inductees. Rodeoing financed Earl Bascom's college education at Brigham Young University where he was given the title of "Rodeo's First Collegiate Cowboy" and from which institution he graduated in 1940. Bascom has been honored as the "Father of Modern Rodeo" and known as "rodeo's greatest innovator and inventor." He is known in rodeo history for designing and making rodeo's modern bucking chute in 1916 and modified in 1919. He also made rodeo's first hornless bronc saddle in 1922 and rodeo's first one-hand bareback rigging in 1924, for which he has been called the "Father of the Modern-day Bareback Rigging" and the "Father of Rodeo Bareback Riding." In 1926, he designed and made the modern rodeo riding chaps, and then in 1928, a rodeo exerciser made of spring steel. Bascom has been recognized by rodeo associations around the world for his rodeo inventions. During his college years, Earl and his brother Weldon produced the first rodeos in Columbia, Mississippi, in 1935, 1936, and 1937 while working for Sam Hickman's B Bar H Ranch near Arm, Mississippi. This first rodeo in Columbia is known in cowboy history as the first rodeo held outdoors at night under electric lights. In March 2019 as part of the 200th year celebration of Columbia's birth, an official Mississippi State Historical Marker was erected and dedicated, honoring the "Birthplace of Mississippi Rodeo." In 1936, under the direction of Earl Bascom, using his designs, a new rodeo arena was built which was the first permanent rodeo arena constructed in Mississippi. The bucking horses used in the rodeo were shipped in from West Texas. Sam Hickman and Earl Bascom went to New Orleans where they purchased brahma bulls for the rodeo bucking stock. This was the first recorded use of brahma bulls in rodeo. Sam Hickman financed these rodeos through his Wild West Rodeo Company. Between rodeos of 1936 and 1937, Earl was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mississippi, serving under Mission President LeGrand Richards of the Southern States Mission. The Bascom brothers were honored fifty years later for being the "Fathers of Mississippi Rodeo" and given the "Key to the City of Columbia," along with a congratulatory telegram from President Ronald Reagan. In 2016, Earl Bascom and his brother Weldon were officially recognized by the ProRodeo Hall of Fame as the "Fathers of Brahma Bull Riding." In 1939, Bascom married Nadine