妮塔·布鲁克斯·勒瓦伦

女牛仔名人堂，1943年

Nita Boyd Brooks Lewallen was born in San Angelo, Texas, in 1923. 作为一个年轻女孩期间的辛苦, 20世纪30年代的萧条时期, she worked on her family’s 30-section ranch south of Sweetwater. With an inherent love for horses and a determined and dedicated spirit, Nita won her first competition saddle at the age of 12 in the Double Hearts Rodeo in 1935. She continued as a serious youth competitor on the rodeo circuit throughout the Southwest.

In 1940, Nita enrolled at Hardin-Simmons University and became one of the first Six White Horse Riders. 1940年学期末, 妮塔因母亲去世而退出了HSU, 并于1941年回到校园. 从1941年到1943年, 她被评为新生宠儿, found time to teach horsemanship while studying business administration, 和六匹白马一起骑马, 还参加了竞技比赛.

As World War II intensified, Nita began working on her personal plan to help with the war effort. Knowing the Army Air Corps needed women fliers to ferry aircraft into the war zones, she began taking 飞行 instruction and soloed after only four weeks. Her most difficult problem was working out a schedule for riding her horse to the airport, 飞行, 然后飞奔回学校. She earned her “airman” certificate and was well on her way toward catching up with her brother Charles, 谁在完成他的教官评级, when she was selected to ride as a Ranch Girl Honor Guest in an exhibition at the 1943 World Championship Rodeo in Madison Square Garden.

虽然她爱这所大学, 她不能错过这个机会, 最终改变了她的人生轨迹. There she would meet and work with cowboy star Roy Rogers for an entire month in New York, and then represent the Southwest for two more weeks at the Boston Garden Rodeo.

While in New York, Nita met Louis Brooks, the 1943-44 World Champion All-Around Cowboy. The couple married in 1944 while Louis was still a professional cowboy. Louis was later inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame at Oklahoma City’s National Cowboy Hall of Fame.

1940年，妮塔因母亲的去世而悲痛欲绝, 她的父亲, 认为拥有土地可以解决任何问题, 带她去看了一个美丽的牧场，那里有一个泉水潺潺的山谷. She loved the property, and 她的父亲 made a down-payment for her on the land right then.

到她进入PG电子官方免费下载医院的时候, 她已经是一个成功的养牛女了, 在牧场上饲养阿伯丁安格斯牛. 在路易斯从竞技场上退役之后, he and Nita continued to develop the property and focused their attention on managing the ranch’s horses and cattle.

Through the 1950s, Nita and Louis trained and bred thoroughbred Quarter Horses. 1983年路易斯去世后，妮塔和她的儿子小路易斯. 遵从她丈夫的意愿继续经营马的生意, maintaining the partnership they had established with Taylor Made Farm in Lexington, 肯塔基州. 第二年, 哄我，查德, 是路易斯和妮塔养的马之一, 在肯塔基赛马比赛中获得第二名. Her most successful horse, Sam Who, won six of 12 比赛s in 1989.

1991年和1993年, Nita was named Texas Breeder of the Year by the Texas Thoroughbred Breeders Association, 在1990年, 被任命为协会董事会成员.

In 1992, she received the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders of America’s prestigious Texas State Breeder of the Year honor, 在列克星敦的盖恩斯威农场展出, 肯塔基州. She has also been honored with the USDA Soil Conservation Award and the Goodyear Award for Rancher of the Year.

In 1997 Nita was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, which recognizes “women who have distinguished themselves while exemplifying the pioneer spirit of the American West.” It is the only museum in the world dedicated to honoring and documenting the extraordinary accomplishments of women of the American West.

1990年，在守寡7年后，妮塔嫁给了G.K. Lewallen, owner of a Stephenville western store who was a champion bull, 鞍野马, 从1937年到1956年担任无鞍骑手. G.K., was also inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame at Oklahoma City’s National Cowboy Hall of Fame. 1998年，Nita和G.K. 被选入斯蒂芬维尔的牛仔星光大道.

妮塔和G.K. 我住在斯蒂芬维尔, but Nita still devotes much of her time to the Sweetwater ranch where she and her family continue to raise cattle, 羊, 和纯种动物. Her daughter, Leigh Brooks Odom, is an artist and lives in California. Nita has two granddaughters, two grandsons, and two great-grandchildren.

在她众多的成就中, Nita has been described a caring and sincere woman with a soft-spoken, 这种方式, 还有真正的谦虚.

It is the high honor of Hardin-Simmons University to recognize one of her own and to formally induct Nita Boyd Brooks Lewallen into the HSU 领袖堂.