Jackson Sundown - or Waaya-Tonah-Toesits-Kahn - Nez Perce

In 1915 at age 52, Jackson Sundown took third place in the all-around at the Pendleton Roundup and decided to retire from rodeo, which had wrecked his body. The following year, an artist who was doing a sculpture of Sundown convinced him to enter the Roundup one last time, an offer that Sundown only accepted after the artist agreed to pay the entry fee. Sundown was twice the age of the other semi-finalists but advanced after high scores in the saddle bronc and bareback horse riding competitions. His final ride is an event of great mythology to this day among American Indians and rodeo aficionados. It is told that Sundown drew a very fierce horse named Angel and that the horse bucked so furiously that Sundown removed his cowboy hat and fanned the horse to get it to cool off, at which time he and the horse merged into one being. Sundown won the all-around event and became immortalised as a hero of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, which includes the Nez Perce.