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Rodeo Exes hall of fame inductees
Special to the Avalanche
Gary Dunshee of Alpine, Elisabeth Prude Longbotham of Clyde and the late Keith Streater of Hamilton have been named 2008 inductees to the Sul Ross State University ANRS and Rodeo Exes Association Hall of Fame. They will be inducted at the ANRS and Rodeo Exes reunion July 25-27 in Alpine.
Dunshee, a 1973 Sul Ross graduate, is the co-owner of Big Bend Saddlery, a founder of Trappings of Texas and longtime curator of the annual event. Longbotham, 1955, a retired educator and rancher, was the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association's All-Around Cowgirl in 1953. Streater, who died in 2005, was a 1965 graduate and a three-time regional champion in bareback riding at Sul Ross.
Dunshee, former president of the ANRS and Rodeo Exes, has demonstrated his saddle-making skills nationwide, including at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., and at San Antonio's Folkstyle Institute. He bought Big Bend Saddlery in Alpine from Mrs. George Nix in 1977 after working there since 1971. In 1979, Bret Collier joined the shop as a partner. The business has done custom work for Tom Selleck, Larry Mahan, Charlie Daniels, Sam Shepard and Nolan Ryan, among others.
Dunshee has participated in the WRCA World Championship Ranch Rodeo, Western Heritage Classic Ranch Rodeo, Texas Ranch Roundup Ranch Rodeo, Tejas Vaquero Trail Ride and Cowboy Spring Gathering; he also has built World Championship and Rookie of the Year saddles for the Professional Cowboys Rodeo Association. He is a corporate sponsor of the Working Ranch Cowboys Association and founder of the Big Bend Ranch Rodeo's Chuck Wagon Cook-off.
Longbotham, the daughter of Sul Ross graduates John G. and Ruth Prude, has balanced education and ranching careers most of her life. She received a B.S degree from Sul Ross and a master's in education from Texas A&M University. Longbotham taught in Ysleta, Snyder, College Station, Georgetown and Clyde, and is a retired professor of education from McMurry University, Abilene. She is also an owner/manager of ranches in Brown, Callahan and Scurry counties, along with properties in Jeff Davis County, raising Hereford cattle, quarter horses and buffalo.
At Sul Ross, she was active in the Rodeo Club, concert band, Methodist Wesley Association, Student Council and was crowned Brand Queen. She won the 1953 NIRA All-Around Champion Cowgirl award. She was honored at the NIRA Finals in 2002, and in 2003, was recognized at the 50th-year reunion honoring NIRA champions at the NIRA Finals in Casper, Wyo. Two scholarships have been endowed at Sul Ross in her honor.
Streater enrolled at Sul Ross in 1961, shortly after winning the American Junior Rodeo Association World Champion Bareback Rider award. He won the NIRA regional bareback title three times as a collegian, and was ranked fifth in the world during his senior year.
Following graduation in 1965, Streater taught at Quemado for 26 years. He also worked Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association events in Texas during the winter, then traveled north in the summer to other rodeos.
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