Fitzsimmons-Maher Prizefight

Judge Roy Bean

(Wikipedia) The Fitzsimmons-Maher Prizefight (February 21, 1896), also considered, unofficially, as the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship, occurred between Bob Fitzsimmons and Peter Maher on a sandbar in the Rio Grande River just far enough outside of the American city of Langtry, Texas ... Continued

Crazy Fourth: How Jack Johnson Kept His Heavyweight Title and Put Las Vegas, New Mexico, on the Map

Jack Johnson

(Amazon) In 1912 boxing was as popular a spectator sport in the United States as baseball, if not more so. It was also rife with corruption and surrounded by gambling, drinking, and prostitution, so much so that many cities and states passed laws to control it. But not in New Mexico. It was the perfect venue for one of the biggest, loudest, most rambunctious heavyweight championship bouts ever seen. In Crazy Fourth Toby Smith tells the story of how the African American boxer Jack Johnson--the bombastic and larger-than-life reigning world heavyweight champion--met Jim Flynn on the Fourth of July in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Continued

Tommy McDonald

(Wikipedia) Thomas Franklin McDonald (July 26, 1934 – September 24, 2018) was an American football flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, and Cleveland Browns. He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame.
… He attended Roy High School in Roy, New Mexico, with an enrollment of around 150 students during his freshman year, where he played quarterback.
As a sophomore, he transferred to Highland High School in Albuquerque. As a senior, he averaged over 20 yards per carry in football and set the state scoring record with 157 points.
He also set the city scoring record in basketball, and won five gold medals in the state track meet (100, 220, low hurdles and 2 relays). Continued

Jim Thorpe

(Wikipedia) James Francis Thorpe (Sac and Fox (Sauk): Wa-Tho-Huk, translated as "Bright Path" (May 22 or 28, 1887 – March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold medal for his home country.
 Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, and played American football (collegiate and professional), professional baseball, and basketball.
He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the amateurism rules that were then in place. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals. Continued

Girls Rodeo Association

Photo courtesy of Ruidoso News

(Wikipedia) … Formed as the Girls Rodeo Association (GRA) in 1948, several of the original members were female ranchers who had been forced to take over family operations as husbands and fathers were called to service in World War II.
Though women had played an important role in rodeo's formative years in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, competing and winning against their male counterparts, by the time of the GRA's formation women's role in rodeo had been reduced to beauty pageants, with prizes (instead of prize money) such as cigarette cases.
These women were exceptionally competent riders and ropers, whose skills had been honed working the open ranges of the American west, and they found it demeaning to be pushed to the extreme edges of rodeo.
On February 28, 1948, determined to stake their own special place in rodeo, 38 women met in San Angelo, Texas, to form the GRA, with the primary purpose of advancing the position of women in rodeo everywhere. Continued

Don Whittington

This Kremer Porsche 935 K3 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979, driven by
Klaus Ludwig, Don Whittington and Bill Whittington. (Dan Wildhirt) 

Reginald Donald "Don" Whittington, Jr. (born January 23, 1946) is an American former racing driver from Lubbock, Texas, who won the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans together with his brother Bill Whittington and Klaus Ludwig on a Porsche 935, although Ludwig, a multiple winner at Le Mans and elsewhere, did most of the driving in the heavy rain as the brothers did not have any real racing experience prior to the late 1970s. Don's brother Dale also competed in open wheel racing. His father, Don Whittington, Sr. was also an American racing driver in the USAC National Championship from 1957 to 1959.  Continued

Bryce Alford

(Wikipedia) Bryce Alford (born January 18, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League.
He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He set school records for the most three-point field goals made in a game, season, and career. He earned first-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12 as a senior in 2016–17.
As a senior in high school in New Mexico, Alford set a state single-season scoring record, and was named the state's top high school player. Continued

Nancy Lopez

(Wikipedia) Nancy Marie Lopez (born January 6, 1957) is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events, including three major championships.
Lopez won the New Mexico Women's Amateur at age 12 in 1969, and the U.S. Girls' Junior in 1972 and 1974, at ages 15 and 17, respectively. Shortly after graduation from Goddard High School in Roswell, she played in the U.S. Women's Open as an amateur in 1975 and tied for second. Continued

Bob Foster

(Wikipedia) Robert Lloyd "Bob" Foster (December 15, 1938 – November 21, 2015) was an American professional boxer who fought as a light heavyweight and heavyweight. Known as "The Deputy Sheriff", Foster was one of the greatest light heavyweight champions in boxing history.
He won the world light heavyweight title from Dick Tiger in 1968 via fourth-round knockout, and went on to defend his crown fourteen times in total from 1968 to 1974. Continued

Bat Masterson

(Wikipedia) William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) spent the first half of his life in what is remembered as the "Wild West."
During that period, he distinguished himself as a buffalo hunter, Indian fighter during the celebrated Second Battle of Adobe Walls, civilian scout for the U.S. Army, and gunfighter and lawman in Dodge City, Kansas and elsewhere. Continued

Don January

(Wikipedia) Donald Ray January (born November 20, 1929) is an American retired professional golfer.
Born in Plainview, Texas, January graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas. He was a member of the North Texas State golf team that won four consecutive NCAA Division I titles from 1949-52.
... January won 10 PGA Tour titles, though never more than one in a year, with his most notable at the 1967 PGA Championship, an 18-hole playoff victory over Don Massengale. Continued

Vern Stephens

(Wikipedia) Vernon Decatur Stephens (October 23, 1920 – November 3, 1968) was an American shortstop in professional baseball who played 15 seasons in the American League for four different teams.
A native of McAlister, New Mexico, Stephens batted and threw right-handed. He was also nicknamed "Pop-up Stephens", "Junior", and "Buster."
One of the strongest-hitting shortstops in major league history, Stephens compiled a .286 batting average with 247 home runs and 1174 RBI in 1720 games. Continued

Colt McCoy

(Wikipedia) Daniel "Colt" McCoy (born September 5, 1986) is an American football quarterback for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL).
He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft, after playing college football for the University of Texas. He has also been a member of the San Francisco 49ers.
McCoy was born in Hobbs, New Mexico. Continued

Craig Ehlo

(NBA.com) A 6-7 guard, Craig Ehlo was a mainstay in the Cleveland Cavaliers' backcourt for many years, contributing both as a starter and a sixth man. A reliable outside shooter with a good three-point shot, he followed Coach Lenny Wilkens from Cleveland to Atlanta, signing as a free agent with the Hawks in 1993.

After three seasons in Atlanta he moved on to Seattle in the summer of 1996 as a veteran free agent, making significant contributions in the first half of the 1996-97 seasons but then seeing limited playing time after midseason. A native of Lubbock, Texas, Ehlo spent two years at Odessa Junior College and then finished his college career at Washington State. Continued

Lea County Cowgirls

 

Front " Dessie Sawyer was a rancher, philanthropist and political activist. Her work with community and charitable organizations advanced her into politics. She became the National Committee Woman of New Mexico's Democratic Party. Her advocacy of the western way of life was recognized by her induction into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1981."

Back: " Dessie's daughter, Fern Sawyer, became a celebrity cowgirl. She was the first woman to win the National Cutting Horse world title. She also became the first woman appointed to the State Fair Commission and the State Racing Commission. She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1976."

Bryce Alford

(Wikipedia) Bryce Alford (born January 18, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League.
He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He set school records for the most three-point field goals made in a game, season, and career. He earned first-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12 as a senior in 2016–17.
As a senior in high school in New Mexico, Alford set a state single-season scoring record, and was named the state's top high school player. Continued

Nancy Lopez

(Wikipedia) Nancy Marie Lopez (born January 6, 1957) is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events, including three major championships.
Lopez won the New Mexico Women's Amateur at age 12 in 1969, and the U.S. Girls' Junior in 1972 and 1974, at ages 15 and 17, respectively.
Shortly after graduation from Goddard High School in Roswell, she played in the U.S. Women's Open as an amateur in 1975 and tied for second. Continued

Roy Williams

Photo by Big Cowboy Kev

(Wikipedia) Roy Eugene Williams Jr. (born December 20, 1981) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, and Chicago Bears. He played college football for the University of Texas Longhorns.
Williams attended high school at Permian High School in Odessa, Texas, where he starred in multiple sports. He lettered in football, track, baseball, and basketball, earning all-state honors in football and track and all-district accolades in baseball and basketball.
Williams also made the honor roll all four years while attending Permian High School. Continued

Don January

(Wikipedia) Donald Ray January (born November 20, 1929) is an American retired professional golfer.
Born in Plainview, Texas, January graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas. He was a member of the North Texas State golf team that won four consecutive NCAA Division I titles from 1949-52.
... January won 10 PGA Tour titles, though never more than one in a year, with his most notable at the 1967 PGA Championship, an 18-hole playoff victory over Don Massengale. Continued

Vern Stephens

(Wikipedia) Vernon Decatur Stephens (October 23, 1920 – November 3, 1968) was an American shortstop in professional baseball who played 15 seasons in the American League for four different teams.
A native of McAlister, New Mexico, Stephens batted and threw right-handed. He was also nicknamed "Pop-up Stephens", "Junior", and "Buster."
One of the strongest-hitting shortstops in major league history, Stephens compiled a .286 batting average with 247 home runs and 1174 RBI in 1720 games. Continued