Arizona weekly enterprise., 1888-07-14
LAsso1NG AND BRONCO BUSTING.
The Cowboy Tourmnent at Prescott, and
 Who the Lucky Ones Were.
[Hoof & IIornl

hOOi X hOrn
 July ,, 1888, will long be remem- bered in the annals of Prescott, for the cowboy tournment which closed the series of public exhibitions in honor of the 112th anniversary of the Nations natal day Ever since the announce ment was made public that an oppor- tunity would he given the most expert range riders and riata throwers in northern Arizona to compete for prizes worthy of their skill, general and uni versal interest has been manifested in the outcome, and the surmisings as to whom would be the victors, exceeded in interest and ingenuity the guessing done on the ultimate result of the present presidential canvass. Every section nearly had its champion to rep resent it.
 In the roping and tieing contest, there were eight entries, the names of the ambitious vaqueros being: Stewart Knight, of Chino; Wane Ritter, of Date Creek; W. NJ. Dickenson, of Yer de; Eraza Johnson, of Verde; J. NJ Nesbit, of Walnut Grove Juan Lewis, of Date Creek; Charles Meadows, of Tonto Basin and Tom Anderson of Walnut Creek; While Thomas Shipp, Stephen G. Ross, and S. C. Lowery were selected as judges, with Ben Belcher and U. E. Curtis as time keepers and John Roberts as fagman
 The choice for time brought Stew art Knight out as the first contestant who, after some very pretty riata throw ing and quick work in tieing succeed ed in getting his steer down and se- curely tied in l :29.
 Wayne Ritter was the next on the list, but notwithstanding the skill and grace which distinguished him as being skilled hand at the business, that strangely fickle thing called fortune i by some and luck, by others, was 1 against him, and after a fruitless eff 1 fort he was forced to retire without even a record.
 | w. NJ. Dickenson, who has the name of being one of the finest and most skilled vaqueros on the Verde, was the next to try his luck and not withstanding he made some very pret- i ty throws, and held his horse well in hand, he was forced to retire beaten, which he did as gracefully as any one could do under the circumstances.
 J. M. Nisbett, who came next was destined to have no better fortune than | his predecessors, the animal falling to his lot being an unusually stubborn one, and possessing almost human per versity in doing just what it should not have done. Although caught in a very handsome manner on the first throw of the riata, MT. Nesbitt, after a struggle of some duration was forced to acknowledge himself beaten and retire.
 Juan Lewis followed after the last named and showed himself to be pos sessed of all the traditional skill of his race in such contests, by catching roping and tieing his steer ill I:I755 From the outset he proved himself a aperlect a master in the saddle, and al though in throwing his seer he had the bad luck to have his horse fall with him, in an instant he was again ill the saddle.
 Of all the hard luck that attended the days sports probably the biggest share went to Charley Meadows, who followed Lewis, In 594 seconds after his steer had been turned loose Meadows had the animal roped and tied, but before the applause that | greeted him had died away the steer in some way succeeded in freeing it. self, thus losing to its victor the prize
 After Meadows followed Tom Ander son, of Williamson Valley, who wa; also attended with the bad luck that seemed to be rampant throughout the day, and notwithstanding his goo( riding and good throwing, he wa. forced to retire without a record.
 On conclusion of the contest tn, judges awarded that outfit, consisting of fine saddle, chaparejos and bridl, valued at $150, to Juan Lewis, wht richly deserved the heard-earned tro phy.
 Immediately after the roping anc tying, the bronco riding was inaugu rated, there being only two contestant Charley Meadows and Juan Lewis Both proved themselves to be expert and rode their steeds like Centaurs Both the men were such superior rid CTS that it was impossible to say whicl was the better and the judges wisel solved the conundrum by dividin the purse of$50 equally betweon them 7 Murder at WinsIow.