by Terry Lidral
There’s a 2,000 acre Western ranch and rodeo in Pilesgrove, New Jersey about a hundred miles from New York City and an hour outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It’s not where you expect to find a true working Western ranch complete with pastures full of rodeo stock. But the Harris family has been bringing the people of New Jersey rodeo since 1929.
The large cowboy and cow statues out front of the 4,000 seat arena will let you know you’ve found the legendary Cowtown Rodeo. What started out as an entertainment has, over the past nearly 90 years, become a full service rodeo. “In 1926, my great grandfather, Howard Harris, Sr., started a livestock auction. Back then, New Jersey was the real ‘Garden State’ and the auction drew a huge number of people,” said Howard Grant Harris, a 4th generation son and current owner of Cowtown Rodeo.
Howard Stoney Harris, Jr. who worked with Harris, Sr. at the livestock auction, garnered an interest in Western shows.
“Because of the large number of people coming to the market, my grandfather, Howard, Jr., decided to put on a rodeo in conjunction with the Salem County Fair as entertainment,” the 4th generation Cowtown proprietor went on. “That was in 1929.”
Cowtown Rodeo started out in 1929 as entertainment for fair goers in Salem County, New Jersey.
The people in the “Garden State” liked rodeo and until 1937, the Cowtown Rodeo was an annual event held during the county fair. For the Harrises, rodeo was becoming a family business and a passion. For the fan base they were building, it was becoming a family tradition.
But with the start of World War II, Cowtown Rodeo suspended its operations, picking up again in 1955 when Harris, Jr.’s son Baldy returned from the University of Idaho. Filled with the Harris passion for rodeo, Baldy came home with the 1954 National Intercollegiate All Around Rodeo Championship title. It was the beginning of what is known as the “oldest weekly professional rodeo in the United States,” and a new venture that would bring Western rodeo to the people of New England and the eastern coastline.
“They did it for the money,” chuckled Grant Harris when asked why his Harris predecessors decided to pack up the rodeo and go on tour. “They had the stock. They had the stock personnel. They were deep enough to go on tour. Why wouldn’t you?”
Over the years, Cowtown Rodeo had developed their own bucking stock breeding programs and they raised their own roping stock.
“You get a set contract to put on a rodeo,” he continued. “You put on a rodeo somewhere and you can make money.”
Baldy, who is Grant’s dad, took over the Cowtown Rodeo operations shortly after his return from Idaho. The rodeo became part of the Rodeo Cowboys Association (which was to become known as the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association), making them part of the professional rodeo circuit. Baldy’s rodeo toured the East Coast from Rutland, Vermont to the Carolinas creating an interest in both fans and contestants all along the way.
Cowtown Rodeo took the road as part of the Rodeo Cowboy Association, touring the East Coast.
Then, it came time to pass Cowtown Rodeo on to the next generation. And, Howard Grant Harris took over the reins, with the help of his wife Betsy, bringing the focus of the rodeo operations back to the home base of Pilesgrove, New Jersey.
“My grandfather moved away and my dad moved to Oklahoma,” said Grant. “That left me to run things. I was on my own.”
Growing up at Cowtown gave Grant the background, experience and love of rodeo he needed to carry on the family tradition of successful rodeo. His first memories of rodeo go back to bleacher surfing as a kid during the weekly performances.
“I remember sneaking under the bleachers to find stuff that fell down,” Grant told us with a laugh. “I rode calves and junior bulls with the other little guys from around here. There was a whole generation from the area.”
Grant Harris was a cowboy from the moment he could walk.
With rodeo in his blood, Grant won the junior bull riding championship and went to Casper College in Casper, Wyoming on a full rodeo scholarship. He rode saddle broncs and pulled down titles in the Northeast Circuit. But when faced with the decision of carrying on the legacy of Cowtown Rodeo or continuing his rodeo career, he chose the family business. It’s a legacy he’s very proud of.
“Cowtown Rodeo got known in 1957 and 1958 when it was broadcast on television by a local ABC affiliate out of Philadelphia. That station got bought by ABC and we were part of the programming. In 1959 and 1960, Cowtown Rodeo was shown live on Saturday nights around the country,” Grant said.
“We also did some commercials for Merrill Lynch with our bucking bulls,” continued Grant. “We were close to New York City and so they called us when they needed a bull to film a commerical. We had a bull named Playboy that got gentle as he got older.
Cowtown’s bull Playboy became the famous Merrill Lynch mascot with a $10 million stroll.
I took him in to Atlantic City where they were having a Merrill Lynch convention. They had a cut glass and bottle show with glass and ceramics everywhere. Playboy was supposed to roam through the glass for the filming. Because they were using a real live bull, they took out a 10 million dollar insurance policy on the exhibit.”
But the insurance wasn’t necessary.
“We hid everybody because Playboy didn’t like people around and let him out of the trailer. He roamed around the aisles for a half hour and then I got some grain and called him. I always call my bulls when I feed them and he knew what I had. He hadn’t found any food roaming around so he came right to the trailer and went in. There wasn’t one broken piece of glass.”
Cowtown Rodeo did commercials with their bulls for about 20 years, but that wasn’t the end of the celebrity status. Playboy had a role in Barbara Streisand’s popular film “For Pete’s Sake” where he roamed the streets of New York with a herd of cows and gave the actress a ride on his back.
For Grant, Cowtown is much more than a rodeo. It’s a legacy of cowboys and cowgirls, generations of loyal fans, hard work and hard times, and a part of professional rodeo.
“Our contestants come here for many different reasons. Some come here to try to make the Circuit Finals to have a chance at going to the Wrangler National Finals in Las Vegas. We’ve had a couple of barrel racers make the WNFR. Bull rider Bobby Delvecchio, 6-time NFR qualifier from the Bronx, rode junior bulls here.
Cowtown cowboys Butch, Sandy and Kaye Kirby went on to become PRCA stars.
Then there are the 3 Kirby brothers, Butch, Sandy (Texas Rodeo Hall of Famer) and Kaye from here who made NFR history in 1975 by being the first threesome of brothers to quality for the NFR. Some are talented locals who want to compete,” Grant went on, “but they don’t want to go far away from home. Then there are older guys who have riding a bull on their bucket list so they try it here.”
And there are generations of loyal fans who wouldn’t miss the weekly rodeo.
“We have about 1,000 fans who come every week. They grew up coming to the Cowtown Rodeo.”
When asked what he thinks has been the key to the longevity of Cowtown, Grant has a simple answer.
“It’s stubbornness. Not every year is a home run,” he explained. “Rodeo is influenced by weather. The crowds are affected when it rains. It’s always a gamble.”
But it’s a gamble that Grant loves. With 600 head of rodeo stock and 100 head of black angus cattle, it takes a lot of work to keep it going.
“I love the fact that my grandchildren are out there with me. It’s a working ranch and we use horses to do things like sort cattle. It keeps the horses in shape and my grandkids enjoy it.”
There’s a fifth Harris generation coming in to the rodeo business. Grant’s daughter and her husband RJ Griscom work with Grant at Cowtown. Courtney, also Grant’s daughter, is married to Jake Morehead of Three Hills Rodeo in Bernard, Iowa and they provide Cowtown Rodeo with quality bucking horses.
With Grant still on board, a fifth generation already incorporated into the business and a sixth generation growing up loving rodeo, the future of Cowtown Rodeo looks mighty bright.
