Tureman, Sonny

Sonny Tureman won the world bareback riding championship only once, but three-time world champion Jack Buschbom said, “Take my word for it, he’s (Tureman) the greatest bareback bronc rider in the world, and I know a few.” An Oregon horse breaker, Tureman won the rookie saddle bronc riding at Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days and the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up in 1941. Following World War II in 1946-47, he finished fourth in the world bareback riding standings, finally taking the championship in 1948, edging out Buschbom by $18. Among his contemporaries there was no doubt that had he chosen to rodeo full-time, Tureman could have won the world title almost any year. A serious injury in an auto accident in 1954 impaired his ability to compete. Tureman was born Nov. 4, 1918, in Prairie City, Ore., and died Oct. 18, 1995. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.