ProRodeo Sports News - June 23, 2023

Hall of Famer, world champion and versatile cowboy, was 92 Legend Passes MEMORIAM C.R. BOUCHER

BY TRACY RENCK P The world of rodeo has lost another legend. ProRodeo Hall of Famed steer wrestler C.R. Boucher passed away June 18 at the TenderNest Assisted Living facility in Laurel, Mont. He was 92. Boucher, who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2001 in Colorado Springs, Colo., was referred to as the Great American Cowboy by his many friends. “I couldn’t believe it,” Boucher said to the ProRodeo Sports News when he was informed he was being inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2001. “I know a lot these young cowboys around here and I thought they might be pulling a joke on me. “Then Pat (Hildebrand, Hall of Fame executive director) called me, and I questioned her about it. It really didn’t sink in during the conversation. I’ve been away from rodeo for 15 years, so I thought I was just another forgotten cause.” Boucher’s versatility and dedication to the sport was not overlooked by the selection committee. Boucher qualified for the National Finals Rodeo seven times from 1961-66 and 1968. He won the 1964 Rodeo Cowboys Association Steer Wrestling World Championship. Boucher defeated fellow ProRodeo Hall of Famer John W. Jones Sr. for the title by a mere $695 in Los Angeles. Entering the final round – which was Round 8 back then – the 33-year-old Boucher led Jones by 2.7 seconds in the critical average race. Whoever finished higher in the average would walk away with the gold buckle. “John W. drew a black steer that ran. I think he’d been thrown in 8 or 9 seconds,” Boucher recalled to the PSN. “Mine was a big black and white steer and the fastest he’d been thrown was 18 seconds, but he didn’t run hard like John’s steer. The only thing that saved me was that John’s hazer was a little late and he ran him into the bucking chutes down at the back end.” Jones clocked a time of 24.2 seconds,

opportunity to compete or work at every NFR city during his time – Dallas, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City and Las Vegas. After working the 1985 NFR in Vegas, Boucher walked away from rodeo and found his way back to Montana. Boucher was elected in 1969 as the second vice president for the RCA and served as the steer wrestling contestant director from 1970-73 and was on the NFR board. Boucher also worked 27 years as a pickup man for Elra Beutler and the Beutler family. “He (Elra) asked me if I’d pick up and I picked up for 27 years and stayed there with him,” Boucher said. “I loved to pickup, it’s something I really enjoyed. (Elra) treated me like one of his family and I took a liking to him.” Boucher was born May 21, 1931, in Livingston, Mont. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Boucher was an all-state football and basketball player, and he played one year of football at Montana State. In 1958, after a two-year stint in the Army, Boucher met up with bulldogging hazer Aubry Rankin of Carlsbad, N.M. The two began competing together and rest is history. “He always said he wanted to be remembered for his honesty, his straightforwardness and his work ethic,” said Vickie MacCarty, a family spokesperson. “He had a lot of integrity and that’s the way he wanted other people to be. He had a willingness to always help people. Whether it was monetarily or to help them learn how to bulldog. He had a big heart and always wanted to be fair.” Funeral services for Boucher will be at noon (MT) on July 1 at Miller’s Horse Palace in Laurel, Mont.

while Boucher turfed his steer in 11.3 seconds. Boucher finished second in the average while Jones came in fifth, securing the gold buckle for Boucher. “I remember catching my steer right there fairly close but couldn’t hardly throw him over,” said Boucher, who also was battling a knee injury before Round 8. “I remember tipping him up on his left hind leg, but I didn’t think he was ever going to tip over.” Boucher also was the reserve world champion in 1961, thanks to winning the average with an 81.1-second time on eight head. He added a third-place finish in the 1963 world standings. In addition to his in-arena accomplishments, Boucher served as a chute boss, and pickup man. He was an NFR pickup man in 1971, 1978, 1982, and 1985 and an NFR chute boss three times. His talents afforded him the

Ferrell Butler photo C.R. Boucher poses for a photo at the Strong City (Kan.) Rodeo in 1964. Boucher, a steer wrestling world champion, and seven-time qualifier for the National Finals Rodeo was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2001 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

ProRodeo Sports News 6/23/2023

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