Florence "Flores" LaDue (1883–1951) was the stage name of

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

performer and champion trick roper ''Grace Bensel''.

Biography

Born Grace Maud Bensel in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, her mother died while she was an infant and her father, C.D. Bensel, was a criminal lawyer and later a judge. She spent most of her young life on a

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

reservation where her grandfather was the government agent. Bensel left home, by some accounts running away to join a wild west show, and began performing under the name Florence LaDue. By 1905 she was appearing with Cummins’s Wild West Show and Indian Congress. While there, she met

Guy Weadick George Guy Weadick (February 23, 1885 – December 13, 1953) was an American cowboy, performer and promoter. He and his horse Cyclone quickly became well known in the Calgary area. Today, he is best known as the founder of the Calgary Stampede in ...

, who was also an accomplished rider and roper, and they married in 1906. Florence LaDue and Guy Weadick led a peripatetic life for the next five years. They worked with John P. Kirk’s Elite Vaudeville co. in 1908 and were appearing with

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

’

Wild West show Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of co ...

in 1910. They had a stint on Broadway in ‘Wyoming Days’ and did the Keith-Albee, Orpheum, and Pantages vaudeville circuits, as well as appearances in Glasgow, London, and Paris. LaDue often performed solo, but also with her husband, as Weadick and LaDue, and in larger groups. By 1912, they settled in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, where LaDue helped her husband found the

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 ...

. LaDue retired as undefeated World Champion Lady Fancy Roper after performing and competing for 31 years. Towards the end of her life, in the hopes of improving her failing health, they sold their home, outside Calgary and moved to Phoenix, AZ. LaDue died of heart failure in 1951.

Legacy

In 2001 she was inducted into the

National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Established in 1975, it is dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. The museum is an edu ...

. LaDue is profiled in a children's book called ''Howdy, I'm Flores LaDue'' by Ayesha Clough, with illustrations by Hugh Rookwood and Keegan Starlight, published in 2022 by Red Barn Books. ISBN 9781989915042. With the Completion of the

BMO Centre The BMO Centre is a convention centre in Calgary, Alberta. It is located in Stampede Park, which is in the Beltline district south of downtown Calgary. At , it is the largest convention centre in the city and the largest in Western Canada. Opene ...

expansion on June 5, 2024. The Calgary Stampede announced plans to name the 17th Avenue extension into the park as "Flores LaDue Parade". This was done in recognition of her efforts during the early days of the Calgary Stampede alongside her husband Guy Weadick.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladue, Florence 1883 births 1951 deaths American vaudeville performers People from Montevideo, Minnesota Sportspeople from Calgary Trick roping Trick riders Women stunt performers Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees