Teepee Creek Stampede - Historic Annual July Stampede & Rodeo, CPRA Rodeo Action

Teepee Creek Stampede Articles & Testimonials

Pro Rodeo Comes to Teepee Creek
By Dianne Finstad
Courtesy of Canadian Rodeo News

Race To The Finish Pro competitors looking to escape the July heat and run at some cash will be able to head north this summer for two brand new stops on the rodeo calendar. But, both of these welcoming communities are no strangers to the concept of rodeo.
In fact, Teepee Creek boasts a rodeo tradition dating back nearly a century. For many years, the Stampede was the largest amateur rodeo in the north, and one of the larger shows in the nation. To help celebrate its 91st annual rodeo, the show is going pro.

“We want to make this a strong event, and give people a good show,” explained Teepee Creek Stampede Association vice-president, Mack Erno. The reputation of the western event there is probably bigger than the place itself. If you have never been to this proud little location, Erno says you just head about 50 kilometres north and east of Grande Prairie.
“It’s pretty small. It’s just a hamlet with about six houses and probably less than twenty people. There’s a school with kindergarten to grade eight, but the store shut down about seven or eight years ago.”

Swinging Rope The Stampede Association serves as one of the pillars of their community. The small, but dedicated group have maintained the grounds and kept the rodeo tradition alive over the years. Some of them are even third (and fourth) generation members of the association. “It’s a constantly evolving project,” said Erno. “We’ve been at our current location for fifty odd years now. It went from wooden pens and chutes, to an all-steel handling system and bucking chutes. Now we’re working on our half-mile track to make it five-eighths. This year, we’re running wagons three nights for the first time.
“The rodeo’s big heyday was back in the 1970s. In fact, in 1974, there were 15,000 people there, and it was by far the largest event in the Peace Country.”

Teepee Creek became famous for a number of unique features, including the Teepee Creek brand.
“It’s a bar over T P. It was used when we used to run our own horses. Teepee Creek raised and kept its own herd of bucking horses to use once a year at the Stampede. They were finally sold in the early 1990s.”
That helps explain another legendary element of the show, a little something known as the ‘Teepee Creek Terror’.
“It’s our signature event, and got started back in 1954. They’d pick the rankest horse in the herd, and some extra money would be put up to see if the cowboy could make a ten second ride on it.” It’s a feature that’s survived the test of time, and last year, organizers opened the show with it. A contestant was drawn for the chance to make the ride, and it was up to the cowboys if they wanted to take that opportunity for some bonus cash. Erno says the plan is to keep the popular element going this year. In fact, the Terror has been sponsored by JKD Services for the last few years—a third generation supporter of the Stampede.

Wagon Driver The cow milking and horse racing events have also been huge favourites, as many of the locals compete. More recently, another historic Teepee Creek contest was revived by the committee. “It’s called the Rawhide Race. We brought it back last year as an exhibition event. Basically you have a rope dallied on a saddle, and the rider pulling another person behind, who’s kneeling, sitting or standing on a piece of rawhide. They pull them across the arena, then have to switch positions and head back.” Word spread quickly about the race last year, and it took six heats to get everyone in.
“It was quite a hit. My wife and I were a team and the rodeo clown got into it before the end. The key is a fast trade. We’ll likely do something like that again this year.”

Teepee Creek is a community that appreciates tradition, because many of the families have deep roots in the community.
“We like to maintain that part of our show, because there’s so much history here. My great-grandparents were around when it started,” stated Erno. “In the 1940s, they used to have a musical ride with the ladies from around the area and it would travel all over. My grandmother was in that. “I travel around quite a bit, and I’m always running into somebody who knows about the rodeo here. Pro rodeo’s very own rodeo administrator, Jim Pippolo, told me he had fond memories of riding in Teepee Creek, and even has a winning buckle to prove it.”

Rodeo clown Making the move to become a pro rodeo was a big step for the tiny community. But it’s one the organizers believe will be worth it. “There’s a lot of excitement. We were at the point where you can go forward with it, or opt out. As a committee, we know there’s a lot of history here. We want to at least see 100 (years), and keep going from there.”

* 2009 TP Creek Stampede photos courtesy of STAR-K Photography

Teepee Creek and Fort St. John Rodeos Memorable for Contestants and Fans Alike
By Darell Hartlen

Sometimes you just have to stop what youíre doing, take a step back and have some fun.
It's hard to imagine that something called a terror could be described as fun, but according to saddle bronc rider Rod Rimmer, that's exactly how he described his experience last month. When the Teepee Creek Stampede rodeo committee decided to try their hand at hosting a professional rodeo, they decided to include an optional event on the program; an open challenge of sorts. The test at hand was to ride a horse known as the Teepee Creek Terror. But, instead of a normal, eight second ride, the 'lucky' contestant who got picked would be required to last ten seconds. So just before intermission on the Saturday afternoon, all of the bronc riders and the bareback riders who were up to the task put their names into a hat. When they pulled out a name, it was Rimmer's. The 45-year-old bronc rider and steer wrestler from British Columbia was guaranteed $250 for his attempt.

Realistically, just making the ten second mark might not have been that difficult, but that's when Rimmer found out that there were a few extra hoops he would have to jump through. Rimmer was told that if he rode the Terror following the extra rules heíd get an extra $500. "The judges kind of made them up," laughed Rimmer. "They said, "You have to make a qualified start on him, you aren't allowed to double grab or nothing." And there was more. He was informed that the whistle would sound at eight seconds, at which point he had to make it two more. "You have to ride him two seconds after that in fine shape," they told him. "You can't be hanging on the side or anything like that. It's got to be a qualified ride. You have to rip off your hat and fan the horse for four to five seconds and then put the hat back on. You can't lose it after either. Then you have to get off on a pick-up man.""They said that if I didn't do it, the judges and the stock contractor were going to split the money," Rimmer exclaimed. "I was darn sure listening to what they were telling me to do."

So how'd it go? Weíll let Rimmer tell the story himself.
"It was pretty darn hard to put it all together in one basket," he understated. "He was just a wild one that they brought in - a chute fighter, you know with double cross-ties and whatnot, one that ain't normally out in our draw for the bronc riding or bareback riding. He's just too darned squirrelly. I got on and then managed to start him out. Then it was time to take my hat off. The horse was just going absolutely wild-crazy bucking out there and then he went down on his belly. Actually, it seemed like he was going to flip over, but he went down on his back legs onto his (butt) and then down onto his belly. I jerked my hat off. So then I'm kind of fanning him when he jumps up and starts bucking and kicking across the arena. I figure, well, I've got about four or five seconds of this and I'm trying to put my hat back on. Then the thing's bucking around in a circle and the pick-up men can't even get close. By that point the whistle had gone and I was supposed to keep going for at least another two seconds. It ended up being a lot longer than that. I ended up getting off on the pick-up guys."
Unsurprisingly, the crowd went absolutely crazy.

"It was fun," smiled Rimmer. "You know when you're going (down the road) and trying to be so serious all the time, to do that, just go out and have some fun like that, I tell you what, it's just a morale build-up. People came over after and were shaking my hands and people were asking me to sign their rodeo sheets. They said that was the best part of the whole darn rodeo."

Rimmer won the well-deserved $750 cash and the committee even sent him some trinkets. "I even got a pair of Teepee Creek Terror underwear that they had over at the beer gardens," chuckled Rimmer. "They said "Take these home to your wife! It's nice when we can go out and have some fun every now and then."

Meanwhile, in Fort St. John, B.C., hometown bull rider Cole Collins took advantage of his local support, chalking up only the second 90-point ride of the 2007 season. Collins rode C+ Rodeo's five-time CFR selected bull X's and O's to win the rodeo and $1,311. "It turned out really good for me. All my family and friends were there watching," said the 22-year-old Collins. "They always go whenever they can to see me ride, but it was pretty nice to do good in my hometown for sure."
Ironically, the other 90-point ride came on the same bull when Nathan Roy won Williams Lake just a few weeks earlier.
It marked the third time that Collins had been matched up against the 1,800 lb. outlaw. Both times prior, it hadn't worked out in the cowboy's favour. "I guess the third time was the charm for sure. I just had to wait until he got a little older and slowed down so that I could ride him though," he joked.

After battling injuries the past two seasons, Collins is hoping to make it back to the Canadian Finals this November. He is currently in contention with $9,970 made and is 12th in the Canadian bull riding standings. The way he sees it, the Finals would be the perfect place to shine. "You travel around all year long and you pretty much spend everything you make on travel expenses and stuff. When you get to the Finals, that's where you can make all the money. You've got no expenses there and there's lots of money to be won. You can make some pretty good coin there. It would be a pretty big accomplishment for me to win the Canadian Finals."