which helped shape the face and spirit of the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth (the Calgary Stampede)." In 2016, Earl Bascom and his brother Weldon were the first rodeo cowboys to be given the ProRodeo Hall of Fame Ken Stemler Pioneer Award. At hall of fame ceremonies, director Kent Sturman declared Earl Bascom to be a "true rodeo pioneer." He recognized Bascom for "his complete dedication to the sport of professional rodeo spanning several decades; for his contributions as a rodeo equipment and gear inventor and designer; for his innovation and foresight as the 'Father of Modern Rodeo' and the 'Father of Brahma Bull Riding'; and for his contributions as a rodeo athlete and champion, producer, stock contractor, announcer, clown, trick rider, historian, author, artist and sculptor, and western movie actor that helped advance the development and success of professional rodeo." "Earl Bascom is the Michael Phelps of rodeo," stated Ken Knopp, historian of the Mississippi Rodeo Hall of Fame. Author of Rodeo History and Legends, Bob Jordan, said – "The Bascom boys helped shape the sport of rodeo more than any other family in the world." Earl Bascom was chosen by the Toronto Star as one of 150 of Canada's greatest athletes, including Wayne Gretsky and Steve Nash, to represent Canada during its 150th year (1867–2017) of Confederation. Sports writer Kerry Gillespie wrote, "Angry bulls to wild horses, there wasn't anything on four legs that Earl Bascom couldn't get the better of..." The Cardston Historical Society recorded, "Earl Bascom and his brothers designed and built the first side-delivery bucking chute on the Bascom Ranch at Welliing Station. In 1922, Earl made a hornless rodeo saddle, which the cowboys called the "mulee", and first used it at the Cardston Stampede. Bascom's rodeo innovations helped change rodeo from a cowboy's pastime to an international sport and placed him on the list of Canada's most famous inventors." Wyoming radio personality Rich Roddam named Earl Bascom in 2018 as one of 13 famous people from small Wyoming towns - "In a state full of cowboys, Earl Bascom may have been the best. Considered the "Father of Modern Rodeo", Bascom gained fame as an actor, artist, inventor, and writer." Earl Bascom is the only cowboy mentioned in the official Mississippi Encyclopedia, was the first inductee of the Mississippi Rodeo Hall of Fame and honored on a Mississippi State Historical Marker at the birthplace of