by Terry Lidral
In 1949, J.C. Ward and his brother Bill put on their first rodeo in Coalgate, Oklahoma. It all started at Medicine Springs as entertainment for the crowd that gathered at the site of the natural spring there. Today, J.C. Ward’s sons are carrying on the rodeo tradition that grew from those humble beginnings into a full service rodeo company.
“We officially celebrated the 70th anniversary of Ward Rodeo Company,” said Terry Ward, son of J.C. Ward and current head of the rodeo operations. “I’ve heard that my grandfather, Jack Ward, did some earlier western show entertainment for the crowd at the springs, but there’s no one to ask about that story. So we say that the rodeo began in 1949.”
J.C. Ward had good stock, and in 1966, Ward Rodeo Company’s bull Rodeo Red was the International Rodeo Association (later becoming the International Professional Rodeo Association) Bucking Bull of the Year.
Medicine Springs was on Jack Ward’s land and was the source of water for folks in the surrounding region. It was a great opportunity for J.C. Ward to try his hand at rodeo and it was a fit. Forming the Ward Brothers Rodeo Company with his brother Bill, who later left the organization, J.C.’s company became a mainstay in the rodeo business in Southeastern Oklahoma over the past 70 plus years.
J. C. Ward spent his career putting on a variety of rodeos. He put on the first two International Rodeo Association events in Oklahoma which established a tradition he continued when the IRA later became the International Professional Rodeo Association. J.C. Ward was instrumental in starting the Oklahoma Junior Rodeo Association and put on OJRA events for many years. He provided livestock for the International Finals Youth Rodeo in Shawnee, Oklahoma for the first 20 years of its existence. As well, Ward Rodeo Company put on open and other sanctioned rodeo events.
