Eldon Dudley was born in Apache, Oklahoma on 9/11/29. While growing up in Apache, his love for roping began. He started roping calves in 1943 at the roping club. After graduating high school, Eldon went onto Oklahoma A&M University in1948. While he was at Oklahoma A&M University, he won the first College National Championship in 1949 at Cow Palace (San Francisco, CA). In 1952, Eldon went on to graduate from Oklahoma A&M University.
From there his roping career took off. He went to Madison Square Garden in New York to compete in the calf roping with world champions like Don McLaughlin, Toots Mansfield, and Ray Warton. Eldon won a go round of the calf roping which paid $700 and took care of his expenses for 4 weeks while in New York.
On November 19th, 1952, Eldon joined the army. Basic training took him to California, then he moved to Fort Reno, in Oklahoma. He married Janet Ranson, a barrel racer from Perryton, Texas in 1953. They were blessed with two children, their daughter Sydna and son Kyle. After leaving the army in November of 1954, he moved to Perryton, Texas. He spent his time ranching, farming, and rodeoing. They built a commercial cattle feedyard in Perryton in 1970 where Eldon owned and operated it for 20 years.
Eldon joined the PRCA in 1957. In 1960, he won the calf roping in the Los Angeles Coliseum. That day Eldon rode Dale Smith’s horse, Poker Chip Peek & won $2300. This qualified him for the National Rodeo Finals in 1960 where he finished 10th for the year. Eldon won All-Around Champion at Pendleton, Oregon in 1972. Later in 1975, he won the All-Around Champion at Cheyenne Frontier Days, as well as the steer roping. Eldon also won the Texas Circuit PRCA Steer Roping in 1977. During his later years he won the Super Senior Steer Roping 4 years in the 1990’s.
Eldon served on the board of directors at Perryton National Bank, Texas Cattle Feeders Association, as well as Interstate Bank.
