Roland Johns

Roland Johns and his family of 10 moved to Cokeville, Wyoming, in the early 1960’s from Star Valley. They bought the Melba Buhler Ranch, which later became the Johns Ranch. 

Prior to moving to Cokeville, Roland had been part of the "Piggin String Riding Club'' that put on rodeos in both Afton and around Star Valley.  It was similar to the Cokeville Rodeo (at the time) because they too had to gather stock from locals. 

His daughter, Janet Dayton, reflected how his prior experience in Star Valley came in handy… "He had done it before, he had been around guys that knew the chutes."

There wasn't "rodeo livestock" when Roland was involved in the Cokeville Rodeo. They had to get their livestock from local ranchers. Getting the livestock lined up was the hardest part as most of the town's livestock were out on the range. 

Lila Rigby, another one of Roland’s daughters, remembered that, “There was one time Dad said ‘I was in a mess but Elwin McKinnon bailed me out.’" Roland gathered stock from whomever he could, but two people, in particular, his daughters recalled were Russell Thornock and Evan Pope

Prior to the Cokeville 24th Pioneer Day Celebration, there were weeks and weeks of preparation. "It was not the 24th of July. It was JULY!" Lila recalled. But when it came to “rodeo day,” Roland would leave early early in the morning with his truck and trailer full of stock, and leave his sweet wife to prepare for the Celebration Dinner with all 8 of their children.

When Roland was involved in the rodeo, it was still a fundraiser for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. At that time there was only one ward, so many of the same people were doing different jobs — the dinner, rodeo, parade, and games at the football field. It took the whole community to come together to create an unforgettable day of festivities. And everyone was so happy to play their part.

According to his daughters, Roland really wasn't a rodeo man. He didn't rope or ride in them. He was behind the chutes forever — and he loved it.

Russell Thornock and Roland worked together a lot, along with their other companion, Virgil Bailey. They became really good friends. Roland loved working with them. Virgil was in charge of timing the events, and later after Janet and her new husband, Todd, were married…Todd assisted Virgil with timing the events at the rodeo.

There was one year that Roland had pigs available, so he decided to do a pig wrestling event (which would continue on in Cokeville Rodeo infamy). He greased up several large pipes, added some pigs, and had teams compete against one another. Janet recalled some of the Pope boys being home from their missions and competing in the newly introduced event. It was an instant hit.

Finally, the girls reflected on the feeling and energy during the Cokeville 24th Pioneer Day Celebration. They said, “It was neat because it put people together — People you didn’t normally see except for on the 24th each year.”

What a treasured piece of our town’s history that Janet and Lila shared with us. We are so grateful to Roland’s daughters for sharing their father’s story on our Rodeo Honorees page, for he certainly deserves the honor!

Roland, we remember all that you did for our rodeo, and the many years you served. Thank you.