By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Cole and Kyle Methvin say it’s been almost 100 years since there has been a ranch rodeo at Burdick.

The brothers have organized an event for 4 p.m. Monday at the town’s ball diamond after its annual Burdick Labor Day festivities.

Fourteen teams of three cowboys each have signed up to participate.

“We wanted to re-spark that old tradition,” Cole said. “We filled up our teams pretty quickly.”

They will be competing in steer wrestling, trailer loading, and branding.

Seating is limited, so spectators are being asked to bring lawn chairs.

In the first three decades of the 20th century, ranch rodeos were put on in a pasture north of Burdick.

When Model Ts came on the scene, they were used to form an arena, Cole said.

A famous cowboy, Bill Pickett, born of African American and Cherokee parents, performed at Burdick.

Pickett, who died in 1932, is credited with introducing steer wrestling. Originally, it was known as bulldogging, the skill of grabbing cattle by the horns and wrestling them to the ground. With the help of a trained bulldog, a stray steer could be caught.

Picket’s method of bulldogging was to bite the animal in its tender nostrils and then fall backward.

Picket worked for 101 Ranch, which comprised 110,000 acres in Oklahoma and a big chunk of the Flint Hills east of Burdick. The Jack Methvin family now owns part of that land.

Pickett was part of a 101 Wild West Show that lasted 35 years, 1905 to 1939. He rodeoed with Buffalo Bill Cody, Will Rogers, and other cowboys. He was billed as “The Dusty Demon.” The show toured the world and appeared in early motion pictures.

Burdick’s 50th Labor Day Celebration will include a run/walk at 8 a.m. Monday and a parade at 2 p.m.