During Friday night’s edition of the annual Marion County Cattlemen’s Association Rodeo, the Mississippi Rodeo Hall of Fame is inducting two members.
The first, Samuel Norris Hickman, was one of the old-time cattlemen who helped make rodeo what it is today. In the 1930s, he built a cattle empire in nearby Arm. Hickman was also a businessman in Columbia, where he owned a mercantile store. Hickman’s decision to buy a herd of good cow horses probably changed Columbia and rodeo history.
“Delivering the horses that summer were a group of about a half dozen cowhands from Canada,” according to Ken Knopp of the Hall of Fame. “Those cowhands included Earl and Weldon Bascom (already inducted into the Hall of Fame). It was the arrival of these cowboys that that provided the genesis for the very first rodeo in Mississippi, the site of Mississippi’s first permanent rodeo arena with grandstands and other firsts, … including Columbia being nationally known in professional rodeo history as the first rodeo anywhere in America held outdoors at night under electric lights.”
The birthplace for the idea of what is now the Marion County Cattlemen’s Association Rodeo likely took place at Hickman’s Mercantile, where all of the cowboys gathered. With input from the Bascoms, Hickman along with local pharmacist and businessman George Bayliss financed the first rodeo in the area. They provided the money to put up the arena, offer prize money, bring in the livestock and hire trick riders and other performers.
Hickman remained a quiet rancher and business owner in south Mississippi until passing away in 1959. Not a lot is known about him personally. His family is all but gone and his big ranch split up and sold many years ago. Accepting Sam Hickman’s plaque Friday night will be Dr. Tom Watts.
Rodeo goers will recognize the second inductee, who will also be entertaining the crowds. Rodeo clown Rudy Burns has been a part of the scene for decades and visited Columbia last year as part of the rodeo.
“In professional rodeo there are three types of rodeo clowns, the comedy clown, the barrel man and the bullfighter,” Knopp said. “Most rodeo clowns today specialize in one or another of these duties but for Rudy Burns wearing all three titles was common - often at the same rodeo.”
Burns now lives in Smithdale with his wife, Betty Jane, and will take center stage at the Hall of Fame presentation to be held between events during the rodeo Friday night at the Columbia Expo Center.
Pictured Above: Rodeo clown Rudy Burns will be in Columbia this weekend as he is inducted into the Mississippi Rodeo Hall of Fame during the Marion County Cattlemen’s Association Rodeo. | Submitted Photo
