Alice Greenough Defied All Odds As First Woman To Enter Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1975

March marks Women’s History Month and there is one woman to celebrate that paved the way for modern day rodeo, especially the role women play. In the masculine world of rodeo, Alice Greenough defied all odds and stepped into an arena to bust bucking broncos.

First Woman in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame

Greenough’s abilities earned her the title as the first woman to be inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1975 at Hereford, Texas and was named to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City in 1983. She is coined as the first queen of rodeo.

Written in her biography in the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame, she was born on her family’s horse and cattle ranch near Red Lodge, Montana in 1902. Greenough was quickly introduced to horses and began to ride at a young age, and it was her father and sister that encouraged her to dare to get on the back of a more wild horse, one that could buck her off.

It was during this time that she fell in love with the sport, and began riding bucking horses in a public venue at the Forsyth Rodeo on a dare by a handful of rodeo cowboys. After this performance, she knew she had the grit to hang with the likes of cowboys, and she set out on a dream that landed her in places like New York, performing at Madison Square Garden and Boston.

Greenough became what is known now as a “trick rider,” she would go on to perform in shows and rodeos in 46 states as well as Canada, Mexico, Spain, France and England. As her talents grew, she began entering the rodeo arena as a saddle bronc rider and ended up winning the world title in 1933, 1935, 1936 and 1941.

Carving The Future of Rodeo

Greenough went on to win titles in America and Australia. Once, when in Spain, she was invited to ride steers, true to her grit, she got on the back of a bull and rode it until she was bucked off. It was during this time that she met her first husband, they went on to have two children.

It was during her second marriage that she began operating one of the first rodeo businesses and her work here featured the invention of the first women’s barrel-racing event. In 1937, her work as a trick rider landed her a role in the film “The Californians.” She also had a role on the television series, “Little House on the Prairie.”

Sports Illustrated named Greenough the “Best Woman Athlete by Birth State-Montana,” and she was also coined as one of Montana’s 100 most influential persons. Her rodeo collections now reside at a museum she opened in 1959, the Carbon County Museum at Red Lodge.

Greenough died in 1995 at the age of 93, but it was long before this that she was credited for paving the way for women in rodeo.