Two legendary ropers head Pendleton Hall of Fame induction class

Legendary ropers Roy Cooper and King Merritt, dedicated volunteer Tom Currin and Mac McCormack, the man credited with saving the 1940 Round-Up, comprise the newest class of inductees into the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame. In celebration of the Round-Up’s 100 years in existence, the board decided on May 16 to induct four new members this year instead of the usual three. Cooper started off his career as the 1976 PRCA Rookie of the Year and broke every roping record in the books in the years that followed. The roper earned eight world championships and has won every large rodeo in the country, said board member Tom Forth. Merritt, one of Cooper’s predecessors, traveled by train from his Wyoming home to his first Round-Up in 1925 and attended annually for 26 years. Merritt won the steer roping in 1925 and 1935 and the calf roping in 1936...more