“He sat on the back of a bucking horse as easy as you’d sit on a straight back chair.”
Jesse Stahl was one of California’s best rodeo stars in the early twentieth century. He was a talented saddle bronc rider and steer wrestler. Stahl placed at or near the top of several major rodeos including New York, Pendleton, and Salinas.
Jesse Stahl invented “hoolihanding” where you jump onto the back of a bull from a horse to bring it down. It wasn’t abnormal to see Jesse Stahl hop on a bareback bronc and ride it backwards either! I’ve run across a handful of different photos of Stahl riding a bronc backwards in multiple archives.
I was able to track Jesse Stahl across several newspapers for a couple of decades and this is what the sources have to say about this talented cowboy.
In 1912, Stahl rode a rank bronc named Glass Eye at Salinas. This horse had bucked off many cowboys, but Stahl was successful and the crowd of 4,000 people went absolutely wild!
At the 1912 California State Fair, Jesse Stahl and other cowboys rode many ‘outlaw horses’ to entertain the crowd. Stahl successfully rode “Skyrocket” and “Carrie Nation.” He also took third in the Wild Horse Race behind T. Millerick and Heinie.
Jesse Stahl competed at the famed Pendleton Roundup from 1912-1916.
At the July 1913 Salinas rodeo, Jesse Stahl rode his bronc. The Free Lance stated on July 30 that “the broncho-busting contest was exciting and excellent horsemanship was exhibited.”
In 1914, Jesse Stahl competed at the fourth annual California Rodeo in the broncho busting and stakes race. He took second in the wild horse race. Stahl also rode the bucking bull, “Ringtail.” Other events on the program at this rodeo included bullring, relay racing, trick riding, trick roping, bulldogging steers, potato race, pony express, broncho busting, lassoing, tug-o-war, hurdle races, stake race, Roman race, quarter mile dash for cowgirls, quarter mile dash for cowboys, chuck wagon race, chariot race, and a wild horse race.
Jesse Stahl gave an exhibition of trick and fancy riding at Glenbrook Park in California. He was scheduled to ride four Nevada County outlaw horses in 1915. Admission for this event was twenty-five to thirty-five cents.
Stahl continued rodeoing and giving riding exhibitions throughout 1915 and 1916. Hundreds of people would watch these exhibitions.
In July 1916, $10,000 worth of prizes were distributed amongst riders at the California Round-Up. Over the four day event an estimated 40,000 people watched the various riders compete. Jesse Stahl took first in bulldogging, first in the wild horse race, and second in bull riding.
By July 1916, Jesse Stahl was married according to the newspapers. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to track down his wife’s name or confirm with census or marriage records.
In 1916, Jesse Stahl won $100 and the bull riding title at Salinas.
In 1916, Jesse Stahl broke the world record for bulldogging at New York with a time of 19 seconds. He had been competing against some of the best in the world. Several cowboys at this rodeo were not paid their prize money as the finances were not handled well. Jesse Stahl was amongst those short-changed.
Stahl competed at Kansas City and Sheepshead in August 1916 with much success!
In July 1917, he competed at the San Jose Round-Up in bull riding and the wild horse race. During the wild horse race, Jesse Stahl mounted the horse backwards and rode a quarter of a mile!
In 1923, Jesse Stahl competed at the Big Elks’ Rodeo taking first place in the bull riding. The Bakersfield Morning Echo noted that Will Rogers was in attendance of this rodeo.
Stahl won the bareback bronc riding event at the Calgary Stampede as well. (circa 1924-25)
In July 1929, Jesse Stahl competed at the California Rodeo.
By 1934, Jesse Stahl was employed as a cowboy at the Edgar Simpson Ranch in Hood, California. He still travelled to rodeos across California. At the 1934 Red Bluff Round-Up Jesse Stahl gave an exhibition ride. “Stahl came out on “High Mountain,” a bronc, attired in a flaming red shirt and performed credibility to the applause of the crowd.” (“Perry Ivory… The Corning Daily Observer, April 23, 1934)
Jesse Stahl passed away on April 19, 1935 in a Sacramento hospital and was laid to rest in the Eastlawn Cemetery. The Red Bluff Roundup committee took up a collection to cover the cost of funeral expenses.
Forty-four years later he was inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1979. He was the second Black cowboy to be inducted into the Hall of Fame after Bill Pickett.
Concluding Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed reading about the life of Jesse Stahl and will join me next time as we continue ‘breaking trail’ and finding more stories of the American West! I’ll see you in the next post.
P.S. Scroll through the photo carousel below to see photos of Jesse Stahl in the Dickinson Research Center I found when I was formerly working at the NCWHM.
Sources
Secondary Sources
Books
Richard C. Rattenbury. “Arena Legacy: The Heritage of American Rodeo.”
Elyssa Ford. “Rodeo as Refuge, Rodeo as Rebellion: Gender, Race, and Identity in the American Rodeo.”
Websites
“Jesse Stahl.” Western Horseman (December 1949). Website – February 2, 2022.
“Jesse Stahl (CA. 1879-1935).” Black Past. September 7, 2010.
Stan Fonseca. “Black Cowboys in Oregon.” Oregon Encyclopedia. Oregon Historical Society.
Primary Sources
Newspapers
“Cowboys Entertain by Riding Outlaw Horses.” The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, California), September 16, 1912.
“Mrs. Hawn Far Ahead in Cowgirls’ Event.” The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, California), September 20, 1912.
“Wild Horses Rough With Game Cowboys.” The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, California), September 21, 1912.
“Second Day of Big Week Successful.” Free Lance (Hollister, California), July 30, 1913.
“Rough and Fancy Riding Is The Rule At The Track.” The Californian (Salinas, California), July 31, 1914.
“Lively Sport On Second Day At Big Rodeo.” San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California), August 1, 1914.
“Spirited Sport Is Seen At Rodeo Salinas.” San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California), August 2, 1914.
“Crowds Cheer Champions of Rodeo.” The Californian (Salinas, California), August 3, 1914.
“Will Ride Outlaw Horses At Glenbrook.” The Union (Grass Valley, California), May 26, 1915.
“Ride Outlaw Horses.” The Union (Grass Valley, California), May 30, 1915.
“Social Notes.” The West Side Index (Newman, California), May 30, 1916.
“Thousands See Close of Rodeo.” The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California), July 5, 1916.
“Personals.” The Californian (Salinas, California), July 8, 1916.
“Salinas Rodeo Ends With Much Success.” Free Lance (Hollister, California), July 18, 1916.
“Jesse Stahl Is A Champion.” The Californian (Salinas, California), August 16, 1916.
“Riders Waiting For Money In New York.” Free Lance (Hollister, California), August 23, 1916.
“Livestock Show And Fair Opens Tomorrow.” Modesto Morning Herald (Modesto, California), September 17, 1916.
“San Franciscans Take Part in San Jose’s Round-Up.” Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California), July 3, 1917.
“Card of Thanks.” Santa Maria Times (Santa Maria, California), September 9, 1920.
“Jesse Stahl – Big Exhibition.” The Chico Enterprise (Chico, California), June 10, 1921.
“Big Elks’ Rodeo Opens With Best Talent In West.” Bakersfield Morning Echo (Bakersfield, California), October 27, 1923.
“Rodeo At Salinas Attracts Scores to Wild West Events.” Enterprise-Record (Chico, California), July 20, 1929.
“Jesse Stahl Will Ride Last Times At Chester Rodeo.” Enterprise-Record (Chico, California), July 28, 1929.
“Grand Old Man Of Rodeo World Arrives.” The Corning Daily Observer (Corning, California), April 20, 1934.
“Perry Ivory Wins Roundup Honors.” The Corning Daily Observer (Corning, California), April 23, 1934.
“Jesse Stahl, Famed Bronc Rider, Dead.” Oroville Mercury Register (Oroville, California), April 20, 1935.
“Jesse Stahl.” The Morning Union (Grass Valley, California), April 23, 1935.
“No Potter’s Field Grave For Famed Rodeo Performer.” The Corning Daily Observer (Corning, California), April 25, 1935.
“Millerick Rodeo Steeped In Color, Tradition Of Old-Time Bucking Chute.” Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California), May 20, 1952.
*All newspaper clippings in this blog post were pulled from newspapers.com. I am not affiliated with this website. I just wanted to let you know where I found my digitized sources.
Photos
*Check out the following archives for photos of Jesse Stahl.
Jesse Stahl on Grave Digger (horse), c. 1916. Oregon Historical Society Research Library, 12526.
Jesse Stahl. Oregon Historical Society Research Library, OrHi12528.
Jesse Stahl at the Pendleton Round-Up. Oregon Historical Society Research Library, 12527.
*Beginning Quote Citation: “Millerick Rodeo…” Press Democrat, May 20, 1952.
*Blog Cover Photo: “Jesse Stahl riding backwards Pendleton Round-up.” Ralph R. Doubleday. c. 1922. Photographic Study Collection. Dickinson Research Center. NCWHM. RC2006.116.
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