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OUR OPINION
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Clyde Longfellow, one of the best liked cowboys in the Northwest. Clyde died July 17, at age 83. Clyde was a saddle bronc rider. I can still remember his everyday trophy belt buckle. He won the amateur bronc riding at the Cheyenne Frontier Days in 1965 and I can’t really remember him with any other buckle, although he won plenty. Clyde and his wife Edie were fixtures at the Newport Rodeo for years. Edie was rodeo secretary for quite a few years, and Clyde competed in the bronc riding. Both are in the Idaho Rodeo Hall of Fame. Clyde was born and raised in Lewiston and entered his first Rodeo Cowboys Association Rodeo at Lewiston. The RCA was the predecessor to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. He won the Lewiston Roundup twice.
Clyde had an RCA or PRCA card for 60 years, competing into his 50s. When he won the Colville Rodeo in 1998, he took his grandson Rylen on his victory lap.
Clyde won quite a few northwest rodeos, including the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo in Joseph, Oregon, where he was saddle bronc champ five times. He is in the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo Hall of Fame.
Clyde was a character, with a mischievous personality and quick smile. As his rodeo days were winding down, he operated Haul Ass Trucking.
A head on collision with another semi-truck put an end to his bronc riding, but not his adventuring. He took up sailing. He took a few lessons and bought a 32-foot sailboat in San Diego, he told Lewiston Tribune writer William L. Spence in a 2009 story.
He sailed it from San Diego to Portland. He made trips to the San Juans.
Longfellow told Spence he didn’t meet many cowboys out on the ocean, but he enjoyed it all the same.
“I always sail alone,” he said. “But I rodeoed alone, drove truck alone. I’m totally comfortable with myself.”
RIP Clyde. The Newport Rough Stock Rodeo is coming up Aug. 2. It features the riding events and barrel racing. There will no doubt some professionals entered in the open rodeo, as the money is pretty good, but there will also be amateurs as well. It is a chance for cowboys and cowgirls of all levels, including local contestants, to make a run at some money.
Speaking of pros, team roping brothers Riley and Brady Minor of Ellensburg, who won the team roping at the Newport Rodeo, have made their way into the top 15 in the PRCA, looking to qualify for another National Finals Rodeo. They are currently ranked 11th and 13th respectively in heading and heeling standings. They had a hot Cowboy Christmas, as the Fourth of July rodeo run is known, pocketing $24,344 over that week.
