History of the Coarsegold Rodeo Grounds

The Coarsegold Rodeo Grounds

The Coarsegold Rodeo began sometime in the 1920s at the Fresno River Crossing on Road 415. Local cowboys had races, bronc riding, and roping. George Shannon, Bill Bossert, and several others got together to promote the local project held in May. Advertising in those days was by word-of-mouth and posters. Finally, an ideal site was found on the McAllister Ranch in 1929 and the event took place there yearly until 1937.

Why Coarsegold?

Coarsegold was chosen as the rodeo site because roads, good by the standards of the time, led to Fresno Flats (Oakhurst), O'Neals, North Fork, and Raymond and also to Yosemite Valley. Coarsegold had a dance hall and also larger, flatter fields whose owners were willing to use for the rodeo.

What happened after 1937?

There were no rodeos from 1937 until after World War II, when the events were started up again. During the idle period, the local kids would sneak onto the unused grounds and practice rodeo. After WWII, about 1949, Harry Ward, Jess Ward, the older Pat Kennedy, and a few others got together in Ward's kitchen to plan a rodeo. They held two rodeos at Jess Ward's place about eight miles south of Coarsegold.

At about this time, Coarsegold needed a fundraising project to help fund the building of the Coarsegold Community Center, so those involved with the new center decided to promote and sponsor the event. The nearby CA Youth Authority boys helped clean up the old grounds; Milt Parker donated his pack mules for three years. There wasn't enough money to hire a regular bucking string, so Freeman Jones, Murray Ward, Al Conway, and others furnished cows for cow riding and calves for calf roping; the "revived" Coarsegold Rodeo was held again at the McAllister Ranch.

Have any rodeo champions participated in Coarsegold?

According to Murray Ward, long-time rodeo announcer, "Many world rodeo champions started out at the Coarsegold Rodeo." One of the most famous bucking horses, Five Minutes to Midnight, performed here as did Brahma Bull and Tornado. Famous cowboys such as Jack Roddy, Smokey Snyder, Johnny Snyder, Leo Camarillo, Clay Carr, and the famous clown Homer Holcomb all performed in Coarsegold.

Local celebrities such as Bob Bigelow, Henry Bohna, Ernie Harlow, Jim Romaine, William Turk, Jack Talladay, Robert Muller, Everett Philip, Freeman Jones, Arch Westfall, and many other local residents participated in the rodeo in 1953 and 1954. Three of the participants in 1953 rodeo have sons who went on to be state and national champions.

When did it move to the current location?

The rodeo was held at the McAllister Ranch until 1973 when the grounds were sold. Henry Bohna offered to build a new rodeo grounds on his ranch on Road 415. This ranch was originally owned by Tom Beasore, one of the old-timers who participated in the round-ups in the early 1900s. Henry Bohna laid the foundation for the current grounds of how they stand today. After Henry's passing, his son, Tom Bohna, took over the Coarsegold Rodeo Grounds until 2015.

Coarsegold Rodeo Grounds Owners/Caretakers

1972 - 1986 Henry Bohna

1986 - 2015 Tom Bohna

2015 - 2022 Kevin Tweed

2022 - 2024 Jennifer Mcmillan

2024 - Present Ryan & Melissa Steward