The hat that was signed by all the riders and local promoters that were involved in the 1941 Mandan Rodeo. The hat was given to the Mandan Rodeo Committee as a gift, from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Brian L. Gray photo

By Brian L. Gray

The Mandan Rodeo Committee received an interesting phone call a few weeks back.

The call came from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, based out of Oklahoma City, Okla., who let the committee know they had something of interest the committee might want added to their collection.

The coordinator to the National Cowboy Museum, JoDahl Creech, contacted Mandan Rodeo Committee member Del Wetsch out of the blue, and informed him that a cowboy hat from 1941 had been sent to their museum. It was from the Mandan Rodeo back in 1941, and signed by all of the local promoters and riders that were involved in the rodeo that year.

The hat had been given to the museum by someone in that area, who had sent it to the museum with the intent of having it submitted to an auction. Instead, the museum contact the Mandan Rodeo Committee and asked if they were interested.

“I have no idea how they knew of us, or how they got a hold of us, but we were more than happy to receive this gift from them,” Wetsch said.

Even after 68 years, the hat remains in near pristine condition, and every rider and local promoter that signed it is still legible. And right on the top of the hat is one of the Mandan promoters that “really helped to put the Mandan Rodeo on the map,” Wetsch said, was a popular name in the rodeo world back in those days, Frank Wetzstein.

Wetsch said the committee has no firm ideas on what they will do with the gift. There are plans to find a case for it to be put on display somewhere at the Mandan Progress Organization office at the former beanery building in downtown Mandan, or they may send it to the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in Medora for public exhibit.

But until then, the hat remains at the MPO office, and if anyone is interested in seeing it, they are welcome to stop in and take a look.