to give assistance when requested by the arena director
  

The GRA opened the door once again for professional female rough-stock riders, but they no longer competed in the same arena and drew from the same stock as the men. However, this organization helped barrel racing—the only sanctioned women's event in the RAA (now PRCA)—evolve to become a standard contest at most major rodeos and today offers purses that compete with the PRCA. The GRA became the Women's Professional Rodeo Association in 1981 and is recognized as one of the world's largest rodeo sanctioning bodies.