Noted rancher, outfitter and author Stanley Potts, 72, of Shoup, Idaho was inducted during August to the Idaho Legends of Rodeo/Cowboy Hall of Fame. The ceremony occurred Aug. 19 in Gooding during Gooding's annual county fair.
A pioneer in the development of Idaho high school rodeo, Potts, then 15, competed in his first rodeo at Carey in 1949. He won $18 for placing second in calf roping at Patterson, Idaho that same year.
Potts, born on a ranch near Mackay, graduated from high school at Mackay in 1952. That year Potts saw a poster about the National High School Rodeo Finals about to be staged at Augusta, Mont. He made a phone call to get information about competing and the rest is history.
He was one of three Idaho teens to compete that year—the first Idahoans to attend nationals. The other two were Jerry Twitchell of Arco and Stanley Allen from Salmon. Potts finished second in bulldogging, third in bareback riding and he made the calf roping finals.
Idaho joined the National High School Rodeo Association in 1953 and lots of Gem State cowboys and cowgirls have competed since. Potts is proud to have been a pioneer.
Potts seemed to do the best in bulldogging, or steer wrestling. He bought a ranch in Nevada in 1958 and won the Nevada Cowboys Association bulldogging championships in 1958 and 1960. Potts is the author of two books, with a third coming.
A resident of Zinc Spur between Ketchum and Hailey from 1979-91, Potts currently lives at Shoup with his wife of 52 years, Joy.