ROUND-UP REMINISCENCES: “YOU CAN’T EAT LOUND-UP”
Indians dance in the arena, 1926. By R. Doubleday in Low Collection. Indian Round-Up court of 1948. From left, Thelma Parr, Edna Quaempts, Myrna Williams,
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queen Virginia Wilkinson, Gladys Sheoships, Veva Bill, and Laura McKay. Howdyshell Collection.
served as Round-Up chief for more than five decades and continued the family friendship with later generations of the Bishop family, just as his son William Burke did later. The rodeo queen tradition started at Pendleton, and Pendleton had the first Indian rodeo queen. In 1924, the Indian Beauty Pageant winner was Esther Motanic, and newspapers across the country carried photos of Esther, Minnie Patawa, and Melissa Parr. In 1926, following a lineup of cowgirls and movie stars, Esther Motanic was the first Indian Round-Up queen. Instead of princesses, Esther had two attendants who accompanied her, Minnie Patawa and Louise Martin. Esther wore her regalia in keeping with 1920s style, with her beaded latigo belt low on her hips instead of around her waist. The gold standard for the women’s Indian Beauty Pageant was set by tribal member Melissa Red Hawk Chapman Parr, who won the contest five times (1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, and 1930) and was the second Indian Round-Up
Melissa Parr, ca. 1927. Howdyshell Collection. Round-Up court of 1952. From left, Martina Quaempts, Bernice Ryan, queen Leah Conner,
Diana McKay, and Audrey Blackhawk. Howdyshell Collection. Chauncey Bishop in the Indian Village with (from left) Melissa Parr, Eliza Bill, Mamie Patawa,
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UMATILLAS & ROUND-UP COURT
and Minnie Patawa, ca. 1925. Howdyshell Collection.
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