‘Cactus’ Jack Stephenson was born in 1942, raised in Cotulla, Texas. He started out his rodeo career in the Texas High School Rodeo Association, where he competed in every event he could enter; team roping, bull riding, bareback riding, calf roping, and bull dogging, and he was quite a hand in everyone. He went on to get his PRCA card bareback riding. After he graduated high school, he worked on many ranches and feedlots from Texas to California and did so until 1977. After that, he started training horses and team roping for a living. He was one of the first cowboys in South Texas to pursue roping for a living. In 1983, he and his oldest son, Jacky, won the 1st Annual George Strait Team Roping Classic. The following year, he and Jacky also qualified for the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City. In 1990 he and Rich Skelton were the first team to win the trucks and trailers at the George Strait Team Roping Classic. He was a multiple time qualifier to the Texas Circuit Finals, as well as competing in the top PRCA rodeos across the country. From there he went on to start one of the best rope companies in the business, Cactus Ropes, in May of 1991. Many South Texas cowboys called him “Cactus Jack” hence the name “Cactus Ropes.” Alongside roping, training horses, and putting on roping schools, he also raised and sold thousands of Corriente roping steers that he crossed over from Mexico, and he did so for 20 years. Most recently, in 2014, at the ripe age of 72 years old, he and Jacky won the Del Rio Lester Meier Rodeo. He has now been married his high school sweetheart, Modie, for 60 years and has three children, Jacky, Lori, and Robb. He also has seven granddaughters, four great granddaughters, and one great grandson to carry on his legacy. To this day, at 80 years old, he still enjoys roping, riding, and spending time on his ranch in Hindes, Texas.
