Jack Palmantier of Riske Creek has a storied rodeo career.
He competed in bronc riding, saddle bronc, bareback and bull riding at the Williams Lake Stampede, starting when he was 19 years old. To practice he built an arena in the bush near his home.
His persistence led to winning second place one year, riding Midnight, who the next year was named bucking horse of the year for the world.
As a youngster he heard about a rodeo in Cody, Wyoming where it ran all summer so he got on a bus to go see it for himself.
There he and other young competitors slept under the bleachers. When they won money they bought some bread and baloney, rented a room and invited the others to stay with them.
The next morning they would clean up and start all over again.
For years he competed in the U.S. making it to nine finals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, then going on to the International Rodeo Association competing across the states.
Later he went into the business of raising bucking horses, which he sold mostly to Americans, some for as high as $20,000.
Each summer he hosts the Tl’etinqox and Yunesit’in bike and horse riders at his ranch for two nights. The youth enjoy a gymkhana and camp out there before doing the final leg for the Williams Lake Stampede.
Other lifetime membership recipients for the 96th Annual Williams Lake Stampede include Cecilia DeRose, Tim and Susan Rolph, Sherry and John Bullock and Mickey Crosina.
