Ty Murray, a nine-time rodeo world champion, has lived in Stephenville, Texas, for 36 years, but he cannot explain why or how the town came to be known as the “Cowboy Capital.”
“I think it’s one of those things that a few guys started going there and it grew,” Murray told Chron. “When I was at the height of my career, I had two guys living with me that were both world champions at the time: myself, Jim Sharp and Tom Reeves. So that’s like three world champions living in the same house in Stephenville.”
Stephenville is a name rodeo-goers in Houston might see frequently on the big screen this season. RodeoHouston welcomes some of the world’s top cowboys to compete for the largest prize purse in the world, exceeding $2.5 million. Many of those cowboys claim Stephenville as their home, because even if they didn’t grow up there, they got there as quickly as they could. The Stephenville Chamber of Commerce states the town has more professional cowboys per square mile than anywhere else in the world. According to Sports Illustrated, 42 National Finals Qualifiers lived in Stephenville.
“There’s always something going on; it seems like every other week we have to drive down,” three-time world champion tie-down roper Riley Webb told Chron. “It seems like there’s an arena in everybody’s backyard… I guess there are a bunch of people who like to rope.”…