Rodeo American

The working cowhand of old was a dusty laborer, but today's rodeo performers can hone their skills before small-town crowds and be stars in urban coliseums.Historian Kristine Fredriksson follows the evolution of rodeo from the range to Buffalo Bill's Wild West to the extravaganzas in modern times.

A rodeo champion, tired of the amateur circuit, seeks a new challenge. He’s set his sights on moving up to the professional circuit. Going pro could mean big money—and new opportunities. But is he ready for the challenge? As he prepares for his first pro event, he finds his focus wandering. A sexy barrel racer has caught his eye. He might as well be invisible, though, because she wants nothing to do with him—or anyone. The former rodeo queen is all business.

Rodeo is a dangerous and painful performance in which only the strongest and most skilled riders succeed. In the popular imagination, the western rodeo hero is often a stoic white man who embodies the toughness and independence of America’s frontier past. However, marginalized people have starred in rodeos since the very beginning. Cast out of popular western mythology and pushed to the fringes in everyday life, these cowboys and cowgirls found belonging and meaning at the rodeo, staking a claim to national inclusion.

In the spirit of The Boys in the Boat comes the captivating true story of the Hawaiian cowboys who changed rodeo and the West forever.