History
Dating all the way back to 1951 when the first official sale was held, the World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale has always embodied the western way of life and traditional cowboy culture! The Bucking Horse Sale of today continues some of the exact same events it started with years ago. While some aspects have grown over the years, the original intent and western heritage remain in the production today.
Starting from a three day event of selling bucking horses, the present day celebration has expanded to include additional weekends in May with more pari-mutuel horse racing, culminating to the now World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale event, lasting four days during the third weekend of May!! This western tradition celebration features a concert with high level entertainment, mutton busting for the kids, futurity style bucking horse contests, high dollar wild horse races, and of course, good old fashioned bucking horses which are auctioned off to the highest bidder. In addition, there is a world class trade show featuring many opportunities to purchase western themed items.
And let us not forget, we feature two world class PRCA Match Bronc rides. Friday night showcases some of the world’s best “up-n-comer” saddle bronc riders, all of whom are trying to break into the top ranks of the PRCA Saddle Bronc standings. Sunday is the main event and one we are most proud of, a 32 man PRCA Xtreme Broncs event featuring literally the top 32 Bronc riders in the World on the best broncs our PRCA stock contractors have!! Many, many NFR horses will leave the chutes with cowboys trying to make the 8 second whistle and a chance to take home a share of the $57,000 added purse money!
We would also like to express our gratitude to the dedicated volunteers and community partners who tirelessly work behind the scenes to ensure the smooth running of the World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale! Without their unwavering commitment and support, this event would not be possible. And, as we reflect on this event every year, we are always filled with a sense of pride in our sponsor base. It is the support of individuals, businesses, and companies, far and wide, that makes this event thrive and allows us, the Board of Governors, to preserve, promote, and share our cherished western traditions.
In 1982, Miles City area rancher John L. Moore self-published a 76-page booklet entitled “The World Famous Miles City Jaycee Bucking Horse Sale Collector’s Edition.”A former reporter and photographer for both the Miles City Star and the Great Falls Tribune, Moore had attended the Sale since he was a child and had first covered it in 1971.“I threw the ‘Collector’s Edition’ together hastily back then,” he admits. “I saw the Sale losing its sense of culture. Someone needed to preserve its origins and honor its history of cowboys, broncs, consignors, and buyers.”
The booklet included articles and photographs by Moore and contributions by other notable writers, photographers, and cowboys.
Now, 42 years later, Moore has issued a revised Bucking Horse Sale book and added his popular series on the FUF Ranch, a horse operation south of Forsyth, Montana, that ran 15,000 horses on 1.1 million acres of open range between 1890 and 1910. This booklet is 80 pages in length.
“The Bucking Horse Sale and the FUF Ranch have no direct connection,” Moore explains. But both are important figures in the history of horses on the Northern Great Plains. The FUF Ranch had a cast of crew members that included Teddy Blue Abbott, the poet D.J. O’Malley, the famed western artist William Gollings, freed slave Joe Proctor, and other top horse hands and cooks. And to top it off, its headquarters was on an island in the Yellowstone River known as Cannibal Island.”