Volume 2 , Issue 10

Freedom Old Cowhand

Freedom's Biggest Open Rodeo & Old Cowhand Reunion

written by daughters Mary Lynn Weder & Lynda Munsell

If you're a rodeo fan who can remember the Freedom Rodeo about forty years ago, think about who might be one of the all-around cowboys remembered from that time. Most likely,Chet Dauphin would be in the mix. When you think Chet Dauphin, you think Rodeo. Chet looks like, talks like, and acts like, a Rodeo cowboy! But, unlike many who rodeo these days, Chet didn't do it for the money or the notoriety. Chet did it simply because he loved doing it!

>Chester Cornelius Dauphin was born on October 9, 1916. His parents were Max and Cora Shaw Dauphin. he was born on the Dauphin homestead, seven miles northwest of Quinlan, Oklahoma. He was the youngest of four children. Chet grew up near, and attended Enterprise Country School, 14 miles northeast of Mooreland. His earliest memories center around his third-grade teacher, Mae McGee of Freedom.

Chet took to roping cattle on his own, in his dad's pastures. He distinctly remembers that there was no practice arena, and no confinement for the benefit of horse and cowboy. When he wasn't busy helping his parents and siblings on the family homestead, Chet was most always chasing their calves through the pasture with a rope swinging overhead. "Ropin'" he says, "was my way of relaxin'." Rodeo was far and away, his favorite pastime, but he was gifted at all sports. At age 15, he was visiting his cousin David Turner, in Ponca City. David's sandlot baseball team was short a pitcher, so they asked Chet to fill in. It just so happened that there were scouts from the major leagues there too, and after seeing Chet pitch, they asked him to come to a try-out. Chet declined the offer saying, "When I'm in Ponca City, I feel like I'm on the other side of the world, and I don't like being that far from home!"

On July 1, 1935, Chet married Mary (Evelyn) Russell. They had six children: Dale, Jerry, Dean, Monte, Lynda, and Mary Lynn. During their first year of marriage, Chet helped his father Max, farm and harvest, while Evelyn helped Cora cook for the hands. He also worked for his neighbors, John Gardner and Jim Callaway. In the winter of 1937, Chet went to work for J. O. Selman on the Easterwood Ranch. He remembers harnessing a pair of mules to an old wagon with a horse tied to the side, and using a ton of cake to feed a thousand cows a day. In the spring of 1938, Chet went to work for the Eversole Ranch near Chimney Rock. At that time, Clarence Fussell lived on the Dalton Ranch, across the Cimarron River, and Chet always offered his help there when cattle needed to be worked.

In 1939, Rudy Eden bought the Dalton Ranch, and Wilbur Olson (Honored Old cowhand 1982) moved across the river to be nearby. Wilbur remembers that Chet was quite a roper, and had a good sorrel horse. he said Chet practiced on Eversole's cattle till they were "wild as deer." Wilbur also said Chet was one of the best coyote hunters he'd ever seen. He said Chet had a bunch of hounds, and would hunt coyotes in all kinds of weather. "You could hear him yellin' at his dogs five miles away."

At the Eversole Ranch, Chet, Wilbur, Levi London, and whatever other cowboys showed up would drive all the cattle up in a horseshoe knoll. Several cowboys would hold them there, and others would set up the calf-working sites. Chet and Levi London did most of the roping. Each would ride in, rope a calf, drag it out, and then flip the rope up over a rail supported by two forked poles. When the calf was suspended just above the ground, the other cowboys would move in, throw the calf to the ground, and remove the rope. While those calves were being worked, Chet and Levi would be fetching two more. Chet enjoyed cowboying so much that he was apt to just show up with his horse anytime and anywhere there were cattle to be worked.

In 1942, Chet left the Eversole Ranch and rented a ranch that joined his father's north of Quinlan. In 1946, he bought his father's herd of about 200 cows, calves, and yearlings, and he began leasing both ranches. he and Evelyn lived on the old homestead, where they ran cattle and farmed. he also traveled far and wide to participate in the sport he loved so well. A few years later, Chet accomplishted a feat that he has been most proud of since that time.

In 1952, the Waynoka Rodeo Club decided to honor an area cowboy, Perry Phillips. A memorial trophy was created, and was to be roped for each year. The winner would get his name engraved on the floating trophy, and would receive possession of the trophy until the follwoing year. Should any cowboy win it three times, it was his to keep. In the following years, Chet won the trophy twice. Other winners he remembers were Daryle Miller of Nowata, Nabe Murdough of McAllister, Rex Bixler of Waynoka, Elza Spencer of Alva, and Billy Nelson of Nowata.

In 1966, the second time Chet won, it was decided to hold a rope-off to see who would keep the trophy. Harold Koppitz and Louis Sternberger furnished the stock. The roper with the fastest time on two steers would be declared the winner. After the dust settled, Chet Dauphin had hauled in the fastest time, and the prized possession still sets among his other awards in his home.

Chet remembers participating in the very first Freedom Rodeo, and through all his years, has missed only one. That happened when he was laid up in the hospital, after being knocked off the arena fence by a bronc during a rodeo at Woodward. He especially remembers a Freedom Rodeo about 30 years ago, when he rode into the arena for the grand entry, and announcer Dean Spencer greeted him with "Well, Chet, I see you made it to the rodeo."

Chet responded, "Yep, coming to Freedom's Rodeo is like comin' home. Came to rope calves and steers, but came mainly for the rodeo dance." Chet and Evelyn both loved to dance, and they taught all of their children to dance, as well. He and Evelyn usually left the rodeo during the bull riding, to be the first ones downtown for the dance. He also admits they were usually the last to leave when the music stopped.

In 1974, Chet and Evelyn moved to Mooreland, where he began driving a school bus for Mooreland Public Schools. Evelyn was his substitute, and together, they drove for 25 years. They continued going to rodeos, and Chet kept up is love for hunting, especially coyotes. He was known as one of the areas best coyote hunters, bagging over a hundred in a single year. Chet lost Evelyn, 1988.

Chet's nephew, Wesley Mattison, a well-kown calf roper himself, had this to say, "He was more like a dad to me than an uncle. He taught me how to rope, trim horses feet, castrate a colt, and a lot about hunting and fishing. When I was little and he was roping, I was his number one fan. In later years, I think I was his. When I first started roping, the good ropes were made of grass. In damp weather, they got as stiff as a cable, and in hot dry weather, they got limber as a rag. Since we didn't have rope cans like they do now, he taught me to put my rope in a wet gunnysack to keep it cool on the way to a rodeo. He also gave me my first chew of tobacco, somethin' I never did learn to handle very well."

At age 83, Chet still lives in Mooreland. He hung up his rope several years ago, but still enjoys attending rodeos, hunting and fishing, and ballgames, all of which involve his grandkids. He has 24 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren, and says keeping up with them is what keeps him so young!

During this 63rd Annual Freedom Rodeo & Old Cowhand Reunion, a true cowboy, Chet Dauphin, will once again, return to a place he grew to love, the rodeo arena. And though his main competition these days is the years already behind him, he might just issue a challenge to them too... at the rodeo dance!

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