Now I’ve seen a lot of things from the treeline over the years. Storms roll in. Towns grow up. And every so often, somebody comes along and does something that changes the way folks think about what’s possible.
Fanny Sperry Steele and Alice Greenough Orr were two of those somebodies.
Both of ’em came out of Montana. Both of ’em got on horses that most men wouldn’t touch. And both of ’em did it in an era when the world wasn’t exactly rollin’ out a welcome mat for women in the rodeo arena.
Didn’t slow ’em down much, though.
Fanny Sperry Steele: The Woman Who Rode Slick
Fanny Sperry was born in 1887 in the Prickly Pear Valley, not far from Helena. She grew up on horses the way most kids grow up on whatever’s closest — naturally, early, and without a whole lot of fuss about it.
By 1904, she was already competing professionally at the Montana State Fair as a relay racer. Three years later, she moved into bucking horse events. That’s when things got interesting.
What Made Fanny Different
Here’s the thing about bronc riding back then: most women used hobbled stirrups. That’s when the stirrups get tied together under the horse’s belly to help the rider stay on. It was common practice, and nobody thought much of it.
Fanny thought plenty of it.
She refused the hobbles entirely and rode what they called “slick” — just her, the horse, and whatever balance and grit she could hold onto. No shortcuts. No extra help. Just a woman on a bronc, doing it the hard way because she believed that was the right way.
I’ve watched enough folks take the easy path to know that’s a rarer thing than it sounds.
Her Championship Years
In 1912, Fanny competed at the very first Calgary Stampede. She won the title of Lady Bucking Horse Champion of the World, riding a horse named Red Wing. The following year, she won the world title again in Winnipeg, Canada.
She competed in her final rodeo event in Bozeman in 1925. After that, she and her husband Bill — a bronc rider and rodeo clown himself — started supplying bucking stock to rodeos across the West and eventually opened a dude ranch at Arrastra Creek.
Fanny also became the first woman in Montana to earn a packer’s license, guiding hunters and outfitting trips into the backcountry.
She didn’t slow down when the arena stopped callin’. She just found other terrain to cover.
Fanny Sperry Steele passed away in 1983 at the age of 95. In 1975, she was inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
Alice Greenough Orr: The First Queen of Rodeo
Alice Greenough was born in 1902 on a ranch near Red Lodge, Montana. She came from a family already known across the region — the “Riding Greenoughs,” a group of siblings that included Turk, Marge, Bill, and Frank, all of whom made careers out of horsemanship and exhibition riding.
Alice entered the rodeo arena in the late 1920s on a dare. It stuck.
A Career Built on Titles
In 1929, Alice answered an advertisement from Jack King’s Wild West Show and launched her professional career alongside her siblings. What followed was a run that took her across the country and eventually to some of the biggest stages in American rodeo.
She won the Women’s World Saddle Bronc Riding championship at the Boston Garden in 1933, 1935, and 1936. Then she won it again at Madison Square Garden in 1940. Four world titles in total — and she was still competing at 52 years old.
Now that’s not a typo.
Building Something That Lasted
Alice wasn’t just a competitor. She helped build the infrastructure of modern professional rodeo.
In 1936, she became a founding member of the group that established the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association — the PRCA — pushing for better treatment and fair pay for cowboys and cowgirls alike.
After stepping back from arena competition in 1942, she partnered with her husband Joe Orr to produce the Greenough-Orr Rodeo, a traveling show that toured the United States and Canada. When major venues started dropping women’s roughstock events — deciding they were too dangerous or just plain inconvenient — Alice adapted. She and Joe created the first women’s barrel racing event to keep women’s participation in rodeo alive.
That discipline didn’t disappear. It grew into one of the most recognized events in the sport.
Alice also helped establish the Carbon County Museum in Red Lodge in 1959, which preserves local and family rodeo history to this day.
She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1975 and the Rodeo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City in 1983. Alice Greenough Orr passed away in 1995 at the age of 93.
Two Different Riders, One Shared Legacy
Fanny and Alice came up in different eras and rode with different styles, but they were cut from the same general cloth.
Fanny rode slick when everyone else took the easier route. Alice competed past 50 and helped invent a new discipline when the old ones were being taken away. Neither one of them asked permission. Neither one of them waited around for the sport to catch up.
What they built — through championship titles, organizational work, and sheer stubbornness — helped shape what professional rodeo looks like today. And they did all of it out of Montana, which probably shouldn’t surprise anybody.
This state has a way of producing people like that.
I’ve seen plenty come through here lookin’ tough. These two actually were.
Their Montana Roots Still Matter
Red Lodge still carries the Greenough name. The Carbon County Museum holds pieces of that family’s history. Fanny’s legacy runs through the Prickly Pear Valley and out into backcountry Montana, where she guided and outfitted long after the arena lights went dark.
For anyone driving through that part of the state, it’s worth knowing what happened there — and who came from those hills.
Montana’s got a habit of lettin’ the land shape the people. In Fanny and Alice’s case, it made two of the toughest competitors the rodeo world ever saw.
FAQ: Alice Greenough Orr and Fanny Sperry Steele
Who was Fanny Sperry Steele? Fanny Sperry Steele was a Montana-born rodeo champion from the Prickly Pear Valley near Helena. She won the Lady Bucking Horse Champion of the World title at the first Calgary Stampede in 1912 and was known for riding “slick” — without hobbled stirrups — a rare and demanding technique.
Who was Alice Greenough Orr? Alice Greenough Orr was a Red Lodge, Montana native who won four Women’s World Saddle Bronc Riding titles between 1933 and 1940. She was a founding member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and is widely credited with helping invent women’s barrel racing.
Where did Fanny Sperry Steele grow up? She was born and raised in the Prickly Pear Valley near Helena, Montana, in 1887.
Where did Alice Greenough Orr grow up? Alice grew up on a ranch near Red Lodge, Montana, as part of the well-known “Riding Greenough” family.
What is slick riding in rodeo? Slick riding means competing without hobbled stirrups — the stirrups are not tied together under the horse, requiring far greater balance and skill from the rider. Fanny Sperry Steele was known for insisting on this method when most women used hobbles.
Did Alice Greenough Orr invent barrel racing? She is widely credited with creating the first women’s barrel racing event as part of the Greenough-Orr Rodeo, which she produced with her husband Joe Orr after retiring from arena competition in 1942.
Are they in any halls of fame? Both women were inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1975. Alice was also inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1975 and the Rodeo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City in 1983.
How old were they when they stopped competing? Fanny Sperry Steele rode exhibition broncs until the age of 50. Alice Greenough Orr competed until she was 52.
Where can I learn more about their history? The Carbon County Museum in Red Lodge, Montana, holds rodeo history connected to the Greenough family. The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum also maintains biographical records for both women.
Sources
- National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
- Montana Historical Society
- Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame
- Wikipedia
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