Dan Mortensen
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Daniel Earl Mortensen (born December 16, 1968) is an American former professional
rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...
who specialized in saddle bronc riding. He competed in the
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the N ...
(PRCA) and won seven world championships; six in saddle bronc riding and one
all-around The All-Around is an award given to a rodeo competitor who is most successful in two or more events. Most individual rodeos and championships determine the winner of this award at the conclusion of the other events or championships. Championship ...
.


Early life

Mortensen was born in Billings,
Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
, to Sheryl and Don "Mort" Mortensen. He is the youngest of four, having three sisters, Dawn, Denise and Darcy. His father, Mort, was an electrician and his mother, Sheryl, has worked as a teaching assistant at the Lockwood Schools for over twenty-five years. Mortensen developed a passion for rodeo at and early age and won his first team roping competition at the age of 6. By the age of 12 he had progressed through steer (age 10) up to riding bulls at the local youth rodeos.


Education

Mortensen attended Lockwood primary, elementary and junior high schools (k-9) from 1974 through 1984, and Billings Senior High (10-12) from 1985 through 1987. While attending Billings Senior High, he was an active member of the
Future Farmers of America The National FFA Organization or FFA is an American nonprofit career and technical student organization, which offers middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. Future Farmers of Virginia (FFV) was founded in ...
and competed in the Montana high school rodeo circuit. During his Sophomore and Junior years at BSHS, Mortensen won the Montana High School bull riding championship. Before graduating in 1987, he went on to win the Montana High School saddle bronc championship and placed 2nd in the bull riding competition. After graduation, Mortensen accepted a scholarship to attend Northwest College in Powell,
Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
. He spent two years on the Trapper rodeo team where he finished 2nd in the saddle bronc category to fellow future rodeo legend
Ty Murray Ty Monroe Murray (born October 11, 1969), is an American former professional rodeo cowboy. He competed in the three "roughstock" events; bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, and bull riding. He won nine world championships in the Profe ...
in both the
College National Finals Rodeo The College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR), sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), is held every June. The inaugural event was hosted at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, in 1949. Since 1999, the CNFR has been ...
and the final national standings for 1989. Mortensen then accepted a scholarship to
Montana State University - Bozeman Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers bacc ...
in
Bozeman, Montana Bozeman ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The 2020 United States census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it Montana's fourth-largest city. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montan ...
. Mortensen joined the PRCA in 1990. Placing 15th in the standings, Mortensen was awarded as the Rookie of the Year. He followed up his rookie year in the PRCA by winning the National Intercollegiate saddle bronc championship. In 1992, Mortensen graduated from MSU-Bozeman with honors, earning a degree in agri-business and economics. The university later awarded him with its most prestigious award, The Blue and Gold Award, for his great lifetime service bringing international distinction to Montana State University - Bozeman.


Career

Three years after joining the PRCA, Mortensen competed at the
National Finals Rodeo The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier championship rodeo of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). It showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money winners in the season for each event. The NFR is held each year in the f ...
(NFR) and won the first of his six saddle bronc riding world championships. He went on to win the saddle bronc titles in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2003. His six titles ties him for most all time with the legendary cowboy Casey Tibbs. At the 1997 NFR, Mortensen also won the all-around world champion title. During his 1998 NFR run for the saddle bronc championship, Mortensen became the first rider in PRCA history to win over $200,000 in a single event. The following year,
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
named Mortensen one of Montana's top ten athletes of the century. Mortensen claimed another first in rodeo history at the 2003 Pendleton Round-Up rodeo in Pendleton, Oregon, by becoming the first rough stock rider to exceed $2 million in career earnings. Rodeo was included as a cultural event at the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...
in
Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...
. Mortensen participated on the U.S. team in competition against the Canadian team. He took home the
bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...
for the competition. The Montana Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame honored Mortensen in October 2002 with the unveiling of an 18' statue of him riding the bronc Tee Box, as the center piece of their Wall of Fame monument at the Metra Park in Billings, Montana. The sculpture was the last work of western artist and fellow Montanan, R.F. Rains. Montana State University - Bozeman inducted Mortensen into its Athletics Hall of Fame on September 17, 2004, at a ceremony in Bozeman. At a ceremony in
Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...
, on July 9, 2009, Mortensen was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Mortensen officially retired from rodeo November 2008 at the age of 39. Mortensen now coaches the Northwest College Rodeo Team in Powell, Wyoming, where he attended college for his first two years of schooling.


Honors

* 1997 Rodeo Hall of Fame of the
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 American West, Western and Native American art works and Artifact (archaeology), artifacts. The facility also has the worl ...
* 2001
Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, fair, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year a ...
Guy Weadick Award * 2004 MSU-Bozeman - Athletics Hall of Fame * 2009 ProRodeo Hall of Fame * 2015 Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame * 2023 Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame


References


External links


Dan Mortensen Biography at Lockwood SchoolBobcat Hall of Fame All-Time Inductees, Montana State UniversityNational Intercollegiate Rodeo Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortensen, Dan 1968 births Living people Sportspeople from Billings, Montana ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductees All-Around Saddle bronc riders