Wednesday, November 9, 2011

After 47 years , Angola Louisiana prison rodeo still deemed an annual success

Angola State Prison

 By Tony Roberts, Backgate Website

 Sitting just next to the Mississippi river on 18,000 acres of farmland three hours north of New Orleans, Louisiana's Angola state prison sticks out like a sore thumb on the bare East Central Louisiana plain. Nick named the Alcatraz of the south, it houses the most inmates in the United States with 5,000 inmates being overseen by just 1,800 staff members. Angola houses mostly lifers, matter of fact, one out of every two are convicted murderers, and is host to Louisiana's death row. Angola has also been home to the Angola prison rodeo since 1964, which makes it the longest running inmate oriented rodeo in the United States, or the world for that matter.






2011 Angola prison rodeo contestant (inmate)
Over the years, more and more spectators from all over the world have bought tickets to see the Angola prison rodeo, and what started as locals sitting on apple crates outside the fence watching the action to thousands in attendance sitting in grand stands resembling those of a college football stadium have allowed the show to go global and is the talk of Louisiana residents. Angola Warden Burl Cain, who has been the Warden at Angola since 1997, believes the rodeo is a welcomed break for the convicts and a boost to the state and local economy. Convicts are given the opportunity to win prize money competing in regular rodeo events such as wild bronc riding, bull riding, steer wrestling, cowboy poker and other events. The Angola Prison Rodeo is now a professionally produced rodeo.  Angola contracts with professional rodeo stock contractors to provide the rodeo stock used in events; professional judges are contracted with to objectively judge each event.  In addition, to ensure inmate participant safety, professional rodeo clowns are always present in the arena during events.  A full complement of emergency services personnel are on-site to provide medical assistance to inmates and spectators. They even have there own facebook page and website now.

Texas Prison Rodeo
The Texas prison rodeo was also the talk of the state and beyond after being introduced in 1931 by Marshall Lee Simmons, the general manager of the prison system. Held then at the Eastham unit near Huntsville, it was eventually moved to a stadium that was built next to the Walls unit in Huntsville. The aging stadium was closed and the rodeo was retired in 1986 after the state legislature refused to spend the estimated $500,000 in repair cost to make the stadium structurally secure and instead chose to build more state prisons. Before its closure, the Texas rodeo hosted big name performers such as John Wayne, Johnny Cash, Ernest Tubb, Johnny Rodriguez, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, George Strait, and Tom T. Hall to name a few. The rodeo garnered 100,000 visitors or more in years leading up to it's closure. A boost to the local and state economy to say the least. If the state of Texas would have expanded the prison rodeo and infused it with the money necessary, would it be a cash cow like the Angola prison rodeo ? Who's to know i guess. A prison rodeo is a sight to see, and every October, the Angola rodeo commences like clockwork.

4 comments:

  1. Doesn't look like 3 hours to me. Looks like MAYBE an hour and a half, if you were driving slowly. I guess if you're going to Angola, that might be the only way to drive.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Car Hire Nepal, Tourism is one of the major industries in Nepal which make offer an opportunity to see the beautiful scenery and the wonderful scenery of the mountain. We are famous for fast, secure and efficient door-to-door service. Renting the car in Nepal provides you freedom and flexibility wherever you traveling. It is providing the best service along with the less fare and better service. During the journey is seriously valuable for us about their comfort. Nepal is an ancient country with many attractions for travelers.
    Car Rent in Kathmandu, We are famous for fast, secure and efficient door-to-door service. Renting the car in Nepal provides you freedom and flexibility wherever you traveling. It is providing the best service along with the less fare and better service. During the journey is seriously valuable for us about their comfort. A Nepal tour has the cheapest service in Kathmandu. We are proud to offer the visitor with the affordable bus fares along with the stander and comfortable service.
    Car Rent in Nepal, Car Rent in Nepal provides all types of the transportation within Nepal which includes Car, jeep, and tourist bus. It focuses mainly on providing the service in the capital city of Kathmandu. There are no drive yourself rental car available in Nepal but you can easily hire cars with drivers. This is one of the best and trusted rental car services in Nepal. We offer wide range vehicles service and luxury transportation service. The mountainous terrain and winding roads restrict the average driving speed of the vehicles to less than 40 kilometers per hours.
    Vehicle in Nepal provides you freedom and flexibility wherever you are traveling. When you rent a car with Six in Kathmandu Nepal where you won’t have any regrets. You may ask our driver if you want to stop for a while if you want to have lunch or tea or rest during your driver. Rent a Car in Nepal, Our objective is to continually improve the car rental service in Nepal while offering our customers a cost-effective service. They have proven to be the most efficient and reliable in the condition of Nepal. The service provided by the Kathmandu car rental will surely provide you better feel and comfort ability.
    Hiace Rent in Nepal, It is providing the best service along with the less fare and better service. During the journey is seriously valuable for us about their comfort. A Nepal tour has the cheapest service in Kathmandu. We are proud to offer the visitor with the affordable bus fares along with the stander and comfortable service. This service offers you a wide range of great deal and services whenever you want to rent a car.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Karma Eco Adventure is a leading travel and trekking company based in Kathmandu Nepal dedicated to help travelers in the country with personally crafted tours and treks. Kindly check out our featured packages as: Annapurna base camp trek, Annapurna circuit trek , Ghorepani poonhill trek, Annapurna sanctuary trek, Everest base camp heli trek , Everest base camp trek

    ReplyDelete