BACK WHEN THEY
BUCKED: With Jim Korkow
By Siri Stevens
The Rodeo News, Volume 16, Issue 18 (see http://www.therodeonews.com/)
February 1, 2009
When Jim Korkow
was in the eighth grade, his dad pulled him out of school one day. He needed Jim to drive a semi load of cattle to Sioux City,
280 miles away. Driving semis has been one of Jim’s favorite things to do ever since.
Jim’s father, Erv Korkow, was in the horse trading
business back in the 30’s and 40’s; buying thin-unbroke horses and feeding them up and either breaking them to
ride or drive. Erv had five sisters and there was always a group of young men around the Korkow Ranch on a Sunday afternoon
that were eager to get on a bucker and show off for the girls.
In 1947 Erv trailed his horses to Blunt, SD; picking up a few extra from the neighbors
on the way and they put on a rodeo with real bucking chutes, back pens and an arena. Admission was a $1 per car load.
Jim grew up in a family that
was involved in ranching, farming, trucking, and rodeo. Jim and his two younger brothers, Don and Ken, all got put to work
at an early age because Erv was a firm believer in “child-labor”. “We did it all” Jim recalls, “from
early morning feedings - sorting stock - cleaning equipment - brushing saddle horses- carrying flags and riding in parades
and grand entries - the performance - then with hay and water or load stock on the trucks and drive back to the ranch. Didn’t
matter when you got to bed you were expected up the next morning and to put in a full day. I didn’t know how much fun
rodeo was until I went to college and made the rodeo team. Going to a rodeo as a “contestant only” was a whole
new world.”
Brothers
Don and Ken are still both involved with the ranch; each owning some property. Although both live in Omaha, Neb., Don has
just retired from Merrill Lynch and will be moving back in the next couple years. Ken works for the Christian Businessmans
Committee in Omaha and uses the ranch for retreats and therapy for clients. Don and Ken, with their families, spend a lot
of time in South Dakota and help with ranch work and gathering pastures.
Jim started working at rodeos in 1947 when his father began staging amateur rodeos. “I
started in the stripping chute when I was five or six,” he recalls. He rode bareback horses and bull dogged in high
school and while attending college at South Dakota State University. He started fighting bulls when he was 14 for the guaranteed
paycheck, but switched to riding pick-up in 1962, principally “because my wife worried about me.” His pick up
horses were raised by the Korkows from colts and all from the same stallion.
Jim took over the family business, buying it in 1993 when Erv passed away, continuing
what his father started. “He’s been the glue,” said his wife, Carol. “He worked for Erv and then he
bought it out. He’s been the backbone of it.”
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| Jim Korkow at his ranch in South Dakota during his rodeo school, April 25-26, 2008. |
Third
generation rodeo producer and stock contractor, Korkow Rodeos has been producing rodeos for over 60 years. Pierre, South Dakota,
has been home to the Korkow family since the 1920s. Over 95% of Korkow bucking stock is raised at their 20,000 acre ranch,
the Anchor K, nestled in the rolling hills of the Missouri River. Their stock is branded on the left hip with the Anchor K.
Korkow
Rodeos furnishes rodeo livestock for an average of 36 professional, college, high school and 4-H rodeos each year, including
the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. The year starts in January in the deep South in Louisiana and goes strong through the
Finals. Rodeos in between include the states of Alabama, California, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North
Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington.
In 1954, the South Dakota Rodeo Association was formed, with Erv Korkow as its
first President. In 1956 he initiated a yearend finals, with the top cowboys getting on the top stock of the five association
contractors. Casey Tibbs competed there in 1957 in a matched bronc ride. Casey was intrigued with the idea of top cowboys
getting on the top stock and felt the RCA needed to do something similar. He sold the idea to Jim Shoulders and they are credited
with starting the first NFR in Dallas, TX in 1959.
Erv
Korkow and his partner, James Sutton joined the RCA as Korkow and Sutton Rodeos in 1958 and had livestock chosen for the first
NFR in 1959. Korkows have had livestock selected for every NFR since then.
Beginning with his father’s
breeding program which went back to the Calvary horse Crow Butte, Jim has established a herd of around 330 good bucking horses
and 120 bulls. Erv had bought five mares from the Took Ranch in Montana, an already established bucking string. From these
five mares, they raised “Custer”, “Timberline” and “Grey Wolf” studs, who became foundation
sires to Korkows’ herd of bucking horses.
“Over the years we’ve traded or bought stallions from
Harry Vold, Ike Sankey, Greg Kessler, adding new blood to the herd. One of the many outstanding horses and bulls raised in
this program was a brown gelding named “Slippery” who was voted by the cowboys as the top Saddle Bronc of the
Year in the PRCA in 2006.”
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| Jim Korkow (left), with the picture of the Pickup Men and artist (Sage) Jim Sayre. |
The
ranch, located 20 miles north of Pierre, SD., is perfect for raising bucking stock. “There’s no place better than
here to raise rodeo stock. I’ve seen lots of country and this is perfect for what I do. My horses grow up here, running
up and down the hills, jumping over rocks, and kicking at rattlesnakes; and they can handle anything that happens in the arena.”
Jim uses 4-wheelers to gather and sort the stock. “I haven’t been on a horse in seven years. We
used to have a huge gathering of family and friends to gather the bull pasture, now we only need a few riders with the 4-wheelers.
We bought our first 4 wheeler at the NFR eight years ago.”
The company has
six semis, and often has them going in several directions at one time. Along with hauling the stock for rodeos, Jim and his
son, TJ, haul a fair amount of cattle and hay.
Jim married his high school sweetheart,
Carol Junkman. They both grew up together in Blunt, SD. “I used to throw rocks at her and pull her hair,” said
Jim. They have been married 44 years and have three children, Faith, Misty, and TJ. The kids were raised in a motor home from
June through September. They’d come home to change clothes. Carol timed at their rodeos and timed the NFR in 1991 and
Pocatello the next year. She has timed the circuit finals many years.
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| Jim fighting bulls in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1963. |
The
family started putting on a rodeo school 23 years ago. “It’s one more avenue to try our young stock. We have our
youth 4-H and high school rodeos, but the school lets us try out our young stock at home,” said Jim. “It’s
also a way to guarantee we’ve got contestants in the future and a way to teach them how to ride and handle the stock
in the chutes.”
The school is held the last weekend in April at the ranch and the students
are paired up with some of the best in the business Scott Montague, Wayne Herman, Chad Ferley, Tom Miller, Jeff Willert, Fred
Boettcher, Chris Aman, and Shane Anderson are among this year’s instructors. Along with help with rigging, dismounting,
and position, each contestant has multiple opportunities to get on and the videos are reviewed each day.
Family
and friends provide a hearty lunch and there is often a country jam session sometime during the weekend. The 2009 school is
April 24 - 26.
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