Collection M 001, Series 13.T.17 and 18

As noted in the 1949-50 student yearbook shown below, "the Rodeo Club was organized in September 1949, in order to provide recreation for those students who were interested in the rough and tumble sport of tangling with bucking broncos and mean-eyed steers.  In October the student newspaper described the purpose of the "Rodeo and Ag Club": to foster interest in agriculture and send a team to collegiate rodeo meets.  Its first officers were Glen Sherman, president; Dick Cochran, vice-president; and Joe Verse, secretary-treasurer.  Pictured [below] are: Glen Sherman, Dick Cochran, John Gjellum, Alfred Frahm, Labe Larson and son, and Donald Knight."  {Sources: The Cadet: 1950, published by the Associated Students of the Fort Lewis A & M College (Hesperus, Colo.), p. 32; and Smoke Signals, Vol. 14, No. 1 (October 22, 1949), p. 2.} 

1954-55 Rodeo Club members pictured below were: (first row, left to right:) Don LeFever, Warren Noland, Babe [Thelma] Perry, Joy Strobel, Winona Stevens, and Rodney Beaty; (second row:) Bill Overmyer [student body president], Dot [Dorothy] Bandy, George Worrell, and Leona Lancaster.  This same photo was used in the May 4, 1955 issue of the Smoke Signals student newspaper, on page 4.  {Source: The Cadet: 1955, published by the Associated Students of the Fort Lewis A & M College (Hesperus, Colo.),  not paginated (this photo appears approximately halfway through the book).

By the time of the 1956-57 school year and with the move from the Old Fort Lewis campus to the new Durango campus, the Rodeo Club had become the Westerners Club.  An article in the November 3, 1956 student newspaper noted that "The Fort Lewis Western [sic] Club is a new club on the campus this year.  In past years it was known as the Rodeo Club.  This year the name was changed to the Western Club in the hope that more students would be interested in a Western Club that [sic] would be interested in a strictly Rodeo Club.  Last year the membership in the Rodeo Club was 20.  This year we hope to double it at least.  The Barn Dances put on by the club last year were considered some of the best dances put on by any organization on our campus."  {Source: Smoke Signals, November 3, 1956, page 3.}  Pictured below were: E. Schenck, G. Dewell, B. Wommer, R. Hollen, K. Stillhammer, D. Everett, S. Jacqua, A. Wilson, M. Diffendaffer, J. Williams, L. Stillhammer, and Mr. Shawcraft. {Source: The Cadet: 1957, published by the Associated Students of the Fort Lewis Agricultural & Mechanical College (Durango, Colo.), not paginated (this photo appears approximately two-thirds through the book).}

The Westerners Club provided a plaque for the "Howdy Walk" walkway on campus that was dedicated at the April 1964 commencement ceremonies.