Howard Chouteau Webster Sr.

   Another name for Howard was "Shoat" Webster.

  General Notes:

Nowata Star (OK)
May 29, 2013
Funeral services for Howard Chouteau "Shoat" Webster Sr., 88, of Lenapah were at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 24, 2013, at Cowboy Capital Fellowship Church, in Lenapah, with Pastor Justin McKee and Pastor Steve Cody officiating.
Burial followed at Mt.Washington Cemetery in Lenapah under the direction of Benjamin Funeral Service of Nowata.
He was born in Lenapah on Jan. 23, 1925 to Allen and Mary Francis (Chouteau) Webster. He died Monday, May 20, 2013, at Jane Phillips Medical Center in Bartlesville.
He attended Lenapah Schools but as a small boy his career was influenced by seeing another Lenapah cowboy, Fred Lowry, coming home from a rodeo with a $1, 000 in winnings in his pocket.
Shoat saw that as his opportunity. At age 15 he entered his first rodeo and went on to a career of 50 years in the saddle, winning several world championships, PRCA titles, four All Around Cowboy honors and earning a spot in the Cowboy Hall of Fame, The Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, the Pendleton (Ore.) Hall of Fame, the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame, and the American Quarter Horse Association Legacy Award. On Nov. 18, 1957 Shoat married the love of his life, Shirley Garrett. They made their home on a ranch in Lenapah and raised two children, Shoat Jr. and Cathey. He could have won many more titles than he did, but his priorities were placed on ranching and family, rather than traveling the rodeo circuit.
He was a hard working honest man that knew where his roots were and that would sustain him for his entire life. He was loved and adored by many. His family, friends, fans, and little cowboys that saw him as their hero and followed in his footsteps will miss him very much.
Survivors include his loving wife Shirley, of the home; his son, Shoat Jr. and his wife Debra, of Lenapah; his daughter Cathey Forrest and her husband Dennis, of Craig County; grandsons, Brandon Webster, and wife Amber of Welch, Gene Webster and wife Amanda of Nowata; great-grandchildren, Shelby, Tyler and Emilia Grace Webster; three sisters, Betty Straw, Francis Gasche and Helen Courtney; many other relatives; and a host of friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Allen and Mary Francis Webster; and a sister, Irene Fuller.
The family suggests donations to the Cowboy Capital Fellowship Church, the Lenapah Fire Department, or the 10-33 Wheelchair Van in Nowata. Online condolences may be left at www.honoring memories.com.
Copyright © 2013 Nowata Star, Reid Publishing. All rights reserved.
Record Number: c26aed8cf64fc64e81442c37002595c7
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Pawhuska Journal-Capital (OK)
May 29, 2013
"…in places like San Angelo and Pawhuska, Shoat Webster was bigger than Elvis."
Author: MIKE ERWIN; JOURNAL-CAPITAL
Article Text:
BARTLESVILLE \emdash Funeral services for rodeo hall-of-famer Shoat Webster were held Friday in Lenapah, the lifelong home of the legendary cowboy who is considered one of the greatest ropers of all time.
Webster died Monday, May 20, in Bartlesville at the age of 88.
The funeral service was held in the Old Rock Gym at Lenapah with Justin McKee, pastor of Cowboy Capital Fellowship Church, officiating. The Rev. Steve Cody was listed as a co-celebrant.
A graveside service and interment followed at Mt. Washington Cemetery, northwest of town. Benjamin Funeral Home in Nowata handled the arrangements, which included a Thursday visitation.
Webster is survived by his wife of 55 years, Shirley, and two children: Shoat Webster Jr. and Cathey Forrest. Other survivors include sisters Betty Straw, Francis Gasche and Helen Courtney, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Howard Chouteau "Shoat" Webster was around 10 years old when his aunt Kate (Chouteau) introduced him to Fred Lowry \emdash who was the first of five world champion cowboys to emerge from the tiny Nowata County town.
Lowry, who won six world championships between 1916 and 1929, would later become Webster's uncle and his benefactor. The success of the older rodeo star inspired Webster to become a cowboy and he learned much from his mentor after he began working on Lowry's large area cattle operation.
With a lariat bought for him by his aunt, young Webster said began roping anything that moved.
"Dogs, cats, chickens and, mostly, my four sisters," the five-time champion steer roper would later claim.
From 1949 through 1955, Webster won four steer roping world championships and twice finished as the runner-up. He gained immortal fame during that time by claiming top honors in three straight appearances at the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up. In 1951, Webster was finally given permanent possession of the Pendleton event's Sam Jackson all-around cowboy trophy.
Despite his immense success as a professional steer roper in the 1950s, Webster did not always receive the recognition he deserved in the sport of rodeo. The reason for that, experts said, was because Webster did not take part in that many events on the circuit. Instead, the Lenapah cowboy put his priorities on ranching interests back home.
"But in places like San Angelo and Pawhuska, Shoat Webster was bigger than Elvis," rodeo announcer Justin McKee once said.
Webster won the first three Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping (1954-55-56) and earned three more titles at the Pawhuska event in 1959, 1960 and 1965.
In his heyday, Webster averaged around $30,000 per year in rodeo. He turned down many times that amount when \emdash in his prime and before the dangers of smoking tobacco were widely known \emdash he turned down an offer to become the Marlboro Man.
"I never cared for smoking, especially by kids," he was quoted as saying. "And, if they saw ol' Shoat doin' it, they might have to do it, too."
His colleagues on the professional rodeo circuit believe Webster could easily have won more world titles if he traveled more. But he reamined at home in Oklahoma much of the time, caring for ranching interests in the Lenapah area of Nowata County.
A direct descendant of a Oklahoma pioneer family, Webster was born in Lenapah on Jan. 23, 1925. He earned steer roping world championships in 1949, 1950, 1954 and 1955, and gained induction into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.
Copyright 2013 Pawhuska Journal-Capital, Stephens Media, LLC, d/b/a Pawhuska Journal-Capital, All Rights Reserved.
Record Number: 48d32e626bb42a39fb54a5f499312ace9f937c
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McClatchy-Tribune Regional News (USA)
May 23, 2013

Topics:
Index Terms:
TU-World-champion-rodeo-star-Howard-Shoat-Webster-dies-at-88-0523-20130523
World champion rodeo star Howard 'Shoat' Webster dies at 88
Author: Tim Stanley, Tulsa World, Okla.
Article Text:
May 23--LENAPAH -- He was one of the biggest rodeo stars of his day, but like any good cowboy, Howard "Shoat" Webster preferred to credit his mount.
"Anyone who could ride could win on (Popcorn). He was some horse," Webster told the Tulsa World about the horse he had ridden in some of his most impressive performances.
Among all the horses the world champion steer-roper rode over his 50-year career, he never found one quite like Popcorn.
But all of them had one thing in common -- Webster trained them himself on his 1,500-acre ranch in Lenapah.
It was an important factor, he said, in keeping his winning edge.
A member of both the National Cowboy and Pro Rodeo halls of fame, Howard Chouteau "Shoat" Webster died Monday in Bartlesville. He was 88.
A service is set for 2 p.m. Friday at the Cowboy Capital Fellowship Church in Lenapah under the direction of Benjamin Funeral Home of Nowata.
A descendant of French immigrants who founded several settlements, Webster grew up in Lenapah, where as a boy he was inspired by the rodeo exploits of his uncle Fred Lowry.
Lowry, who from 1916 to 1929 was a six-time world champion, had a ranch in Lenapah.
"Shoat told his uncle that if he'd teach him to rope, he would work for him for nothing," his wife, Shirley Webster, said. "And he did. He never took a paycheck."
Learning the ropes, and everything else he needed to know, from Lowry, Webster entered his first rodeo, in Nowata, when he was 15.
From 1949 to 1955, he dominated the sport of steer-roping, winning four world championships, finishing runner-up twice, and thrilling audiences again and again at the era's two biggest rodeos -- in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Pendleton, Ore.
Astride his roan Hancock gelding Popcorn, Webster set records that stand today, roping, tripping and tying down steers in mere seconds.
He graced the cover of Western magazines and once was even offered a chance to become the Marlboro Man in ads.
But Webster "had never liked smoking, and he turned it down," his wife said. "He didn't want kids to see him with a cigarette in his mouth.
"Somebody asked him about giving up that money, and he said, 'I don't need it that bad.' "
After nearly 50 years of competition and a museum's worth of plaques, medals, belt buckles and trophies, Webster retired in 1989.
Webster inherited his Uncle Fred's spread in addition to his own, and he raised cattle and horses and was active in the community.
In fact, he never traveled or competed as much as fellow rodeo stars, preferring to stay close to his family and beloved hometown.
Webster, whose boyhood home was just east of Lenapah, liked to joke about the old admonition "Go West, young man."
"Shoat would say, 'I did. About a mile and a half,' " his wife said.
Webster's survivors include his wife of 55 years, Shirley Webster; two children, Shoat Webster Jr. and Cathey Forrest; three sisters, Betty Straw, Francis Gasche and Helen Courtney; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Tim Stanley 918-581-8385 tim.stanley@tulsaworld.com

Howard married Living