Cowboy Morgan Evans
Encyclopedia
Charles "Cowboy" Morgan Evans (February 19, 1903 – April 15, 1969) was an American
champion rodeo
sports cowboy
and oil field
worker from Texas
who worked as a rancher and oil drilling foreman the majority of his life.
Evans won the 1927 World Series Rodeo Buldogging
Championship at New York City
's Madison Square Garden
. The World Series Rodeo is now known as the National Finals Rodeo
(or "NFR"). Cowboy Evan's championship is recorded in the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
.
er Andrew Jackson Evans, Sr., and his wife Grace Morgan in the community of Huff, Texas
in Archer County
. The family was of Scottish
and Welsh
descent. As an adult, in 1942, Evans legally changed his birth name from Charlie to Charles, however, his rodeo name was the one that stuck in the minds of those who knew him. Some oldtimers in parts of Arkansas
, where he had a cattle ranch
, still remembered Cowboy Morgan Evans in the local American folklore of the late 20th century.
competition style of wearing one Western riding
boot and one low quarter standard shoe for ease of quick dismount from his horse. He competed in many rodeos across the United States
in both bulldoging and bull riding
prior to winning the 1927 World championship. He worked as a roughneck
in the oil exploration
and drilling industry and eventually became a drilling foreman, and oilman. In the early 1930s Evans toured the United States on the rodeo circuit while maintaining his home of record in Henrietta, Texas
.
He married Allie Odessa Jarvis, and together they had two daughters, Mary and Sara, who now reside in Ellis County, Texas
, with their daughters and grandsons nearby. On 27 May 1945 Evans was awarded his 32nd degree in York Rite
Freemasonry
, issued in Wichita Falls, Texas
by the Dallas, Texas
Consistory. He received his 33rd degree almost two decades later. Cowboy Morgan Evans died at home in Bonham, Texas
of an apparent heart attack. He was buried in a Christian
ceremony in Bonham, Texas
, and his life and legacy were honored by his fellow members of Chapter 52 of the Royal Arch Masons
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
champion rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
sports cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
and oil field
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
worker from Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
who worked as a rancher and oil drilling foreman the majority of his life.
Evans won the 1927 World Series Rodeo Buldogging
Steer wrestling
Steer wrestling, also known as bulldogging, is a rodeo event in which a horse-mounted rider chases a steer, drops from the horse to the steer, then wrestles the steer to the ground by twisting its horns. Like all rodeo events, there are concerns from the animal rights community that the competition...
Championship at New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden (1925)
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the third of that name. It was built in 1925 and closed in 1968, and was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near...
. The World Series Rodeo is now known as the National Finals Rodeo
National Finals Rodeo
The National Finals Rodeo, organized by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, is the premier championship rodeo event in the United States. Wrangler Jeans is the title sponsor for the 10-day event, commonly just called the National Finals or NFR, which is also sometimes referred to as the...
(or "NFR"). Cowboy Evan's championship is recorded in the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of American rodeo, photographs, barbed wire, saddlery, and early rodeo trophies...
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
.
Early life
Charlie Morgan Evans was born to ranchRanch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
er Andrew Jackson Evans, Sr., and his wife Grace Morgan in the community of Huff, Texas
Huff, Texas
Huff is a former town in northeastern Archer County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area....
in Archer County
Archer County, Texas
Archer County is a county located in the US state of Texas, and was formed in 1858 from Fannin County. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2005, the population estimate is 9,095, up from 8,854 in 2000. Its county seat is Archer City. Archer is named for...
. The family was of Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
and Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
descent. As an adult, in 1942, Evans legally changed his birth name from Charlie to Charles, however, his rodeo name was the one that stuck in the minds of those who knew him. Some oldtimers in parts of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, where he had a cattle ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
, still remembered Cowboy Morgan Evans in the local American folklore of the late 20th century.
Career and family
Cowboy Evans was known for his unique rodeo steer wrestlingSteer wrestling
Steer wrestling, also known as bulldogging, is a rodeo event in which a horse-mounted rider chases a steer, drops from the horse to the steer, then wrestles the steer to the ground by twisting its horns. Like all rodeo events, there are concerns from the animal rights community that the competition...
competition style of wearing one Western riding
Western riding
Western riding is a style of horseback riding which evolved from the ranching and warfare traditions brought to the Americas by the Spanish Conquistadors, and both equipment and riding style evolved to meet the working needs of the cowboy in the American West...
boot and one low quarter standard shoe for ease of quick dismount from his horse. He competed in many rodeos across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in both bulldoging and bull riding
Bull riding
Bull riding refers to rodeo sports that involve a rider getting on a large bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal attempts to buck off the rider....
prior to winning the 1927 World championship. He worked as a roughneck
Roughneck
Roughneck is a slang term for a person whose occupation is hard-manual labour, typically in a dangerous working environment. The term applies across a number of industries, but is most commonly associated with oil rigs...
in the oil exploration
Oil exploration
Hydrocarbon exploration is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits beneath the Earth's surface, such as oil and natural gas...
and drilling industry and eventually became a drilling foreman, and oilman. In the early 1930s Evans toured the United States on the rodeo circuit while maintaining his home of record in Henrietta, Texas
Henrietta, Texas
Henrietta is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,264 at the 2000 census.-History:...
.
He married Allie Odessa Jarvis, and together they had two daughters, Mary and Sara, who now reside in Ellis County, Texas
Ellis County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 111,360 people, 37,020 households, and 29,653 families residing in the county. The population density was 118 people per square mile . There were 39,071 housing units at an average density of 42 per square mile...
, with their daughters and grandsons nearby. On 27 May 1945 Evans was awarded his 32nd degree in York Rite
York Rite
The York Rite or American Rite is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry. A Rite is a series of progressive degrees that are conferred by various Masonic organizations or bodies, each of which operates under the control of its own central authority...
Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, issued in Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...
by the Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
Consistory. He received his 33rd degree almost two decades later. Cowboy Morgan Evans died at home in Bonham, Texas
Bonham, Texas
Bonham is a city in Fannin County, Texas, United States. The population was 10,127 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Fannin County. James Bonham sought the aid of James Fannin at the Battle of the Alamo....
of an apparent heart attack. He was buried in a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
ceremony in Bonham, Texas
Bonham, Texas
Bonham is a city in Fannin County, Texas, United States. The population was 10,127 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Fannin County. James Bonham sought the aid of James Fannin at the Battle of the Alamo....
, and his life and legacy were honored by his fellow members of Chapter 52 of the Royal Arch Masons
Royal Arch Masonry
Royal Arch Masonry is the term used to denote the first part of the York Rite system of Masonic degrees. Royal Arch Masons meet as a Chapter, and the Chapter confers four degrees: Mark Master Mason, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, and Royal Arch Mason.-Chapter level:A Chapter is in many ways...
.
See also
- EquestrianismEquestrianismEquestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
- FreemasonryFreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
- History of rodeoHistory of rodeo- Early history of rodeo :The rodeo was not originally a sporting event, but an integral part of cattle-ranching in areas of Spanish influence. The working rodeo was retained in parts of the US Southwest even after the US-Mexico War...
- List of Freemasons
- List of Rodeos
- Tex AustinTex AustinJohn Van "Tex" Austin was an American rodeo promoter, known as the King of the Rodeo or "Daddy of the Rodeo" because of his efforts to popularize the rodeo outside of its core American West demographic....