The California Rodeo Salinas Hall of Fame just announced its Class of 2025, and legendary all-around cowboy Ace Berry will be inducted with the rest of this year’s class on July 17. Born in Oklahoma and raised in the original Cowboy Capital of the World in Oakdale, California, Berry made a memorable mark at both ends of the arena.
Berry, who qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo when he was just 15 years old back in 1962, is perhaps best known for his rare rodeo feat of winning both the bareback riding and team roping average (with John Miller) titles at the 1972 NFR. That’s only happened twice, and was the same year Phil Lyne won the bull riding and calf roping averages at the NFR.
Ace won his first Salinas go-round when he was only 13 years old heeling for 18-year-old Miller in 1960. Miller went on to be a two-time world champion team roper in 1970-71.
“There were 167 teams entered, the steers were 600-650-pound fresh Mexican horned Herefords that had never been touched, much less roped, that were furnished by Phil Stadtler, and we ran them over a 40-foot score,” said Berry, who’s 78 now. “They walked to the line in the first round.
“We were 11.1, and that was back before horn wraps or rubber on the horn. The round paid $1,300 a man. Entry fees were $100 a man, gas was about 30 cents a gallon and a hotel room across the road was $15.”
Then there was the time Berry won two of four rounds roping behind Bud Corwin and his one-eyed head horse he called Good Eye back when everybody ran a steer a day and Salinas was a four-head average instead of five, like it is today with the short round. Ace rode 1961 World Champion Team Roper Al Hooper’s heel horse Okie that year.
“After spending pretty near my whole life in that Salinas arena, this means a great deal to me,” said ProRodeo Hall of Famer Ace, who entered the Pendleton Round-Up twice and won every round he ever rode in on the grass. “The arena is still big, but it was even bigger back in the day, and you had to be about half cowboy to win something at Salinas.
“You’ve got to ride your horse at Salinas, and you can’t get away with things you might get away with in a little building. Those steers were walking fresh that first round back in our day, but that next round when they knew what it was all about and had figured out where the catchpen was, they curled their tails up over their backs and tried to outrun you to the back end.”
Ace qualified for 14 straight NFRs in the team roping, and rode bareback horses at the Super Bowl of Rodeo six times. He won a total of four NFR average titles—team roping in 1967 with Bucky Bradford and Miller in 1972, and bareback riding back-to-back in both 1971 and ’72.
Back when Berry first entered Salinas, you could enter on a permit and as a local.
“All the ranchers would enter,” he remembers. “They had a chance, too, under those cowboy conditions at Salinas. You’d see those ropes start running on that cotton on the horn, and the smoke would fly. A lot of guys lost their ropes, and some lost a finger. There were cowboy camps everywhere, and everybody barbecued. Phil Stadtler and Phil Valenzuela would bring half a beef over there to Salinas, so all the cowboys could eat good.”
Berry was the Salinas all-around champion in 1970, and won Salinas bareback riding championships in 1975 and ’77. He and Jim Wheatley won the Salinas gold card team roping title in 2002.
Ace is being honored as a standout contestant. Joining him in the California Rodeo Salinas Hall of Fame Class of 2025 is Bobby Christensen Jr, personnel; the Jesus Esparza Family, notable; Fred McCargar, staff; and Bruce Taylor, contributor/supporter.
“Getting the call that I’m going into the Salinas Hall of Fame brings back a lot of memories,” Berry said. “There is no more cowboy rodeo than the California Rodeo, and we’ve all had a lot of good times at Salinas.”
