After returning from Australia, Bertha
and Dell continued to tour the Rodeo and
Wild West Show circuit. However, with
the onset of World War I in 1914, things
were about to change forever. Like many
able-bodied men, Dell volunteered to join
the Army. Upon hearing he was rejected
(it was said because of rheumatism) he
went north and joined in Canada instead.
Shortly after getting into the action in
Europe as a Canadian Soldier, Dell was
killed, leaving Bertha a young widow.
She never remarried. She also never
competed in the bronc riding again. She did
however perform another first, becoming
one of the first lady “pick-up men” to assist
in the bronc riding event. That says a-bunch
about what the cowboys thought of her
ability. If they allowed her to perform this
all-important task, they knew she was as
good a rider as any man. She also worked as
a guide in Yosemite (one of the first women
taking on this task as well).
By about age fifty, Bertha retired to her
new home in Porterville, California where
she lived the rest of her life, until her death
at age ninety-six. She took odd jobs to help
pay the bills, but never forgot her days as a
rodeo star. (She was interviewed on several
occasions about those early days.)
During her time in rodeo, she is credited
with winning: the World’s Championship
Ladies Relay Race in 1911, 1912 and
1913, the World’s Ladies Bronc Riding
Championship in 1914 and 1915 and
the World Championship Roman Race
in 1918 (to name a few).
She also competed and won
at such prestigious rodeos
as Pendleton, Calgary,
Cheyenne and many others.
She truly was a pioneer in the
sport of rodeo.
National Cowboy and Western Heritage
Museum Hall of Fame at Oklahoma City.
After her death (1979), Bertha Blancett
was also inducted in National Cowgirl
Hall of Fame
and Museum
at Fort
Worth,
Texas in
1999.
At the age of ninety (1973),
she was inducted into the
“Welcome Home Ranch”
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November 2014
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