PETE KNIGHT, WORLD CHAMPION BUCKING HORSE RIDER OF THE 1930s.

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...He was the acclaimed King of the Cowboys, in song and in legend. He began his competitive riding career at the Deep Dale Ranch near Crossfield, Alberta, during the First World War. Pete Knight rose to be one of North America's most celebrated heroes, riding for Royalty, Presidents and the common man. In 1927, he won the solid silver Prince of Wales Cup, an award commissioned in 1923 by the heir to the British throne, which was the most prestigious sporting award in Canada in its day. Pete went on to win the cup for a third time in 1933, making the coveted award his personal property. In the United States of America, Pete was awarded the Dempsey trophy for being the World's greatest bronc-rider, and a long list of other awards, cups, trophies and accolades followed.

On Sunday, 23 May 1937, Pete Knight was killed at a Hayward, California rodeo before his young wife and 5000 spectators, after having been acclaimed four-times World Bronc Riding Champion, by the Rodeo Association of America. In his lifetime, Pete gave away thousands of dollars of his winnings to injured and destitute rodeo contestants, at the height of the greatest depression that then gripped the world. When he died, Provinces and States across North America gave Pete a funeral befitting a King.

Today, Pete is buried at the Greenwood Cemetery, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA, beside his Wife Babe and only daughter Deanna.

In spite of the high regard that literally millions of people had for this esteemed goodwill Ambassador in the United States, Canada, England and Australia, Pete Knight's name is virtually forgotten, and there is no mention at his grave-site of the internationally-loved legend that this man became.

The Pete Knight Memorial Foundation is commissioning a monument to be built, to be dedicated at the Greenwood Cemetery in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to the greatest rider and to one of the greatest men of the twentieth century...Pete Knight, "The King of the Cowboys." Any and all donations for this project will be gratefully accepted, and no amount is too small.

Pete Knight Memorial Foundation: S.R. 28, Box 13, Bluffton, Arkansas, USA, 72827