Reba Perry Blakely Papers

Collection

Identifier: RCFIC2005-283

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Papers and photographs of rodeo performer and researcher Reba Perry Blakely, which include extensive correspondence with the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and fragmentary correspondence with several rodeo personalities, subject files connected with various writing and research projects, some of Perry’s articles in manuscript and printed form, and over 60 photographic images, mostly copy prints associated with her writing projects. The Reba Perry Blakely Papers have been arranged in six series: correspondence, financial, subject files, writing, photographs, and audio cassettes.

Dates

Creation: 1903 - 1997

Creator

Perry Blakely, Reba (1908-2002) (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The Reba Perry Blakely Papers has no restrictions and is available for research. If you are interested in researching the materials, please contact the Dickinson Research Center to make an appointment.

Conditions Governing Use

The Reba Perry Blakely Papers is the property of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Materials, even if owned by the NCWHM, may be protected under third party copyright. It is the patron’s responsibility to research and secure any such additional copyright and pay any required fees or royalties. It is not the intention of the NCWHM to impede upon any third party rights, and the NCWHM cannot be held responsible if the patron is involved in legal action due to violation of third party copyright claims.

Biographical / Historical

Rodeo performer and writer Reba Perry Blakely was born on April 3, 1908 near Puyallup, Washington. Her father was a rancher and former railroad surveyor who married late in life, and her mother grew up around horses in Minnesota. Reba was the last of nine children. Her mother had typhoid fever while she was pregnant with Reba and, probably as a result of her mother’s illness, Reba had to wear leg braces during her first 13 years. She took to horses early and by age nine was delivering more than 200 daily and Sunday newspapers on horseback. The Perry ranch overlooked the Puyallup Fairgrounds and the rodeo performances she witnessed there, especially the horse riding of the Drumheller family of Walla Walla, Washington, inspired her dreams. By 1926 Reba Perry had become a rodeo performer.

Perry sought out specialists to teach her what she needed to know to be successful in rodeo. Vera McGinnis taught her trick riding, Gordon Jones taught her trick roping, and Ollie Osborn taught her relay racing. Between 1928 and 1935 Reba Perry relay raced against the best and had her share of success. She also trick roped and trick rode with her horse Buddy. By 1936 she was out of rodeo, although she did make a brief comeback between 1940 and 1943. She settled in California and started writing, primarily about horse subjects.

Perry began a relationship with the Yuba/Sutter 13th District Agricultural Fair in Yuba City, California and was a fair and horse show manager at the facility off-and-on between 1942 and 1954. During World War II she took a 5-year lease on the Yuba City Fairgrounds to start a horse boarding business, but the facility reverted to the city after World War II and she ended up losing money on the venture. Also during World War II, she was married to William E. Blakely, a sheep rancher from Redmond, Oregon. The marriage ended, but it is not clear how or when.

Over the years Reba Perry Blakely worked at a variety of occupations including postal and government employee, grant funded researcher, practical nurse, and writer. In 1979, she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame primarily for her rodeo writing and research, but also for her rodeo career. In 1985, she was awarded a historian/journalist award by the Rodeo Historical Society. As the 1980s and 1990s wore on, she continued to write, but failing eyesight and mental acuity began to take their toll. She died in a nursing facility in Alturas, California on September 13, 2002.

Extent

1.42 Linear Feet (3 legal document boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers and photographs of rodeo performer and researcher Reba Perry Blakely, which include extensive correspondence with the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and fragmentary correspondence with several rodeo personalities, subject files connected with various writing and research projects, some of Perry’s articles in manuscript and printed form, and over 60 photographic images, mostly copy prints associated with her writing projects. Some correspondence connected with her research and writing activities and very sparse and fragmentary financial records are also included.

Arrangement

Series 1: Correspondence (1972-1997) The largest series in the collection; the bulk of the series consists of letters between Blakely and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame (NCHF). The NCHF correspondence concerns articles she is writing for NCHF rodeo publications, potential articles she is pitching, her research and rodeo photography collections, and recommendations for inductees to the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the NCHF. Many of Blakely’s later handwritten letters are very hard to decipher due to her failing eyesight.

Correspondence with rodeo people is another focus of the series. Correspondents include Rodeo Historical Society honorees Buff Brady, Jr., Polly Burson, Ray Bell, and Sam Garrett. Garrett’s letters discuss his life and answer Blakely’s questions about the 101 Ranch and the early days of rodeo. An interesting letter from E. Roland Harriman, honorary board chairman of the Union Pacific Corporation, concerns his memories of rodeo entrepreneur C. B. Irwin. Other letters concern article research and sales as well as general business correspondence.

Series 2: Financial (1980-1984) The smallest series is primarily comprised of payment vouchers for Blakely articles and research that appeared in the NCHF rodeo publication, The Wild Bunch.

Series 3: Subject files (1903-1994) Includes autobiographical and research material Blakely collected for her articles on rodeo and other subjects. Blakely and her life is documented in several photocopied clippings and her self-penned manuscript Outline for an Autobiography, which focuses mostly on her parents. Other rodeo subjects, primarily documented through photocopied clippings and Blakely’s notes, include the 1912 Calgary Stampede, Sam Garrett, Bonnie Jean Gray, Harry and Pete Knight, and Lucyle Richards. Additional subjects include President Theodore Roosevelt, performers Tom Mix and Will Rogers, and the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, which inducted Blakely in 1979. One of the most interesting items in the Subject Files is a reminiscence of the 1939 cross-country horse race from Fort Worth, Texas to San Francisco, California sponsored by Nocona Boot Company founder Enid Justin, which was written by race participant George Cates.

Series 4: Articles (1962-1994) Includes 14 articles written by Blakely, in both printed and manuscript form. The majority of these articles deal with rodeo, and article subjects include Sam Garrett, Fox Hastings, Hippy Burmeister, and Pete and Harry Knight. Other article subjects include sculptor A. Phimister Proctor and actor Tom Mix.

Series 5: Photographs (1920-1989) Includes over sixty photographic prints and negatives. The majority of the photographs are copy prints Blakely obtained from a variety of sources to illustrate articles on topics such as the Calgary Stampede, Sam Garrett, Hamley & Co., Tom Mix, Will Rogers, and Theodore Roosevelt. Also included are eight photographs of Blakely herself including a publicity photograph, copy prints and copy negatives of Blakely as a rodeo performer, and an image of Blakely and her fellow inductees at the 1979 National Cowgirl Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

Series 6: Audio cassettes (1988-1996) Fifty-one audio cassettes recorded by Blakely were included in the Papers.