I love learning tidbits from history.
We were at the Pendleton Round-Up over the weekend, and the souvenir program had a lovely article about Dell Blancett.
That name is probably unfamiliar to most people, but his wife’s name was well known in rodeo circles in the early 1900s.
Bertha Kaepernik Blancett was born in 1883 in Ohio. She made history in 1904 by becoming the first woman to ride a bucking horse at Cheyenne Frontier Days. Fashionable and tough, she went on to win the bucking championship at the Pendleton Round-Up in 1911, 1912, and 1914. She become known as the “most famous woman rider in rodeo.” Bertha established the world record for Roman racing in Pendleton, making a quarter mile in eight seconds.
The year was 1909 when she met Dell Blancett, a rodeo steer wrestler who also worked as a trick rider for the Bison Moving Picture Company.
Dell was born in Iowa in a wagon train traveling west from Indiana in January 1883. His family ended up in Washington state.
The year was 1909 when Dell and Bertha wed. What many people don’t know is that they were a team. She rode as his hazer when he was steer wrestling (a hazer’s job is to keep the steer going in a straight line without touching or assisting the wrestler). Dell was considered one of the best all-around cowboys during the 1910s. He was a world champion bulldogger (steer wrestler), a talented roper, and a rider above average ability. He owned strings of horses he transported all around the West, setting up his headquarters in Pendleton.
Dell and Bertha were partners and sweethearts, wowing rodeo crowds with their skill and talent, as well as participating in movies and wild west shows.
With the United States’ entry into World War I looming on the horizon, Dell became one of the men who organized a voluntary cowboy company, the Oregon Troop D Field Artillery. Sadly, he was rejected from serving because of rheumatism. However, that didn’t stop him from finding his way to France and the war. Dell headed to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Cavalry. He was assigned to the A Squadron of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadian). The unit was one of the most elite of Canadian Cavalry units. It had been formed by the Honourable Donald Alexander Smith, later the 1st Baron Strathcona, as a privately organized cavalry unit during the Boer War. It was comprised of cowboys and members of the Northwest Mounted Police.
The company was transferred to France in February 1918. In March, the squadron was pressed into battle against a German offensive. Machine gun fire killed all but 51 members. The last letter Dell wrote was address to Roy Raley of Pendleton (Roy was one of the founders of the Happy Canyon Pageant and the Pendleton Round-Up). The letter included Dell’s riding crop and spurs.
Dell was killed March 30, 1918 at the age of 35. Reportedly, his last words were, “Those German bullets sure hit hard.” The action by Canadian cowboys in the wood was regarded as a principal element in the ultimate Allied victory in November of that year. Dell is buried in Moreuil Woods in France. He was the first Pendleton resident, and first Round-Up star to die in the war.
Bertha never remarried. She retired from rodeo and worked as a stunt woman in Western films starring notable names such as Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson. She traveled across the United States and Europe with the Pawnee Bill’s Wild West show and the 101 Ranch Wild West show. In later years, she served as a guide at Yosemite National Park. She died in 1979, at the age of 95.
One of my recently released books, Molly, takes place during World War I. It’s about an American soldier named Friday and a Hello Girl named Molly who meet in France.
If you haven’t yet read it yet, the story is a sweet and wholesome historical romance filled with hope, faith, courage, and love.
Because I dug deeply into the research for this story, the lives of the Hello Girls came alive for me.
The real Hello Girls were incredibly brave women who opened the door for women in the military. They are also part of the reason the 19th Amendment was finally passed after World War I, giving women the right to vote.
However, these amazing women were not recognized as veterans for nearly six decades. Right now, efforts are being made to put a bill in place to aware them a Congressional Gold Medal. After reading their stories, I can honestly say they have more than earned it!
We have just a few more weeks to get the legislation through Congress before it dies. The required 67 votes in the Senate have been attained, but 60 additional House Representative sponsors are needed.
Would you consider helping the Hello Girls? It doesn’t cost anything but a moment of your time! (Note: This bill does not require any funding!)
If you are interested, just go to the Hello Girls website, choose your state and district, copy and paste the provided letter, and submit. That is it! With enough people reaching out to their district representatives, it can make an impact. If you know anyone in a government office, ask for them to offer their support, too!
If you’d like to learn more FAQs about the Hello Girls, there’s a handy sheet here.
The Hello Girls have become so dear to my heart, and it would mean so much to their descendants if the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to them.
What is something “near and dear” to your heart?
A charity? A sweet story? A special memento or photograph?
Share your answer for a chance to win an autographed copy of Molly.
After spending her formative years on a farm in Eastern Oregon, hopeless romantic Shanna Hatfield turns her rural experiences into sweet historical and contemporary romances filled with sarcasm, humor, and hunky western heroes.
When this USA Today bestselling author isn’t writing or covertly hiding decadent chocolate from the other occupants of her home, Shanna hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.
What a fascinating couple.
My grandma’s wedding ring is something near and dear to my heart. I wear it with my own.
That is so awesome you not only have it, but wear it with yours. I love that!
My Aunt Pat who just turned 90! She is very dear to me.
Enjoy all the time with her you can.
Hey Shanna! Interesting rodeo couple and I enjoyed Molly’s story and your research of the Hello Girls. I was a telephone operator in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s. The old switch board. It’s amazing to me how quickly the telephone industry changed in just 15 years after I was laid off in 1984. It’s hard to explain all this to my 10 year old grandson! I guess you would say my grandson is very dear to my heart.
Best wishes to you Shanna!
Thank you, Tracy! That is so neat about you being a telephone operator. My mom and two of my aunts were operators back in the 1950s! It is hard to explain how things worked back then to the youngsters. So glad you have that special connection to your sweet grandson!
“Near and dear” to me is an old photograph of my mother, my grandparents and great grandmother. My mother was an infant when the picture was taken in 1920.
What a keepsake to treasure with that photograph, Molly. So wonderful you have that!
The only photo of my maternal grandfather ever taken.
Oh, wow! That would be a priceless treasure!
I read Molly and it is a wonderful book. I also sent letters to my congressman and senators in support of the Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medals. I heard back from all of them that they will support the bill. Such brave women. Love all your historical research that goes into everyone of your books.
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is dear to my heart. My great niece was born with CF. She lived to be 25 after going through a double lung transplant at Duke University Hospital. She was a fighter and always optimistic. She wanted to be an actress and was in every college play she was able to be in.
Thank you so, so much, Sarah, for supporting the Hello Girls – and reading Molly. Thank you!
I’m so sorry about your niece’s passing and her struggle with CF. How wonderful she wanted to be an actress, and kept optimistic. Big hugs to you.
Loved learning about Bertha and Dell’s story, Shanna. Such a lovely cowboy romance until the war interrupted. Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you, Karen! It is a fun story of rodeo sweethearts!
I enjoyed hearing about the Hello Girls. I have momentos of my childhood, but to say they were ‘near and dear to my heart’’ , I can’t say that. Nothing is as important as my family and my Savior.
Love what you shared about your family and Savior. Truly the most important things!
My late father’s soapstone sculptures are cherished since they are created by his own ability.
What a neat keepsake, Sharon. So wonderful he made them!
I have quite a few things! I have a piece of brooch of my maternal grandmother’s, and I have a ring carved for me by my maternal grandfather, plus other things.
How delightful to have the brooch, ring, and other special keepsakes!
Photographs are meaningful, and give me great pleasure. Albums that start when I was a baby and onward that show the entire family.
Photos are such a lovely thing to have. I love looking at old photographs. Great you have the albums!
What an adventurous couple! Thank you for sharing about them. Your book sounds and looks like a great read! Photographs of my whole family growing up are very dear to my heart and also things that my children and grandchildren have made for me. Have a great day and a great rest of the week.
Thank you, Alicia!
So wonderful you have keepsakes from your children and grandchildren, as well as photographs that are special to you!
I have many pieces of needleworks my grandmother made which I cherish. She loved to make crocheted doilies and scarfs and embroider pillowcases and table cloths and quilt. She taught me to crochet when I was about eight years old. Thru the years I have crocheted, sewn and embroidered many items. Today I spend my extra time quilting. So I guess it proves my grandmother was a great teacher.
That is fantastic you have needlework pieces made by your grandmother. Someday those projects you’ve created will be just as special to your loved ones. How neat you quilt too. Your grandmother must have been an amazing teacher!
A charity Safe Haven Baby Boxes
That is awesome!
,I cherish many things, but at the moment I cherish my faithful companion, little terrier Katie.
I tried hard to think of what I cherish and it is just about everything, especially my teachers who taught me to read.
Love what you shared, especially about your teachers!
Family time. We are having hubs oldest sister memorial this Saturday as she passed in Arizona in February and just now getting back here to Indiana
So sorry for your loss. I hope the memorial goes well. Thinking of you!
I may have several keepsakes that are near & dear to me but one is a locket with a lock of my grandma’s hair in it. She wanted all of her granddaughters & great granddaughters to have one so we would always have her close to us and to remember her.
That is such a lovely sentiment and keepsake. So nice she thought ahead to leave the lockets for all of you.
I have some jewelry that belonged to my grandmother including a pair of earrings that I still wear sometimes.
How lovely!
I have a purse made out of a pair of my late father’s boots that I cherish. I also have his saddle that has teeth marks on the saddle horn from when I was a baby and would ride in front of him.
Oh, what special keepsakes. I love that you had a purse made out of your father’s boots. What a neat way to cherish something that once belonged to him.
I have a shawl my mom crocheted for me. She is 93 and still lives by herself.
Such a lovely keepsake, Linda. Your mom is the same age as my dad!
I have some jewelry I inherited that is precious to me.
How neat, Cherie!
Time spent with my Mom is near and dear to my heart. It’s so easy to take for granted, but I’m trying to be more present and enjoy our time together.
Love that, Megan. One of the best gifts we can give us our time.
I hold Compassion International near to my heart. They work to feed, cloth and teach children all over the world about the Lord. I also hold dear the stray cats that we feed. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
That is so awesome, Debra. Thank you for sharing about the organization. Smiles and joy to you!
family pics
Those are precious treasures!
The giveaway is over, but your post hit a chord with me. My husband and I volunteer with the Red Cross at the local veteran’s hospital. My husband is a veteran and uses the hospital for his are. It provides excellent care. Sadly there are many veterans here and around the country who are alone. Either they do not have family or their family has nothing to do with them. We do visit with some and worked with the No Vet Dies Alone program until COVID hit. It hasn’t started back up yet. We sit with veterans who have little time left and either have no family to be with them or we give family a break to get some rest. We also attend a funeral held quarterly for veterans who have died during that quarter and have not had their remains claimed by family. It is sad that they are so alone. We had 5 last time. They deserve to be honored as they are sent on their final journey. We owe so much to these men and women.