Red Wing came straight out of the chute standing on his hind legs. He bucked…hard! He sidestepped, circled, head down, head up. The crowd exploded as they watched Sperry’s waist-long black braid flounce up and down to the rhythm of the horse under her. She heard the 10-second whistle blow and jumped to the ground. She knew this magnificent sorrel had given her the ride of her life. ‘GIVE THE LITTLE LADY A NIIICE HAND!’ said the announcer.

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in Wild West magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

One of the judges took over the megaphone. He called for Fannie Sperry to approach the platform. She swept off her hat and bowed to the crowd. They whistled and clapped and stomped their boots on the wood bleachers. She savored every word as the announcer said, ‘THE LADY BUCKING HORSE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD… FANNIE SPERRY!’ Weadick presented Sperry with a check for $1,000, a hand-tooled leather saddle, and an engraved gold buckle.

The next day, an excited Sperry accompanied her mother south to their ranch near Helena, Mont. She wrote about the trip in her journal, not wanting to leave out a single detail. But she didn’t have long to dwell on her accomplishment; her next rodeo started in just five days. For the rest of the fall rodeo season, Sperry entered and competed in shows throughout the state. While competing at the Deer Lodge fair, she met Bill Steele. Bill, 11 years older than Fannie, had earned his reputation around rodeos as a star rider and arena clown. He ardently courted her, and on April 30, 1913, they married.

Weadick re-entered Fannie’s life in the summer of 1913. He enticed the young bride to ride in the ‘World’s Greatest Frontier Days’ Celebration’ in Winnipeg. Fannie Sperry Steele drew a terrifying but well-known and crowd-pleasing bronc named Midnight. That draw and a good ride brought her a second women’s world bucking horse championship.

Fannie Sperry Steele never worried about which horse she might draw. Numbers, written on individual scraps of paper, were placed in a hat. Each number matched a horse. She stood in line with the men to draw her number, and she always rode the horse she drew. She wrote in her journal: ‘In New York I drew a wicked bucker called Watch Me. He piled me hard. That same year, in Kansas City, I drew Watch Me again. The rodeo people bet big that I wouldn’t ride him again. But I never turned down a horse in my life. I rode Watch Me, and the bronc put me in the top money.’

In addition to riding in rodeos, Bill and Fannie owned and operated their own Wild West show, using wild horses captured in the hills behind the Sperry Ranch. They worked these shows for many years. Sperry Steele, riding back-to-back performances, sometimes rode as many as 14 broncs a weekend.

The Steeles also accepted invitations to perform in more famous Wild West shows. ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody hired the couple to perform with him in the Shan-Kive show in Chicago in 1916. During her performances, Sperry Steele dressed in her typical riding fashion–long black braids, a vaquero-styled hat to shade her eyes from the sun, fancy cowboy boots, a shirtwaist and a split skirt. She knew that many of the spectators came to watch the women performers, and like the other cowgirls, she tried to ride like the cowboys but not look like them.

Years before joining up with Buffalo Bill Cody, Sperry Steele also had proved herself to be a star rifle shooter. It was only natural for Cody to utilize her shooting skills. She shot china eggs out of her husband’s fingers and cigars out of his mouth. The crowd-pleasing act was short-lived, however; Bill Cody died the following year. Because of men like Cody, women rodeo performers had starred in Wild West shows as early as the 1880s. By 1887, Cody had added authentic bronc-riding cowgirls. That same year, the future Cody star performer, Fannie Sperry, was born on March 27, in Montana Territory. The winter of 1886-87 was one of the worst in Montana’s history. Out on the range, thousands of animals and many cowboys froze to death. Fannie’s father, Datus Sperry, owned a dairy farm near the Gates of the Mountains, about 20 miles north of Helena. He also captured wild horses in the nearby hills. His five children, trained to ride by their mother Rachel, broke the horses for sale.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to