12/25/2013:
A cowboy’s cowboy, Jack Chase died on December 26, 2001. He was a four-time state champion steer wrestler during the 1960s and traveled the rodeo circuit as often as his work allowed from the late 1940s until 1980, when he retired from active competition. Jack was a top rodeo cowboy and a person who did a great deal during his lifetime to promote and keep the cowboy way of life and our western heritage alive.
His early rodeo experiences were riding cows and colts on his dad’s ranch. Jack competed in both the North Dakota Rodeo Association and the Rodeo Cowboys’ Association rodeos, earning his RCA card in 1964. He often traveled to 20 to 30 rodeos in several states each year.
Jack competed in most rodeo events over the years, but eventually specialized in steer wrestling. He won non-RCA state championships in 1962 and ‘64 and RCA state championships in 1966 and ‘68. He was a lifetime Professional Rodeo Cowboys’ Association member.
A 2006 North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee, Jack was born July 27, 1934, near Carson to Leonard and Evelyn Chase. He grew up on a ranch in Grant County and, from an early age, loved ranch life and the self-reliance, hard work and sense of accomplishment that goes with it. As a young man in the 1950s, Jack was a working cowboy for hire on the ranches around Porcupine, South Dakota.
He was also involved in law enforcement and brand inspecting for the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association for 39 years. Many of those years, he served as Chief Brand Inspector, in charge of a staff that monitored legal ownership and branding of livestock in North Dakota. He retired from brand inspecting in 1997 and was also involved in other areas of the NDSA.
One of Jack’s primary contribution as a cowboy was his sharing of North Dakota’s western heritage and the cowboy way of life with others. He was a tough rodeo cowboy who had a soft spot in his heart for people and a true knack for sharing wild western stories, learning storytelling from his dad.
Jack died December 26, 2001, in Bismarck.
Dakota Datebook written by Cathy A. Langemo, WritePlus Inc.
Sources:
ND Cowboy Hall of Fame Cowboy Chronicle – July 2006
Obituary – Bismarck Tribune – December 29, 2001
NDCHF nomination information – 2002-2006