Fannie Sperry Steele born Fannie Steele, was an award-winning bronc rider

Saddle bronc and bareback riding

Bronc riding, either saddle bronc or bareback bronc competition, is a rodeo event that involves a rodeo participant riding on a horse , that attempts to throw or buck off the rider...

 and rodeo performer from Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

, one of the first women inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame, and the first Montana native in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

Born Fannie Sperry to Rachel and Datus Sperry, Fannie was a first-generation Montanan. She was taught to ride by the time she could walk by her mother Rachel, since her father was prevented from riding by an old injury.

The only woman rider of the time to ride her entire career without tying her stirrups under the horse’s belly (a practice rodeo judges allowed for women only), Sperry Steele inherited her love of horses, especially Pintos

Pinto horse

A pinto horse has a coat color that consists of large patches of white and any other color. The distinction between "pinto" and "solid" can be tenuous, as so-called "solid" horses frequently have areas of white hair. Various cultures throughout history appear to have selectively bred for pinto...

, from her mother Rachel. She won several awards for her riding in professional rodeos during her lifetime, including Women's Bucking Horse Champion of Montana in 1904 at the age of 17, and Lady Bucking Horse Champion of the World of the first Calgary Stampede

Calgary Stampede

The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway,...

 rodeo in 1912, where hundreds of cowboys from Western Canada, the United States and Mexico competed for thousands of dollars in prizes. In the Calgary Stampede, Sperry Steele had ridden the horse Red Wing, a wild bronc who had trampled fellow rider Joe LaMar to death only days earlier.

She married Bill Steele, a fellow rodeo rider and arena clown

Rodeo clown

A rodeo clown, also known as a bullfighter or rodeo protection athlete, is a rodeo performer who works in bull riding competitions. The primary job of the rodeo clown is to protect a fallen rider from the bull, whether the rider has been bucked off or has jumped off of the animal...

, on April 30, 1913, and together they began operating their own Wild West show. Besides her horsemanship, Sperry Steele was also skilled with a rifle. During their shows, she would often shoot cigars out of her husband's mouth.

Sperry Steele competed for the last time in 1925 at Bozeman, and continued riding exhibition into her 50s. She did not completely retire from riding until until 1974, at the age of 87, when she entered a rest home in Helena, Montana.

See also

• Annie Oakley
  Annie Oakley
  Annie Oakley , born Phoebe Ann Mosey, was an American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter. Oakley's amazing talent and timely rise to fame led to a starring role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, which propelled her to become the first American female superstar.Oakley's most famous trick is perhaps...
  
  
• Calamity Jane
  Calamity Jane
  Martha Jane Cannary Burke , better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, and professional scout best known for her claim of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok, but also for having gained fame fighting Native Americans...
  
  
• Lucille Mulhall
  Lucille Mulhall
  Lucille Mulhall was a well known cowgirl and Wild West performer. She was raised on her family's Mulhall Ranch in Oklahoma Territory, near what is now Mulhall, Oklahoma...
  
  
• May Lillie
  May Lillie
  Mary E. "May" Manning Mary Manning was born on March 12, 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents were William R. and Mary Manning. May had two sisters, Elmira and Elizabeth Manning and a younger brother, William B. Manning. May also had three half brothers, Samuel, Edward and Albert Eager...
  
  
• Ruth Roach
  Ruth Roach
  Ruth Scantlin, later Ruth Scantlin Roach, later Ruth Scantlin Roach Salmon , was a professional bronc rider, and world champion rodeo performer. Her 24-year career began in 1914 and ended in 1938, when she retired from the rodeo and started a ranching business in Nocona, Texas, with her husband,...