She has always been known as the First Lady of KowBell Indoor Rodeo Coliseum. Jan was born 1933 in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1957, Jan with her two children Lana and Mark, married Bill Hogg of Mansfield, Texas. They had a son, David, born 1960, and together they fulfilled their dream of building a rodeo arena. Construction began in 1958 and on April 16, 1959, KowBell Indoor Rodeo at Mansfield, Texas made its debut.
Regardless of weather, the doors of KowBell would always be open with a rodeo show held each and every Saturday night, going on to set a world record of 2,338 consecutive Saturday night rodeo performances running until January 31, 2004. KowBell seated 2,500 people with standing-room-only crowds for many years. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when Bill became ill and passed away in 1961. Jan kept the KowBell going and leased half interest to Jack Ratjen of Ratjen Brothers Rodeo Company from Happy, Texas. Jack and Jan were married in 1962 and had two sons Jackie and Jimmy. Jan had an integral part in the development of the sport of rodeo and set many of the standards that are used by the rodeo world today.
Not only did she provide a place in the Dallas – Fort Worth area for cowboys and cowgirls to perfect their skills, she welcomed folks from every state and every country in the world to come and be a part of KowBell’s exciting wild and wooly rodeo show. It’s estimated that over 50 world champions competed at KowBell and thousands of cowboys and cowgirls got their start there. Jan will forever be remembered for her dedication to the sport of rodeo.
