JUAN LIGHT SALINAS, ENCINAL, TEXAS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST SOUTH TEXAS BRUSH COUNTRY RODEO CHAMPS
By Ricardo D. Palacios
Encinal, Texas
After the taming of the Nueces Strip, all that land south of the Nueces River to the Rio Grande River in south Texas in the 1800's, the Mexican/Spanish ranches were finally able to take firm hold. One of these ranches was the Salinas Ranch owned by Sheriff Antonio Salinas of Laredo, the county seat of Webb County in southwest Texas. He bought the Las Blancas Ranch in 1880 and developed it into a fine working ranch.
Around the turn of the last century, Sheriff Salinas married Minnie Light, recently arrived from Mason, Texas in the central Texas Hill Country. In short order the young couple had five children. With the finest of horses, hundreds of cattle and 15,000 acres to run around, the oldest of the children Juan Light Salinas, born in 1901, began honing his riding and roping skills, and developed into one of the best calf ropers to ever come out of deep south Texas.
In 1920, the family traded its ranch for the 15,000 acre Santa Ana Ranch three miles south of Encinal, Texas, 35 miles north of Laredo, Texas on then U. S. Highway 81, now Interstate Highway 35. The 19-year-old Juan was in charge of making the huge move.
Being closer to the main highways in the state of Texas, Juan began attending area ropings, where he match roped, or jack pot roped and won just about every event he entered. This included ropings in Cotulla, San Diego, Falfurrias, Corpus Christi, Raymondville, Mercedes, Laredo, Carrizo Springs, Uvalde, San Angelo, Junction, Sonora and other area towns. By his mid twenties the young man was the best around. Being naturally shy and quite, and somewhat self conscious of his slight Spanish accent, Juan was reluctant to venture out of his main bailiwick, the south Texas area.
Finally in 1936 at the age of 35, Juan took his first tour on the national rodeo circuit. He started first in Dallas, Texas, and was not able to win anything, giving rise to self-doubt. He moved to a four-day event in Shiner, Texas, and won everything there was for him to win, he moved next to Halletsville, Texas, and won everything there. He was on his way. He traveled around the United States for the next ten years, trying to make as many of the big rodeos that he could. He made it to the World Championship Rodeo at Madison Square Garden ten consecutive years, from 1936 until he retired from professional rodeo in 1946. In 1936 he married beautiful Bertha Hargraves of Beaumont, and they lived at the Salinas Ranch near Encinal until her death in 1991. She joined him in all his travels throughout the United States. They did not have children.
During his ten-year tour of the national rodeo circuit, he made as many rodeos as he could each year. He spoke of rodeos in Texas, Phoenix, Denver, San Francisco, Salinas, Los Angeles, Burwell, Nebraska, Sidney Iowa, Pendleton, Chicago, Buffalo, Boston, and of course New York. There were many rodeos in between. He talked about getting the best manila sisal ropes in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Of course today’s ropers use nylon and poly ropes. He told stories about the cowboy marrying Sally Rand the famous fan dancer in San Francisco, then going to the wedding reception in Oakland. They were attending the World Championship Rodeo at Treasure Island, near San Francisco in 1939, for the World’s Fair. The stories were fascinating.
In 1938 Juan acquired Honey Boy, one of the finest quarter horse roping horses to have ever graced America’s rodeo arenas. Ernest Lane, quarter horse trainer for the famous King Ranch, gave the horse to him. For decades magazines have acclaimed the mighty Honey Boy and often compared him to Baldy and others. Every year an article or two appears on Honey Boy.
Juan Salinas and Honey Boy about 1938
Juan rubbed elbows with the best cowboys of his day. He spoke frequently of the friendships he made during his years of rodeo. His friends sound like the Who’s Who of Rodeo in the 1930s and 1940s. Bob Crosby, Ike Rude, Jack Sellars, Irby Munday, Clyde Burke, Earl Sellars, Jake McClure, Fritz Truan, Everett Shaw, Ted Powers, Buck Sorrells, Everett Bowman, many others, and of course the great Toots Mansfield of Bandera. Juan also spoke of the entertainers of the day becoming good friends. These included Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Area performers that joined Juan on his trips around the country or met him there were his brother Tony Salinas, Lem Reeves, Tom East, and Dick Shelton. Juan is credited with introducing Toots Mansfield into professional rodeo, and being his agent for several years. Toots Mansfield went on to win the World Champion Calf Roping title seven times. He also helped Jack Skipworth and Buck Echols along their careers. Though Juan never won the World Championship, he won several major rodeos, including Burwell, Nebraska and Phoenix, Arizona. Of course, he won many ropings in the state of Texas. During his career he won about 15 trophy saddles. Being a very practical and pragmatic person, he used them on his ranch, and wore most of them out. His nephew Ricardo Palacios of Encinal now owns 7 of the old trophy saddles.
Juan and Tony circa 1949
Juan and Bertha Salinas often talked fondly of their days in rodeo. Their den at home was lined with panoramic pictures of the big rodeos, the basement pictures and city hall pictures taken at Madison Square Garden and dozens of action photos. Juan’s nephew Ricardo Palacios of Encinal now owns this magnificent photo collection.
In 1991 after many years of delay, Juan was inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame. That year he received the Rancher of the Year Award at Laredo’s Border fest, the following year the Ranching Heritage Award given by the King Ranch and Texas A & M Kingsville. In 1993 he garnered his final award being inducted into the LULAC International Sports Hall of Fame in Laredo. These were fitting tribute to a champ, and fine additions to his trophy roping saddles, his silver trophies and buckles.
Juan Light Salinas died in Laredo, Texas at the age of 94 in 1995.
Ricardo Palacios has written a Juan Salinas biography and it is scheduled for publication by Texas A&M Press in 2006