Mississippi's famous cowgirl - Rose Bascom – along with two Mississippi cowboy brothers – Weldon Bascom and Earl Bascom - have been inducted into the Mississippi Rodeo Hall of Fame and spotlighted on the National Day of the Cowboy.
Most recently, these three have been featured in the newly published book, “Why Cows Need Cowboys,” and in a video documentary titled “The Last Buckaroo” by Cowboy Way for Discovery Road TV.
Rose Bascom, one of Mississippi's most famous cowgirls, was born Rose Flynt, of Choctaw and Cherokee Indian heritage, in Covington County near Mount Olive in 1922.
When she married rodeo cowboy Weldon Bascom, she was launched into a life of an international rodeo performer as a trick rider and fancy trick roper.
She became the first cowgirl inducted into the Mississippi Rodeo Hall of Fame and the first from Mississippi to be inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Texas.
It was her fancy trick roping skills that took her to Hollywood and stardom, where she performed on stage, in western movies and on television.
In Hollywood, she had her own Saturday morning television show, and was even crowned “Queen for a Day” on the popular TV show Queen for a Day.
She gained world-fame touring with Bob Hope and other celebrities such as Roy Rogers, Monte Montana, Tex Ritter and Wild Bill Elliott, performing across the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.
Rose Bascom was billed as the “World's Greatest Female Trick Roper.”
In the 1930's, the Bascom brothers, Weldon and Earl, were working on a cattle ranch in Lawrence County, Mississippi.
The Bascoms come to the Deep South from western Canada where they were raised.
But they were born in a valley in the Rocky Mountains of Utah.
Being champion rodeo cowboys and having competed at the famous Calgary Stampede, the Bascoms produced the first rodeo in Mississippi in 1935.
That historic rodeo, with bull riding and bronc riding, was held in a baseball field in Columbia, Marion County.
The site of that original rodeo now has the official Mississippi State Historic Marker, “Birthplace of Mississippi Rodeo.”
The Bascom brothers later went to Hollywood where they worked as cowboy actors.
Earl Bascom, who married Nadine Diffey of Columbia, Mississippi, became an internationally famous cowboy artist and sculptor having illustrated his life as a cowboy and rodeo champion in a series of bronze sculptures.
Mississippi cowboy history continues to be made in the cattle industry and in rodeo arenas with many outstanding cowboys and cowgirls.
The Bascoms have been honored as some of Mississippi's greatest.
