Jim Shoulders

Class of
1976
Jim Shoulders

Jim Shoulders

“I’d rather be in jail in Oklahoma than free anywhere else.”
Jim Shoulders

Biography

'Mr. American Cowboy” and Oklahoma native Jim Shoulders graduated from Tulsa East Central High School and scored his first national win in 1947 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Within two years, he had finished fifth in bull riding and only a year later was named World Champion All-Around Cowboy. By 1960, Shoulders had earned more than $400,000 riding bulls and bareback broncs and was characterized in a Reader’s Digest article as a “businessman on a bull.” He was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1955, the only professional cowboy honored in the Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 1989. Shoulders represented the rodeo cowboy in the Kentucky Horse Park Museum and in the exhibition of the American Cowboy at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Fun fact

In a 1960 Houston Rodeo, Jim Shoulders was “having a sensational ride” on a Brahma bull when he suffered 17 fractures to his face after being hit by the bull’s horns. In the hospital, Shoulders protested, “But Doc, can’t you put off the operatin’ until after I ride tomorrow?”

Oklahoma connections

Shoulders was born and raised near Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Hometown

Henryetta

Profession

Rodeo

Presenter

Born

1928

Died

2007

Relevant Exhibits

Lights, Lyrics, Legends: Trailblazing Entertainers

Lights, Lyrics, Legends: Trailblazing Entertainers

This exhibit celebrates 18 Oklahoma Hall of Fame Inductees who have left a mark on American culture through their contributions to opera, film, Broadway, rodeo, and more.