california

The California Rodeo Salinas has been celebrated by many fans and supporters throughout the past 110 years who keep the spirit of the west alive while generating money for local non-profits and economic impact for the city of Salinas.The not-for-profit organization worked diligently to make the celebration happen in 2020, but after postponing from July...

Keiara Monique—nickname Kika—grew up in Compton, California, and she’s a second-generation barrel racer. She worked her way up through the barrel racing ranks before setting aside horses to pursue a degree in nursing. Today she’s 31, back in the horse world, caring for her family and striving to make the world a better place. While...

Hundreds of rodeo lovers once again gathered in the grand stands. In Shasta County, California the Cottonwood Mother’s Day Rodeo celebrated their 58th year, crowds, cows, and cowboys in tow. The rodeo, held at the Bobby Jones Arena in Cottonwood, drew a massive crowd there celebrating a myriad of occasions. Although fun-filled and exciting, the...

Twisted X® and Two Ten Footwear Foundation banded together to help those affected by the recent natural disasters in California, Texas, and the Bahamas. The companies partnered with the Two Ten Footwear Foundation, Share Your Shoes, to help give back. In all, the companies donated 1.6 million dollars’ worth of shoes. From Twisted X alone,...

“I shall give you a full, true, and particular account of the discovery, rise, and progress of this place, with a religious adherence to dates which will rather astonish your unmathematical mind.” —Excerpt from Louise Clappe’s letter to her sister Mary Ann, September 20, 1851  The sun hung like a golden disc in an impossible...

The discovery of gold in California in 1849, sparked a raging fever in thousands of Argonauts hoping to strike it rich. Among the flood of fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands that ventured west were mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives. Although they were few in number, women shoveled and picked through tons of gravel working shoulder...

“Man is a gaming animal. He must always be trying to get the better in something or other.”  Historian Charles Lamb – 1823   The New World gambling parlor in Marysville, California in 1851 was filled with prospectors and sojourners eager to lay their money down on a game of chance.  Patrons could choose from...

Carrie Ballantyne grew up in Southern California, but it is the people of the Mountain West—especially those engaged in traditional lifestyles tied to the land—who inspire her art.  Ranchers, ropers, Nevada buckaroos, old-timers, horse trainers, rodeo cowboys, children with their animals, a favorite model from the nearby Crow reservation: Her inspiration is as varied as...