Sammy Bill Spahan was born on October 26, 1926 on a Native American reservation in Merritt, British Columbia. He grew up in a time and place where living a western lifestyle was not a choice, but a way to survive, and it was all he knew.
Sam and his brothers would ride their horses to school every day and tie them up to the pole outside.
His horse became his first and favorite form of transportation. He left school in the 5th grade at the age of 12 to start working full time as a ranch hand on a few cattle ranches in the Niccola Valley, B.C. It was during this time in his young life where he really learned to rope and ride, round up cattle, break and care for horses.
At an early age he discovered that he had a talent for handling “un-ridable” or “unbreakable” horses. Recognizing this, his father, Antoine, built a shoot and riding arena for Sam to practice. He would spend all of his free time saddling up wild horses and bulls and bring them into the arena to ride. Sam’s extensive knowledge and skill with horses and cattle led him to work at several ranches all over the western United States from California to New Mexico and up to Washington.
In 1947 Sam met a beautiful wild eyed woman who shared in his passion for riding horses, travel, and for living an adventurous life. Joan was a strong and stubborn soul who matched him in grit and kept up with him on a horse. They were married in 1949 and spent the next 60 years exploring the west together.
Although Sam loved working on ranches and rounding up cattle in the rural west, his greatest passion was being on the back of a bucking bronco in a rodeo arena. When rodeo season came around, nothing could keep him from riding; it was in his blood. During the season he would enter as many rodeos as he possibly could, driving thousands of miles following the rodeo from town to town.
One night he might be riding saddle bronc at a rodeo in California and the next night riding a bull at a rodeo in Arizona.
At times like this Sam and Joan would pack up as soon as he got his winnings from that night’s ride and Joan would drive through the night while Sam would sleep and rest up for the next day’s event. Over his career, Sam entered and placed in countless rodeos; there were too many to remember.
His events were bareback, bull riding, and his favorite saddle-bronc. Unfortunately he never kept a comprehensive list, but just to name a few: In 1948 he was crowned the northwest bronc-riding champion at the Pendleton Roundup in Washington, in 1953 he won in bronc riding in Centralia, WA and again in 1954 in Falkland, B.C. He was crowned saddle bronc-riding champion for three years in a row (from 1959-61) in Prescott, AZ and in 1968 once again he won for saddle bronc at the Indian Rodeo in Fallon, NV. Sam won the bull riding championship in Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1968.
As much as Sam loved to travel and chase the rodeo he was drawn to Winnemucca and finally settled down. Winnemucca became his final home. Up until the end, Sam lived the life from his youth: he kept and cared for three horses, a clowder of cats and his dog. Any day of the week, Sam could be found shoeing his horses, building fence, repairing old saddles, helping a friend doctor an injured animal, playing a game of pool or grabbing a bite to eat with an old riding buddy at the Winnemucca Inn. If it was spring time he could be found branding the new calves on any one of the local ranches.
Living a western lifestyle was more than hard, but it is what Sam has loved and all he has ever wanted to know. This way of life brought him severe injury, unimaginable pain, and great loss, but it also brought the thrills of winning a championship, boundless love, and an incredible life worth celebrating.
Sam passed away surrounded by friends and family on September 30th, 2018 at the age of 91. Upon his passing, he was greeted by his wife, Joan, who has waited 9 years, his parents, 10 siblings, his son, countless friends and generations of ancestors. He will be missed daily by his sister and brother, 11 children, nieces, nephews, and generations of grandkids, great grandkids and great-great grandkids as well as all who knew him.
A celebration of Sammy’s life and legacy will be held Saturday October 27th, 2018 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm at the Winnemucca Convention Center (50 W. Winnemucca Blvd.). We invite you to bring stories and share photos. Please email photos to Triton Manzo at Triton.Manzo@gmail.com for the slideshow. The celebration will move to one of Sammy’s favorite hangouts, Butch Cassidy’s Hole in the Wall (233 S. Bridge St.) for a few games of pool.
