by Keith L. Brown | Nov 20, 2013 | Famous Mormons
Horton Alexander “Cotton” Rosser is the owner of Cotton’s Cowboy Corral in Marysville, California, as well as, “one of the most successful stock contracting firms in professional rodeo,” the Flying U Rodeo Company, which is the oldest rodeo company in the world and the major supplier of rodeo stock in the United States. According to John Bascom, a relative of Rosser’s wife, Karin Allred Rosser (Miss Rodeo Utah from the Ogden, Utah area), the Flying U Rodeo Company was begun by J.C. “Doc” Sorenson of St. Anthony, Idaho. Bascom also states, “My late father Earl Bascom worked for that outfit when Doc had it back in the 1930’s.”
Earl Bascom was born in Utah in 1906, but he was raised in Alberta, Canada. His ingenuity led him to learn all that he could about horses and cattle thus helping him to become a rodeo champion. He also invented, designed, and made rode rigging that is still being used on the rodeo circuit today. In his later years he studied art, and he and his wife, Nadine, taught at schools in Southern California at high desert. When he died in 1985, Earl Bascom was “remembered throughout the West for his ability to span two seemingly disparate pursuits – rodeo and art.” [5] (more…)
by Keith L. Brown | Nov 15, 2013 | Famous Mormons
Todd Jay Christensen, an American football player who played in the National Football League from 1978 until 1988, was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, to Ned Jay and June Christensen on 3 August 1956. During his career as a professional football player, he spent most of his time playing tight end for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders. He became well known as “The Renaissance Man” because of his varied interests.
An Athletic Prowess
When Todd was born, his father was pursuing a doctorate degree at Pennsylvania State University. His father taught in West Virginia for a time, and when Todd was 5 years of age, the family relocated to Eugene, Oregon, where his father was offered a job as a professor.
Todd was athletically gifted from a very young age. By the age of 9 he had already set world records in track and field. He had originally hoped to continue excelling in track and field, but by the time he reached puberty and adolescence, he soon discovered that although his mind was set on one goal, his body had other ideas. “Puberty and adolescence helped me realize that I was not as fast as I had thought,” he recalled. “My body went a different direction and that was when I started leaning towards football.” [1]
He graduated from Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon, and later attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. While attending BYU, from 1974 to 1977, he was a starter at running back. In 1977, he led the team for three consecutive seasons as a receiver, and was an All-Western Athletic Conference selection. His career numbers at BYU are impressive: 152 receptions, 1,568 yards, and 15 touchdowns. He graduated from BYU in 1978 with a degree in social work and soon embarked on a professional career in football. (more…)
by Keith L. Brown | Nov 6, 2013 | Famous Mormons
Devin Graham, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon” Church by the media and others), was born on 29 July 1983. He currently lives in Provo, Utah, and is well known for his “exotic and extreme YouTube videos.” [1] According to a Deseret News article dated 3 April 2013, Graham has filmed “almost every extreme sport Utah has to offer, from human slingshots to water jet packs. Each video has action, friends and what looks to be a massive party. What viewers hardly ever see is Graham.” [1]
Living His Dream
Graham’s Facebook bio simply states that he is a filmmaker, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the story of his tremendous success in the viral video world. The question that is most often asked of him in the myriad of emails that he receives concerns what he does for a living. To answer that question he recently made a video in which he describes a day in his life. (more…)
by brady | Nov 21, 2011 | Famous Mormons
David Archuleta, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church”), is a young well known young pop singer-songwriter. He has been singing since the age of six but had to stop for awhile because of a vocal paralisis. He says that he’s almost recovered from that now. Eventually made it into the 2007-2008 American Idol competition, and went on to gain the runner up position.
In this video David Archuleta talks about his favorite Church hymn, his favorite primary song, his favorite songs to sing, as well as reflections on the opportunity he had to sing in a Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He also talks about some of his favorite songs to listen to, and about what it has been like since he has become more well known. (more…)
