Tornado

Tornado weighed 1,500 pounds. Red with a white face, he was a crossbred bull --half Brahman, half Hereford. Some say he was the best rodeo bucking bull that ever lived. Unridden in six competitive seasons, Tornado bucked off 220 professional cowboys, all victims of that storm of turbulence for which he was named., One of the reasons that made him great, aside from his natural bucking, jumping and spinning, was his clown - and barrell - fighting ability. But he was not a killer bull. He bucked just hard enough to toss his rider. The better the cowboy rode, the harder tornado bent to his task., He was finally conquered on December 1, 1967 at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City. The mighty little Freckles Brown of Soper, Oklahoma mastered Tornado for eight seconds in a never - to - be - forgotten ride that is indelibly etched in the annals of pro rodeo., A few years later, stock contractor Jim Shoulders retired his bull to a well-deserved rest in a lush pasture on his J Lazy S Ranch at Henryetta, Oklahoma. Tornado died in 1972 of old age--he was 15--and is buried here in the shade.