Casey Tibbs, 60; Champion Rodeo Performer

Casey Tibbs, a nine-time world-champion rodeo performer between 1949 and 1959, died of bone cancer Sunday at his home in Ramona in San Diego County. He was 60.

Agile and tough, Tibbs brought popularity and respect to the rodeo arena, earning him a description as “probably the most famous of all rodeo cowboys.”

He won a record six world saddle bronc riding championships in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Assn. and two all-around cowboy titles. In addition, Tibbs collected one bareback bronc riding crown. He also collected his share of injuries.

“I guess I’ve broken about 36 or 38 bones,” the Ft. Pierre, S.D., native once estimated. “I’ve had 11 broken ribs and have fractured my left leg three times. Once, I broke four ribs at Denver, then rode in a rodeo at Ft. Worth 10 days later--and won the thing.”

But the resilient bronc buster, who appeared on a 1951 cover of Life magazine, maintained that the falls never hurt.

“I never hurt myself in a fall,” he said in 1978. “A good rider gets hurt from a hoof goin’ over him or when a horse lands on top of him.”

When Tibbs retired in 1959, he began performing stunts in movies and television and engineered several business ventures.

Among the ventures were the movies “Born to Buck” and “The Younger Rounders,” the former a 1968 semi-documentary about Tibbs’ adventures in the South Dakota countryside.

After several flaps with Hollywood executives, Tibbs personally booked the second movie--the tale of a lost horse--in nearly 100 theaters across the country.

Along with producing and stunt work, Tibbs also served as technical director for several films, including “The Lusty Men.”

He later assembled his Wild West Show and rodeo company and took the sport abroad, performing as far away as Japan and Hong Kong.

Last August, a statue of Tibbs riding a bucking horse named “Necktie” was dedicated at the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Tibbs made his last public appearance at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December, an event he helped found about 30 years ago.

Tibbs is survived by a sister, Ardith Cook of Spearfish, S.D., and a brother, Thad (Doc) Tibbs of Ft. Pierre. Funeral services were pending in Ramona, but burial will be at Scotty Phillips Cemetery north of Ft. Pierre, Thad Tibbs said.