Western Heritage Museum and Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame

 

Induction into the Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame is commemorated with the presentation of the Cowboy Hall of Fame Inductee Award. This award is given annually to no more than four men and/or women who have roots in Lea County and who have distinguished themselves in the rodeo world or have contributed to the area's ranching industry. In addition to the three individuals selected by the membership, the Board of Directors may choose no more than one person per year who meets special criteria. Each inductee receives their own case in the Hall with artifacts donated by their families and a poster bio.

Want to nominate someone for induction? Nominations are accepted all year round from the general public. The board will vote on and send out ballets to Museum Members in late August/September. Nomination forms can be found here.

1.     Must be at least twenty-one years old

2.     Must be a long-time resident of Lea County

3.     Must be a person of good character and reputation

4.     Must be a community leader 

5.     Must be a distinguished rodeo performer, have had a helping hand in the development of the livestock industry, or the livestock industry must be their principal business

Take a look at our inductees by the year they were inducted.

 1978

Clyde Browning	John Easley	Pello Etcheverry
Jake McClure	Henry Record	George Weir
	Dow Wood

 

 1979

Tom Bingham	Troy Fort	Mary S. Hooper
Earl Kornegay	Dessie Sawyer	Andrew Coke Taylor

 

1980

Daniel C. Berry	George Causey
Robert Florence Love	Warren Snyder
Will Terry

 

1981

Samantha Anderson	Marrion Ruben Bess
Richard David Lee	John Davidson Graham

 

1982

Jimmie Baum Cooper

Alfred Green Rushing

Adam Zimmerman

 

1983

Roy Dale Cooper

John Simeon Eaves

Claudie A. Fort

 

1984

Allen Clinton Heard

Amos Dee Jones

James Lewis Reed

 

1985

Bob Beverly

John Merchant

Bill Zimmerman

 

1986

W.A. Anderson

Daisy Clayton

Nellie Taylor

 

1987

Millard Eidson

Rubert Madera

 

1988

Gene Price

Olin Young

 

1989

Clay McGonagill

Bert Weir

 

1990

Mark Smith

Thelma Webber

 

1991

Edith Davis Fanning

Buddy Melton Medlin

 

1992

Dale “Tuffy” Cooper

William S. “Colonel” Williams

 

1993

M.R. “Russ” Anderson

J.W. “Uncle Jim” Owens

 

1994

Charles Walter Fairweather

Matthew Hawkins Medlin

 

1995

Fern Sawyer

William Robert Bilbrey

 

1996

W.D. “Jiggs” Dinwiddie

Tom Pearson

 

1997

John Lusk

U.D. “Ulysses” Sawyer

 

1998

Betty Gayle Cooper Ratliff

Tom Linebery

 

1999

Ella Belle Holeman

John Pearson

 

2000

Herchel R. “Gravy” Field

John Byron Fort

 

2001

Homer Ingle

 

2002

Bill Lee

Virgil Linam

Giles Lee

 

2003

Tom Bess

Suzanne Jones

 

2004

Punch Jones

Marvin Powell

 

2005

Sanford Bilberry

R.D. Sims

 

2006

Bob Eidson

 

2007

Becky Jo Doom	Richard D. Lee
Larry F. Wooten	Kenny Smith

 

2008

Bill Brininstool

Roy “Buddy” Fort

 

2009

Sam Bruton

Faye Linam

 

2010

Scharbauer Eidson

Bill Smith

 

2011

Kress Jones

Charlie Daymon Hardin

 

2012

Gene Cessnun

Walter "Lee" Greebon

William Daniel "Dub" McWhorter

 

2013

Charles William "C.W." Kinsolving

Evelyn Muriel Terry McNeill

Hugh "Rack" Ward

 

2014

Johnny Martin Etcheverry

Malcolm R. Madera

Christopher Columbus “Lum” Medlin

 

2015

Guy Allen	Dorthy Bess
Jimmie Tom Cooper	Carl E. Sams

 

2016

Bert Madera

Phil Smith, Sr.

Charlcia Taylor

 

2017

Bennet Jackson Caudill

Jerry B. Clayton

Mathias Willhoit

 

2018

Charlie Butler "C.B." Cochran

Herbert Neil Love

 

2019

Albert "Suckerod" Ozborn

J.E. Teague

 

2020

V.M. Chambers

Clara E. (Bradley) Fowler

 

2021

Daniel C. Berry III

Tommy Charles Price