Arizona in the Saddle | Page 28

fox hastings
one tough gal
By Jim Olson, ©2014, www.TotallyWestern.com

W

hen you think of pioneer ladies
from the early days of rodeo, Fox
Hastings name has to be there. She
was one of the first female bulldoggers
in rodeo history. She also rode broncs
and was a trick rider. She was a crowd
favorite. It has been said she could smile
at the camera, while lying in the mud, and
still be holding the horns of a steer she
had just thrown.

It was 1924 at Houston, Texas where Fox
made her debut as a bulldogger! This was
practically unheard of for ladies of the
day. The main reason being, bulldogging
steers were much bigger and wilder than
what you find in today’s competitions.
It was dangerous, even for the toughest
of seasoned cowboys. She was a huge hit
however and wound up being voted the
best specialty act of the rodeo.

Eloise Fox was born during 1898 in Galt,
California to Wesley Galveston and Susie
Agusta Fox. Somewhat of a maverick from
the beginning, the rebellious girl was
sent to a boarding school at age fourteen.
Two years later she ran away. At sixteen,
she joined the Irwin Brothers Wild
West Show, and met and married Mike
Hastings—a well-known performer on the
rodeo circuit. She dropped her first name
and became known thereafter as “Fox
Hastings.” The press loved her name.

Thereafter, Fox and Mike gained fame
as husband and wife bulldoggers. She
put on exhibitions at Wild West Shows
and rodeos across the country. Foghorn
Clancy, rodeo personality and promoter
claimed Fox, “was the most photographed
and interviewed cowgirl of the 1920s.”

It was Mike who first taught her the ins
and outs of rodeo. She started by riding
broncs and doing trick riding events.
Soon, her ability to ride rough stock
became renowned. She was known for her
enthusiasm, her physical strength, and
her expert horsemanship.
In the early part of the 1900s,
women competed right along
side men in many cases. Fox
served as a reminder that
women thrive on competition
just as men do. She became
an inspiration to many young
women who previously thought
a woman’s place was strictly
in the home. By 1924, Fox and
Mike had a new plan however.
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August 2014

Fox was quoted in Hoofs and Horns
magazine as saying, “I like bulldogging
better than bronc riding. Bronc riding
is a question of strength and endurance,
but in bulldogging you don’t tackle
two steers exactly alike. You have to
learn the difference in the animals size,
strength, formation of the horns, build
of neck and shoulders and a lot of things.
Every move has to be perfectly timed
to a split second.” Of course, the steers
she was bulldogging usually weighed
around 1,200 pounds, about twice what
today’s bulldogging cattle
weigh—and back then,

they literally “bit them on the lip” to
help bring ‘em down (hence the name
bulldogging)!
Along the way, she suffered a myriad of
injuries and broken bones. However, the
old adage, “The show must go on,” rang
true with Fox and she would continue
putting on exhibitions, injuries or no.
In 1935, at the Fiesta De Los Vaqueros
rodeo in Tucson, Arizona, Fox was
a contract act performing a ladies
bulldogging exhibition. On the first day,
she suffered a broken rib. She still went
on to perform during the next several
days of rodeo in spite of the pain. She did
not want to let show management down.
She remained one of rodeo’s top
performing women athletes through the
1930s. Fox was always a press favorite.
Unforgettable is an image of her having
just turfed a steer, covered in dirt or mud,
and smiling at the camera, grinning from
ear to ear. There are numerous photos like
this in the archives. She literally traveled
the world while rodeoing. She proved to
be a charismatic, crowd pleaser whenever
she appeared in the arena.
Fox summed up her ability this way: “If
I can just get my fanny out of the saddle
and my feet planted, there’s not a steer
that can last against me.”
Sometime in the latter half of
the 1920s, her first marriage
ended in divorce. However,
in 1929, she remarried. Her
second husband was another
champion rodeo hand, Charles
“Chuck” Wilson. Together they
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