LEE COCKRELL - INDUCTEE #91
hall of fame fast fact:
Lee Cockrell's 300-acre ranch is next to the Pantex weapons plant. After many years of harmony, Cockrell said he was told in 1986 there was pollution in his water. He battled the government on the issue for more than 20 years before receiving a cash settlement in 2008.
Lee Cockrell
Lee Cockrell of Pampa roped his way to fame. Cockrell was a world champion and the first rodeo cowboy inducted into the PSHOF.
Cockrell was recruited to Hardin-Simmons University. As a sophomore, he won the intercollegiate calf roping championship and HSU took the team title. In 1954, as the national collegiate champion, Cockrell was matched against Toots Mansfield, the world champion calf roper. Cockrell beat Mansfield by 14.5 seconds.
That same year, Cockrell joined the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. He competed in nine National Finals Rodeos from 1959 to 1974, winning the roping title in 1966. He finished second in 1968 and 1974. In 1964, he defeated three-time world champion Jim Bob Altizer and seven-time world champion Dean Oliver.
Cockrell became the only roper to win the so-called Grand Slam –rodeos at Madison Square Garden in New York; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Calgary, Alberta; and the Cow Palace in San Francisco. No one else has accomplished that since.
