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A lifetime behind the chutes: Roger and Ruby Nygaard lived and laughed through a life of rodeo

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Tamara Choat
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-All photos courtesy Nygaard family

Roger and Ruby Nygaard were born one day apart in Wolf Point, Montana. “He jokes he has known me since I was born,” said Ruby. “He’s just a day older than me and our moms were in the hospital together.” The two didn’t really start to spend time together until their senior year of high school, but since then, have formed a lifetime partnership of hard work, family ties and lots of laughs and memories along the way. The couple has been married for 56 years and have been involved in agriculture and rodeo every step of the way. Today they live northwest of Wolf Point and still run cattle and horses.

Ruby grew up north of Wolf Point, where her father’s family had homesteaded and her mother was a sister to rodeo legacy Marvin Brookman – a connection that brought rodeo into her life from the very beginning. Roger grew up a cowboy, with his family ranch close to Wolf Point. His passion for horses led him to work with Brookman Rodeo, where he helped with timed events and became known for his ability to sort bucking horses. “He has always been kind of a horse whisperer,” said Ruby. A chance opportunity to work as a pickup man when another didn’t show up launched Roger into that role for amateur and high school rodeos. Throughout his career Roger worked for Sidney Livestock Market and later as a representative for Superior Livestock and, like his father and now his son, was a Montana brand inspector.

Through a lifetime of raising kids and helping everywhere she was needed, Ruby also worked as a tutor at the local elementary school. However, their large circle of rodeo friends most likely remember her for her work as a timer for Brookman Rodeo for many years, as well as helping in the secretary’s office, posting times and supporting the overall operation of the show. She timed the PRCA Montana Circuit Finals in Great Falls for nine years until back surgery forced her to step down from the crow’s nest.

The timing position requires intense concentration and multitasking. “You have the scoreboard in one hand, and you got your eight-second watch in the other hand, and you’re clicking them both at the same time, and then you’re writing things down and you got to be kind of Johnny-on-the-spot,” Ruby said. The job demands complete focus, especially during roughstock events, where “you can’t be distracted one bit when they’re coming out of that chute, because someone’s living depends on you.”

Working for Brookman Rodeo meant extensive travel and hauling stock across the region. Ruby laughed as she said Roger would always drive out of the rodeo grounds, but a few miles out he would pull over and let her take the wheel. “Then a few miles before the next rodeo grounds he would have me pull over and he’d get back in. But all our friends knew and gave him a hard time – they’d say, ‘If you pass a Brookman trailer, it’s going to be Ruby driving!'”

On a particular winter drive leaving the circuit finals in Great Falls they were pulling a load of bulls and bucking horses and Roger convinced Ruby to drive. “He told me, ‘Oh, it’s fine, the roads are good,'” said Ruby. “Well, he kept falling asleep and all of a sudden it was pure ice – my knuckles were just white and all I could think was ‘I can’t go in the ditch with all these animals!’ and he suddenly sat up straight and said, ‘Just keep it between the two lines and drive slow,’ and then he went right back to sleep! I made it to the next stop and I woke him up and said, ‘You’re driving now!’

“We had fun,” she said. “We were always laughing and people were laughing with us.”

One of her favorite memories was Roger’s most famous rodeo moment – competing in the Wild Horse Race at the 75th anniversary of the Wolf Point Stampede in 1998. His team had seen success in the event throughout the 1980s and ’90s – collecting trophies and belt buckles over the years. At this point, Roger was “at least over the age 55,” said Ruby. He entered up again, and his team was the only one to cross the finish line the first night – but victory came at a cost. As Roger was carrying the saddle back to the chutes after winning he got ran over by the remaining wild horses in the round. “He had several stitches and a concussion and it took him out of the race for the next two nights,” said Ruby. To make it even more memorable, the moment was captured by National Geographic magazine, who were there documenting the rodeo that year. “Roger appeared in the September 1999 issue as the guy with his head all bandaged up from winning the race!”

When the 100th anniversary was celebrated in 2023, Ruby said Roger was still joking about entering again.

Both Ruby and Roger served on the Wolf Point Stampede committee for about 10 years. Ruby’s responsibilities included organizing the parade and other committee duties, with work intensifying in the months leading up to the rodeo. They eventually stepped down when their travel schedule with Brookman Rodeo made it difficult to fulfill their local commitments. The couple were selected last year to serve as parade marshals for the Stampede, and were driven in a horse-drawn wagon by their friend Ray Reede as they were honored for a lifetime of contribution and involvement with the rodeo and corresponding events. They were joined by their great-grandchildren, Hannah Nygaard and Toby Nygaard.

The Nygaards have three children: Ray, who lives nearby and helps his parents out with the everyday things; Rene Torgerson is married to Tadd, they live in Miles City and have three kids; and Royal Steidl, their youngest daughter, recently moved from Texas to Minot, North Dakota. With nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, the family continues to grow, and some of the grandchildren are involved in rodeo and barrel racing.

Despite changes in today’s rodeo culture, Ruby remains optimistic about the future of the sport: “I think rodeo is one of the greatest sports there is … it’s still very much an agricultural thing,” she said.

Cathy Wieferich is a cousin of Ruby Nygaard and today is the owner of Brookman Rodeo Company, taking over in the early 2000s after her father, Marvin Brookman, retired. “I’ve known Roger and Ruby my whole life, and they were always there for us and we appreciated their time and work with us on the rodeo company for many years,” she said. “Ruby was always the timer and working in the office, and we knew if there was something that didn’t get done outside, Roger would be there to take care of it. We had a lot of laughs and a lot of good times, and we miss them being on the road with us.”

Today, Roger and Ruby have scaled back their rodeo involvement due to health considerations. Ruby occasionally times for J Bar J rodeos when they’re close to home. She misses the work, noting “I enjoyed every minute of the work all the time, and I really miss it now.”

But to the Nygaards, rodeo was more than work.

“Our rodeo friends have always seemed like family,” she said. “It was such enjoyment for us, meeting new people and seeing old friends on the road.”

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