MCHF & WHC HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE 2015

C.R. Williams (1896-1956)

C.R. was a bronc riding champion from Kalispell, Montana. He was born on November 20, 1896, and named Charles Raymond Williams. By the time C.R. was 18, he had his own Wild West show called the C.R.W. Wild West Show or WWW Show (Williams Wild West Show.) In 1920, he appeared in, and on the cover of, Foghorn Clancy’s Round-Up Stampede and Cowboy Sports Guide.

In 1923, C.R. won at Bozeman when he defeated the legendary Howard Tegland. He won by riding the horse that had thrown the famous Yakima Canutt the year before. He won the Montana bronc riding championship held in Shelby which followed the Jack Dempsey vs. Tommy Gibbons Heavyweight Championship Fight. That year, C.R. came up just short of winning the prestigious Roosevelt trophy. In 1925, he won the bronc riding at Belle Fourche, South Dakota, and in 1926, finished second in Denver and fourth at Yankee Stadium. He drove from rodeo to rodeo in a Buick Heliotrope Convertible. C.R. was called “the best dressed cowboy” and usually wore the biggest hat. He was a ladies man and was known to have been married twice. C.R. didn’t win them all, but he did win his share. He usually finished in the top five competing against other world champion cowboys. 

When C.R. was in his 20s, he moved to Hollywood where he appeared as a Tom Mix double. He also had a contract for the movie Drums of Arabee. He was held in high esteem and admired by Will James, one of Western History’s most important writers and artists of the time, as evidenced in a letter from Will James to a friend. In panorama photos, C.R. is pictured wearing chaps that have the word Hollywood on them. 

His contemporaries and closest friends included bronc rider Fay Ward who was well known for his book, How to be A Cowboy, John Dixon “Red” Sublett, a successful rodeo clown, “Skeeter Bill” Robbins and Dorothy Morrell. “Skeeter Bill” was an actor, known for The Fighting Parson, The Duke Bandit and The Cowboy Counsellor and married to Dorothy, a well-known bronc and trick rider.

C.R. was a skilled silversmith and did the hand tooling of six shooters for movie star cowboys. His silver buckles, bridles and spurs were highly prized and sought after. C.R.'s greatest claim to fame, however, lies in the fact that he kept meticulous records. Keeping three incredible scrapbooks of important Western memorabilia, he wrote the names of famous cowboys and cowgirls who may not have ever been recognized in pictures if it wasn’t for him. The memorabilia lay hidden in a traveling trunk in a Las Vegas garage for almost 100 years. The trunk is now opened for all to see, appreciate, and add to the rich fabric of American Western history.

In his later years, C.R. moved to Las Vegas and opened a gun shop. He died on July 26, 1956, at the age of 60. All too often history is lost. In C.R.'s case, it was rediscovered and now is the time to celebrate and honor the life of this amazing Montana trailblazer.

Sources:

Personal archives of C.R. Williams. Scrapbooks containing postcards letters, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia, compiled by Ross Kapstein.