BORDER-CROSSING BUSINESSMAN

In 2003, rodeo historian Gail Woerner conducted an interview with cattleman and Turtle Rodeo Association member Phil Stadtler. The interview, which was conducted on behalf of the Rodeo Historical Society for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, focused on the then-83-year-old’s contributions to the rodeo world, but it revealed a few fascinating tales (with swords and pirate ships, literally), including perhaps, the origins of team roping as we know it.

Stadtler was born in California on July 30, 1920, and, by 1926, rodeo greats Jesse Stahl and Clay Carr were putting Stadtler, 6, on his first calf at Salinas.

“Clay worked for