Grand Island, Neb. — World champion trick roper Joan Wells will present a free program for all ages on Monday, July 22 at 10:30 a.m. at the Grand Island Public Library.
“History of Trick Roping and Wild West Shows” uses the vanishing folk art of trick roping to bring the color and history of the Old West alive. In a dazzling and unique performance, she will follow the evolution of trick roping from charros creating rope spinning in Old Mexico through the heyday of Will Rogers and his affiliation with the Texas Jacks Wild West Show and the Ziegfeld Follies in the first decades of the 20th century.
Joan Wells wanted to be a cowgirl at an early age, after learning about horses and trick roping from her cousin, a rodeo cowboy and trick roper. She started roping at the age of four and then took further instruction from world champion trick roper Jim Eskew, Jr.
A native Nebraskan, Joan has toured with her trick roping and western music for the National School Assemblies Agency of Hollywood, CA and won the title as Women’s World Champion Trick Roper at the Will Rogers Trick Roping Contest in Claremore, OK. In 1989, she was also inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth.
Joan continues to perform for western-themed events, conventions, schools, stage shows and Wild West show re-enactments. This program is free and open to the public and made possible through the support of Humanities Nebraska.