Prison Rodeo (Cummins)

The Arkansas prison rodeo was an annual event held at the Cummins Unit in Grady (Jefferson County) from 1972 until 1984. Prison commissioner T. Don Hutto created the rodeo in the wake of the international Arkansas prison scandals, importing the idea from his native Texas, where he had previously worked managing the Huntsville prison. Lasting more than ten years, the rodeo was stopped for financial reasons.

In 1970, Judge J. Smith Henley ruled the entire Arkansas prison system—where cruel and unusual punishment was commonplace—unconstitutional. After winning election as governor in 1970, Democrat Dale Bumpers brought in Terrell Don Hutto to manage the Department of Corrections. Some Arkansans complained about Hutto’s “Texas” methods, with perhaps his most infamous punishment being “Texas TV,” whereby inmates were forced to stand a short distance from a wall and then place their head against it for prolonged periods, sometimes hours. Prisoners who were forced into this position experienced extreme discomfort almost immediately. Despite his controversial methods, Hutto was part of a successful effort to improve conditions at Arkansas’s prisons. Hutto and Governor Bumpers considered the rodeo an entertaining way of opening up Cummins to the public after the scandals of the previous five years.

The first rodeo was held in late August 1972 at a reported cost of $12,000. The rodeo lasted three days and featured inmates as well as “free world” participants. Ninety prisoners took part, and 148 cowboys from across the country also competed for prize money. The attendance was estimated at 4,400. Tickets were between $2.50 and $3.50. Bumpers, who had appointed Hutto, attended the entire first day’s activities, making his entrance on a gold-colored horse and dressed in blue jeans and a cowboy hat. State Representative Charles “Bubba” Wade of Texarkana (Miller County) was an announcer.

In the early 1970s, the penitentiary remained poorly funded, and prison officials hoped to make money on the rodeo. It could be said that Cummins, a place that was in essence a super plantation that had historically relied on enslaved labor, was again squeezing revenue out of its inmate population. Hutto said the first rodeo broke even financially, but he promised to make money the next year. Funds from the rodeo were reported to have gone to the Inmate Welfare Fund to buy musical instruments, athletic supplies, and art materials.

Photographer Bruce Jackson, who published several books on prisons in Arkansas and Texas, attended the first rodeo at Cummins. Jackson wrote how inmates were “enthusiastic because it was something interesting to break the monotony of prison life.” Jackson noted, however, that the men had no experience in bronco or bull riding. The result, he said, was that “riders spent as much time in the air as they’d spent astride the animal they’d just been sitting on.” Despite the obvious danger to the convicts, Jackson underscored how popular the spectacle was. Female convicts were in attendance, and Jackson described women dressed “in gingham skirts and what looked like Frederick’s of Hollywood brassier[e]s.” Women also took part in the greased pig contest.

One of the contests that Jackson saw involved “Mad Money,” where participants attempted to snatch a bag containing $75 in cash from a bag suspended between the horns of a bull. “Almost always,” Jackson wrote, “one or two of the convicts would get stomped or gored by the bull, and while the stomping or goring was going on, another convict would reach over the bull’s horns and grab the bag with the money.” Jackson added that the prison rodeo was the only time he witnessed a convict wearing stripes.

Mark W. Smith, an experienced rodeo cowboy and Arkansas State Rodeo Champion in 1964, served as arena director for the first rodeo. While the “wild cow milking” might have sounded innocuous, the prisoners’ attempts to milk a wild cow were described as “hilarious and dangerous.” It is probably not surprising that even with professional oversight, prisoners did not avoid harm. Inmate Jerry Fraser, who was serving time for writing bad checks, sustained a serious shoulder injury when he fell from a bronco and landed on a steel railing. He was taken to Little Rock (Pulaski County) for surgery. Another inmate, James Brown, was kicked in the stomach by a bronco and removed from the arena on a stretcher.

The Cummins Journal, the inmate-run newspaper, declared that the rodeo was “well received by all and they’re anxiously looking forward to repeat performances in the years to come.” Even the injured Fraser said he would sign up for the rodeo again.

Over the following years, the rodeos became more elaborate. By 1974, Cummins had built permanent bleachers and box seats. Officials also constructed new restrooms and concession stands. In 1977, a rodeo midway was added that included booths and activities for attendees, much like a state fair. The next year, the chariot race made its debut, in which (similar to the races in the time of the Roman Empire) inmates raced chariots pulled by bulls.

In a promotional article for the 1983 rodeo, the Madison County Record reported that the event would be the “biggest, wildest and best” ever, with the bucking stock appearing “to be the roughest and toughest that [the prisons] have ever had.” The rodeo would have “non-stop and furious” action.

The days of the rodeo, however, were coming to an end. The last rodeo at Cummins took place in 1984, two years after the Arkansas prison system achieved compliance with federal guidelines and was no longer considered unconstitutional. The 1984 rodeo made a profit of $23,000, but administrators cited additional and prohibitive costs—such as electrical usage, transporting inmates, security, and promotion—as the reason for discontinuing future rodeos. A prison official acknowledged the popularity of the rodeo but asserted, “We really didn’t feel like the morale of the department would suffer” were the rodeo canceled. By 2025, Louisiana was the only state holding a prison rodeo every year.

For additional information:
“About the 1st Rodeo.” Cummins Journal, September 1972, pp. 19, 31–35.

“Inmate Cowboy.” Cummins Journal, October 1972, pp. 2–3, 9.

Jackson, Bruce. Inside the Wire: Photographs from Texas and Arkansas Prisons. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2013.

Lancaster, Bill. “1st Prison Rodeo Draws the Public; Sellout Expected.” Arkansas Gazette, August 26, 1972, p. 14A.

“No Prison Rodeo Funded This Year.” Baxter Bulletin, September 6, 1985, p. 2.

“Prison Rodeo Begins Aug. 19.” Madison County Record, August 18, 1983, p. 10.