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2008 Hall of Fame Inductees
From left to right, Bonnie Tucker Blankinship, Christian "Sonny" Davis, and Fred Hill.
Bonnie Tucker Blankinship
Bonnie Tucker Blankinship was born July 24, 1914 in Joseph, Oregon to Ben and Anna Knapper. Bonnie’s mother passed away giving birth to Bonnie, so her grandparents, Dudley and Jennie Richards in Joseph, raised her. There, she attended school and graduated from Joseph High School in 1932. After graduation, she moved to Portland to live with Earl and Faye Riley. Earl was the mayor of Portland and many politicians remembered Bonnie as the most charming stenographer for several years in Portland’s City Hall.
In 1939, she traded in her high heels and city life for life on the ranch in Joseph, when she met and married Harley Tucker. There, she learned about raising sheep, cattle, swine and then started a family. Harley, who was always a cowboy at heart had already begun putting on rodeo-type events, entertaining the Civilian Conservation Corps camps at Wallowa Lake. Starting in the 1940’s, they began producing rodeos. Bonnie was always the rodeo secretary. During those years in rodeo, there was no ProCom where the cowboys call in to enter rodeos like there is today. She would go a day or two before the rodeo began, to open up a rodeo office, take entries, and do the draw, type up programs and judges sheets and everything else that went along with getting the rodeo organized. She also timed at many of the rodeos. Bonnie and Harley spent every weekend of every summer for over 20 years producing rodeos. Then every winter, they would take a trip down south to purchase “doggin” steers and bucking bulls for the next rodeo season. They continued doing this until Harley passed away at the first rodeo of the season in 1960. Bonnie and the crew continued fulfilling the contracts that year and the next year. Then in 1962, she put on a big rodeo auction with action in Walla Walla with a complete dispersal sale. At the time, Bonnie was the only woman stock contractor in the RCA.
Bonnie was a wonderful cook. When she was at home, she was always cooking for hired men. It seemed as though people were constantly coming to the house to eat.
In about 1955, the Round-Up hired Bonnie as the rodeo secretary. She loved the Round-Up. It was the biggest rodeo that she worked and the last one of the season for her. She saw every contestant she knew and enjoyed meeting many cowboys, which only showed up in the Northwest at Round-Up time. She truly loved the “rodeo Family”. She always said that when you make friends in the rodeo business, they are friends forever. At the Round-Up, they even made a special booth for her to work, near the bucking shoots, which to this day, is known as the “Bonnie Tucker Booth”.
She passed away in Enterprise on January 14, 1989 at the age of 74. She is survived by a daughter Darlene Turner of Joseph and her family, a son Butch of Portland and his family, and a half sister Phyllis Usher of Portland.
Her daughter Darlene and Darlene’s three daughters were all past Princesses of the Pendleton Round-Up.
Christian "Sonny" Davis
Sonny Davis was born on January 2, 1935 in Carlsbad, New
Mexico. The family finally moved to Kenna, New Mexico where Sonny spent the rest of his life. He was a student of his dad Red Davis who was a former rodeo rider and roper. Sonny also copied the ground work style of Toots Mansfield.
In 1966 the Rodeo Sports News Annual Edition called Sonny Davis, “The most explosive roper of the last decade. Some evidence of Sonny’s calf roping ability is the fact he’s never been out of the top 15 since 1956.” At 6’3” and 225 lbs. he possessed strength, catlike quickness and superb coordination, which is unusual for such a big man.
Sonny joined the Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1953 and started his professional roping career.
Best known as a three-time RCA World Champion Steer Roper, which he won in 1964,1966 and 1968, his calf roping is also noteworthy. Even though Sonny never won a championship he roped calves seven times at the National Finals Rodeo finishing second to Dean Oliver in 1961 and third behind Oliver and Franklin in 1960. He set and amazing streak of being in the top five of steer roping and/or calf roping 15 times during the years from 1956 to 1975. All told he competed in the world finals 16 times in steer roping, the last in 1980.
Mr. Davis said that his horse “Bill” was probably the best calf horse he ever rode. The horse was related to “Popcorn” and “Peanuts” which were campaigned by Shoat Webster and Everett Shaw.
Sonny won the 1962 and 1964 Pendleton Round-Up all-round and in each of those years he won the calf roping. He competed many years at the Round-Up.
Charles Good says, “Sonny Davis revolutionized both calf roping and steer roping when he came along, using his strength and quickness on the ground. His style is used by winners in both events today.” The Pro-Rodeo Hall of Fame credits him with putting ”zip” in steer roping, which until his time had been something of a perfectionist event.
Sonny was inducted into the RCA Pro-Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979. Sonny died in 1991 after a fight with cancer. His daughter Trudi Davis Lambirth still lives in Kenna area and his other daughter Debi Davis Allison now lives in Ruidoso, New Mexico. Trudi says he was a super dad.
Fred Hill
Fred was born on Feb. 15, 1913 at Helix to James and Beulah Hill. The family moved to Pendleton in 1918.
Fred played basketball and was a member of the 1931
Pendleton High School team that won the State Championship. He received a basketball scholarship to Oregon State College at Corvallis and played on the first Oregon State team to win the West Coast Championship.
After graduation, he worked as a county agent in Baker where he met his wife, Jean Silven. They moved back to the family ranch in Juniper Canyon.
Fred was involved in the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon for many years. He was on the Round-Up Board and was especially fond of his tenure as Native-American Director. He and Clarence Burke and Jesse Jones, Sr. were great friends.
Fred was President of the Round-Up from 1960-61. He served as the temporary chairman of the Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame on its conception in 1969. He was honored as grand marshal of the Westward Ho! Parade in 1994.
Fred Hill, grand marshal of the Westward Ho! Parade, was honored with a pre-parade reception that Friday morning that drew a crowd to the “76” service station owned by Emile Holeman. The banner above the station read, “Fred don’t Let’er Buck!”
The clever invitation offered a “tune-up” (continental chuck wagon) and “fuel” leaded gas (bloody mary), super octane (screw driver) or unleaded (coffee). Fred’s daughter Terry Hill and son and daughter-in-law Fritz and Karen Hill served as hosts.
Fred Hill was one of the best presidents in the long history of the Round-Up.
Mr. Hill was so qualified in so many ways. His physical appearance and his personality exactly fit the Round-Up. He looked and acted as an outsider expected the president of the Round-Up would.
During Fred’s term as president the Round-Up underwent some of the most significant changes in its history. The family day program on Wednesday knocked down the barriers to the opening day attendance problem. One of the boldest moves was that which involved removal of the bleachers in the east end of the arena, constructing new seating in the west end and changing the movement of calves and steers for the roping and bulldogging events.
Perhaps Fred Hill’s greatest contribution was his ability to get those who resist change to see that because it always had been that way it was not necessarily the best way. He got them to accept changes and be happy with the changes
His contributions to the Round-Up developed a better climate in the community for the Round-Up. He is one of the giants in the Round-Up long and glorious history.
He was appointed to the to the Oregon Highway commission in 1967 and served for six years.
Jean Hill died in 1986. Fred married Shirley Gardner Carey.
Fred W. Hill died April 22, 2005 at the age of 92.
He is survived by his wife Shirley of Walla Walla, his daughter Terry of Portland, his son Fritz of Pendleton; grandsons, Jason and Winston; a sister, Isabelle Turner of Portland.
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