Don Bell Research Paper

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Don Bell had the west in his eyes and heart. He was twelve when he entered his first rodeo contest. Until 1943 he competed in rough stock events, such as calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling, and saddle bronc, and appeared at such venues as Soldier Field in Chicago and the Boston Gardens. Don was part of the Clyde Miller Wild West Show, the Bill King Rodeo Co., and Rufus Rollins’ Wild West Show. In the Western movie Shane, he rode a bucking horse in a muddy street scene. Don was an original Gold Card-holding member of the Cowboy Turtle Association, the first professional rodeo association, and an honorary cardholder of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. The rodeo gear he wore is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institute. …show more content…

Don and Ernie found themselves having to flee from a foxhole under attack by artillery shells. Ernie had his Smith-Corona typewriter with him and was forced to leave it behind. During the fight to regain the ground, Don managed to retrieve the lucky typewriter and had it shipped home. Years later he donated it to the museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and it is still there today. ✭ Don only stopped cowboying long enough to write about it, on his own Smith-Corona typewriter. Don kept an old sheep wagon in his Wyoming front yard. He had a phone installed in there, and he used the wagon as his writing office. ✭ I met and photographed Don in the late 1980s and had the pleasure of spending the evening at his house and having coffee with him at sunrise. As a professional photographer, I had seen a lot of sunrises, but not as many as Don; he never missed a single one. His days always held so much. I knew he was someone special, and I wish I had recorded his many stories with more than my heart and a few photos. I still remember his advise to me when I was heading north from his home to camp for the first time in grizzly country. Don’s sage words were, “Just remember . .

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