Dale Stiles Rodeo
Nested in the Casper College Athletics series, this collection contains Dale Stiles' photos of the Casper College Rodeo and the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Teams. Rodeo events included are barrel racing, bronc riding (saddle and bareback), bull riding, bulldogging, team roping, and other Colleg National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) events as well as practice events. Stiles was an Agriculture Instructor and Rodeo Coach at Casper College. He hosted the College's first rodeo team. During his career, Stiles coached many famous cowboys such as Joe Alexander and Dave Brock and started the legacy of the Casper College Rodeo Team.
Few college rodeo programs anywhere have the kind of tradition enjoyed by Casper College. With four national team championships and three more finishes in the top three during the past 40 years, Casper College ranks among the most successful programs in the country. Former T-Bird cowboys have gone on to no less than 16 professional titles.
Dale Stiles was the man who started it all. Over 60 years ago, he hosted the first Casper College rodeo. It was the first time a junior college had fielded a rodeo team, let alone hosted its own rodeo. Through the years, Stiles would coach some of the sport’s greatest stars, and become a legend himself. Dale E. Stiles was the proud and devoted coach of the T-Birds. Dale, a professor at the college, traveled to all the rodeos with the boys, giving them riding tips and the moral support it takes to birth a championship team. Dale was also a former NIRA all-around champion.
There are many other famous cowboys who have worn the Casper College red vests. Dave Brock, Jim Davis, Chris LeDoux, and Kelly Timberman all went on to win professional titles. Others include Hank Franzen, Pink Peterson, Ivan Daines, J.C. Bonine, T.J. Walter, Jay Himes, Ned Londo, Skeeter Thurston, Shawn Madden, Guy Shapka, Mike Moore, and Bryce Miller.
Through his love of rodeo and by a helpful, guiding pair of rope-worn ranch hands, Dale Stiles shared his love and expertise in the sport with many famous men and women in the Casper National Finals Rodeo and the Wyoming Fair and Rodeo from 1949-1994. His legacy lives on through the Agriculture, Rangeland, and Rodeo students of Casper College and he is remembered as a tough but kind instructor who gave students the courage to get back in the saddle every time they were thrown from it. An exeptional member of the Casper College faculty, Dale Stiles represented Wyoming through his hard work, honesty, loyalty, integrity and self-reliance. Dale had great respect for the land, for his fellow Casper College coworkers, and especially for his students. It was his kindness, compassion, dedication, and work ethic that made the Casper College Rodeo Team possible, and these same attributes continue to lead the program. The Dale Stiles Rodeo collection is exemplary in blending College Life and Wyoming Culture.
Dale Stiles was a giver. He gave back to everyone in the community and especially gave to the students he coached during his time at Casper College. He was a rodeo coach for 39 years, most of those at Casper College. He helped shape some of rodeo’s greats, Chris LeDoux, Joe Alexander, Dave Brock and Jim Davis. His love for people didn’t stop at rodeo however, he was a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church where he served on the vestry, a member of the Boy Scout Council, a 4-H leader in Goshen, Laramie and Natrona counties, he was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and Executive Board of National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. He helped judge at 4-H fairs and for the Wyoming Hereford Association, and conducted horsemanship and beef cattle clinics. He spent his life helping others and it seems fitting that there is a scholarship in his honor to continue helping others. Scholarship: Dale Stiles Memorial Rodeo Scholarship
Learn more about Dale and his rodeo stars here:
The History of T-Bird Rodeo - T-Bird Athletics
Casper College Rodeo & Dale Stiles , 1964 - 1968 | Western History Center
Kenny Clabaugh - ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy
Riding High: From Bates Hole To Houston On A Rodeo Scholarship – Casper College
College Rodeo Champions - Western Horseman
Donor Stories – Casper College Foundation
Rodeos in Casper | CNFR & the Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo
