William Sanford Bonnell (Billy Bonnell) & The Rodeo

Another story from former editor Charles E. Bunnell (Charlie to his friends) recently compiled Bonnells & Bunnells of Note (And a few Burnells & Burrells for Good Measure). The complete work is available on Internet Archive at this link: Charlie Bunnell's Bonnells & Bunnells of Note  

Patricia (Howell) McKinley of Cedar Vale, Kansas, sent Charlie a biography of her grandfather William “Billy” Bonnell. Pat said that like Billy, her parents, her husband, her and their three children have all been in the rodeos. 

W.S. (Billy) Bonnell was born in Mayetta, KS July 19, 1877 and began roping and breaking horses at an early age along with his two younger brothers. At the age of 12, after the death of his father, he rode a horse from Gravette, Arkansas to Ponca City, Oklahoma to work for the ranches of Moncravy and Fuller as a way of helping the family income. 

While cowboying on the ranch he soon perfected a method of tying a calf that was faster than others at the time. 

Billy and his two brothers worked with the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show and participated in the filming of a motion picture which sadly no longer exists. In fact, Billy and his wife Mary wired money to Europe for the brothers to come back to the U. S. when the European tour went bust. Billy also worked with the 101 Ranch Wild West Show and was well acquainted and traveled with many of the people there including Bill Pickett and Lucille Mulhall. In fact, he named his youngest daughter Lillian Lucille after his good friend Lucille Mulhall. 

Billy’s horse Romeo, which he used for many years was considered one of the world’s best roping horses. Many record holders and great people rode and appreciated Romeo’s skills and personality, including Tom Mix, Buffalo Vernon, Ellison Carroll, Fred Beason, and Lucille Mulhall. 

Billy helped organize and produce “Ropings and Ridings” or Roundups” as many Rodeos were called then, in the south central Kansas and north central Oklahoma areas and was a co-founder of his local polo club, in Cedar Vale, KS. His first newspaper documented win that we have found in steer roping was in October 1907 in Stroud Oklahoma, at 24 seconds. He broke the current world record in calf roping in Cedar Vale, Kansas in August 1909 at 25 seconds. The original rules required much more of a roper as the calf got a much longer head start.

Billy competed at the Stampede in Calgary Canada in 1912 and is listed in the book “Man, Beast, Dust” (see note below) as one of the important contestants of that year who did command performances for the visiting royal family from England. Billy booked a box car under his name to leave from Arkansas City, Kansas for the horses of the group from this area competing and traveling to the Stampede in Winnipeg, Canada in 1913. Among the group were Henry Grammer, Joe Gardner, George, Bert and Charles Weir, and Lucille Mulhall, only to find out that when returning at the custom house at the border one member had sold his horse. Whereupon Billy was detained to get the papers proving the sale and accounting or the difference in the livestock count. That year of the Stampede Bill Bonnell, Joe Gardner, W. Hale, Charles Johnson, and Bert Weir were declared the world’s champion steer roping team.

 No Rodeo or roping was too big or too small for him. In the 1920’s, in his mid forties, Billy Bonnell continued to rope in more local competitions rather than traveling far away. This allowed him to attend to his family, land, and livestock obligations at home. 

He broke and trained horses for roping, racing, work teams and polo through the years. He taught and encouraged many young cowboys and his own daughter and granddaughter to compete and entertain in rodeos. He saw his friends at the ropings and kept pace with the winnings, even beating his friend Ben Johnson at Winfield, Kansas July of 1920. 

Billy continued to train horses and compete into his older age. At the age of 64 years old Billy won 2^nd place at Moline, Kansas competing against ropers less than half his age. 

He died on June 4, 1951 at 74 years old with many paying their respects. Ben Johnson, Jr remembered him fondly to members of our family and stated that he deserved to be in the Cowboy Hall of Fame. He has become a part of local history and folklore, and is fondly remembered by his family. 

[Charlie’s Note: The Ben Johnson, Jr mentioned above was a rodeo cowboy, Hollywood stunt man, actor, and rancher who was in several movies with John Wayne. William Sanford “Billy” Bonnell is 002590 in Claude’s database.  His lineage can be seen in the Direct Lines entry by his granddaughter, Pat (Howell) McKinley.]

Blog Editor’s Note: “Man, Beast, Dust, the Story of Rodeo, ” by Clifford P. Westermeier, World Press, 1947 was reprinted in 1987 by The University of Nebraska Press but is no longer for sale from it. There are many used copies available through online booksellers.