Las Vegas resident to be inducted into Rodeo Hall of Fame

Shaunta Grimes

Saturday, Oct. 16, 1999 | 8:59 a.m.

Achievements

Eddy Akridge's accomplishments in Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association world championships:

Fifth place, all around cowboy; first place, bareback riding

First place, bareback riding

Third place, all around cowboy; first place, bareback riding

Fourth place, all around cowboy; second place, bareback riding

First place, bareback riding

One dark midnight in 1945 16-year-old Eddy Akridge decided to take his fate into his own hands. He sneaked from his family's Texas ranch, walked three miles in the pitch black to the highway and hitched a ride to an amateur rodeo.

Akridge spent that night in an ice house to save the 35 cents it would have cost to rent a room. He had $6 in his pocket.

The next morning he found that there were no riding events at that rodeo, only roping events. Akridge had his heart set on bareback and bull riding.

Akridge decided to hitchhike to Pamapa, Texas, the town where he was born and where he had a cousin. He found a ride in the back of a Model T pickup.

When he got to his cousin's home, he saw something through the window that stopped his heart. His sisters were sitting in the living room. Where his sisters were, his parents were sure to be.

Akridge high-tailed it to the Safeway store where his cousin worked. His cousin told him to wait outside. As he leaned against the wall waiting, he heard a familiar roar.

His father's mufflerless pickup pulled up in front of the store. His father got out of the car, and Akridge's knees knocked.

"Quite a long way from home, son," his father said as he walked by.

Akridge's first attempt to join the amateur rodeo circuit may not have been a success, but once he got onto the circuit he built a reputation over the next 30 years that has led to his induction into the Rodeo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City this year.

There are four living and four deceased rodeo legends inducted each year.

The Rodeo Hall of Fame is part of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and has nearly 300 inductees, said Judy Deering of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center.

Akridge will receive a gold medal to commemorate his induction, and a plaque with his name will be added to the hall's wall. Visitors will be able to look up pictures and information about Akridge on a touch-screen computer.

Akridge was inducted into the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association Cowboy Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1979.

More than 50 family and friends are accompanying Akridge, now 70 and a Las Vegas resident since 1970, to Oklahoma as he accepts his honor on Sunday.

Akridge and his wife, Lila, have been married for 37 years. Dale, their son, lives in Las Vegas, and Dana Miller, their daughter, lives in Austin, Texas.

A distinguished career followed Akridge's failed attempt to become a rodeo star. Several months after his return home, he participated in his first amateur rodeo and brought home $111 for winning in the bareback event, he said.

Later he rode in the back of a truck to the State Fair in Dallas, a 16-day event. He came home with four saddles, $1,140 and, most importantly, his father's approval. He spent the money on a 1942 Ford.

In 1948 a 19-year-old Akridge found himself at a Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association event in Tucson, Ariz.

"I tried to sneak in without joining the association, but that didn't work," Akridge said. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to join because I was making some money as an amateur and I wasn't sure (about his skills) against these professionals."

In the end he decided to go for it.

At the end of that first professional rodeo, he overheard someone ask who won the bareback event. World bareback champion Larry Finley replied, "Some dang kid named Eddy Akridge."

Akridge took home $940 and began a professional career that spanned 25 years. He won 34 saddles and more than 40 belt buckles, including four for the bareback world championship in 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1961.

Akridge said all but one saddle were destroyed in a fire. That saddle is in the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Colorado. Most of his buckles were lost in the same fire; however, he managed to salvage his world-championship buckles.

Akridge's accomplishments aren't limited to the rodeo. Two years after his final world championship, Akridge had a top 50 country hit with "One-a-Day Multiple Heartache," a song he wrote and performed on national radio.

When he moved to Las Vegas, Akridge formed Eddy Akridge and the Gold Buckle Band and started making the rounds of the Strip lounges in his spare time.

"I had a good band. We played in nearly every lounge on the Strip in those days."

The Gold Buckle Band broke up two years ago. "I didn't think anyone wanted to see an old guy like me on stage anymore," Akridge said.