Dan Eoff Champions Chuck Wagon Racing
Championing the Chuck Wagon Races
by Margaret Dornaus
Dan Eoff, 57, says he was "born to be a cowboy." And no one would challenge that claim within a 200-mile radius of his 700-acre Little Red River homestead near Clinton, Ark. (pop. 2,283).
It's not just that Eoff—a burly man with a 10-gallon hat and handlebar mustache—looks the part, which he does. Or that he runs the town's feed store and makes his living raising cattle on a ranch he carved out of a brush pile. Rather, his cowboy fame has spread around the world and back because Eoff is creator and caretaker of the National Championship Chuckwagon Races, which take place each Labor Day weekend at his Bar Of Ranch.
The acclaimed race started as a simple get-together among friends and neighbors. The idea came in 1985 after Eoff and his wife, Peggy, attended a chuck wagon race in Cheyenne, Wyo. When they returned home, he suggested throwing a Labor Day party with their own "little wagon race."
The Eoffs expected a few dozen people to show up, but word of mouth spread and 500 people trekked up the ranch's dirt road to join in the festivities. The following year, more than 2,000 people came and, last year, the chuck wagon race party attracted 20,000 spectators and 375 participants in eight events—from the Oklahoma Land Rush to the Snowy River Race. Although an amateur event, Eoff awards winners with saddles, belt buckles and "Chuckwagon Bucks" that can be exchanged for a variety of goods during a weeklong trade show accompanying the race.
Danny Newland, a rodeo announcer and high school friend of Eoff, hasn't missed a Labor Day at the ranch in two decades. In fact, Newland is the voice of Clinton's chuck wagon races. His rapid-fire cadence keeps pace as chuck wagon teams race across the quarter-mile bottomland track toward the finish line.
"I've never met anyone like him," Newland says of Eoff. "He's a great guy . . . and a workaholic."
Eoff's wife concurs. "Dan always says, 'Instead of talking about what we used to do, let's talk about what we did today,'" says Peggy, 48.
That spirit explains why the Eoffs' "little wagon race" has grown into a national event where cowboys and cowgirls from across the nation come to see and be seen, as well as to match their racing mettle against other competitors. "This is the largest horse event in the country," Eoff says, adding that more than 5,000 horses and mules were "checked in" for last year's event. Not all of those animals raced, however. Many riders participate in parades through town, as well as breakfast and sunset rides on the ranch throughout the weekend. "People want to be a part of it, to dress up and show off their horses."
Some folks savor the Old West atmosphere. Gary Barnes of Pryor, Okla. (pop. 9,115), has camped out at the Bar Of Ranch eight consecutive Labor Day weekends. He and his wife make the event an annual pilgrimage—camping on "staked out" sites, cooking over a campfire, attending trade shows and concerts by country music singers. "It's a lot of fun," Barnes says.
It's also a lot of work. Organizers acknowledge that, over the years, the event has taken on a life of its own. "I don't know if we can stop," Peggy says. To which her husband, a chuck wagon racer who's never taken a prize at his own party, says he'll keep "going 'round the track" until he no longer can.
The 21st National Championship Chuckwagon Races are scheduled Sept. 1-3. Visit www.chuckwagonraces.com for more details.
Margaret Dornaus is a freelance writer in Ozark, Ark.
first appeared: 8/20/2006
Upload Your Own Stories, Photos and Videos
Every week, American Profile magazine brings you stories that celebrate the people and places that make America great.
Now we want to hear your stories and see your photos, videos and even audio.
Start Uploading Now!
Related Stories
If you enjoyed reading this story,
Dan Eoff Champions Chuck Wagon Racing, then you might enjoy these other stories.
Discuss this Article
Here are some of the current comments about this article.
To read more or post your own comments,
visit our message boards.
6/27/07 1:21 AM
As a relative newcomer to the small town of Clinton, Arkansas, tucked away in the Ozark Mountains, we relocated four years ago from the New York area.
The first time I met Dan Eoff was when we came to this area more than a year prior to deciding to settle in this area.
I met him working on one of his handmade wagon wheel light fixtures.
Not knowing who he was and wanting to possibly get some local info, I struck a conversation with him.
He talked the whole time without missing a lick on his project.
He gave me a few tips on the area and the economy but his primary comments were on hard work and wise investing of your money back into the community.
I said my thanks and never spoke again until 5 years later after we were settled here and one of my clients told me the Dan and his wife Peggy wanted to meet with me since I was a local web developer, and speak about possibly designing a site and maintaining it for them.
We met at their store, which is all western cowboy environment.
They both were straight forward to the point knowing exactly what they wanted but not having the understanding of how to get it done.
They grilled me on my professional background in this design field until they were satisfied.
My previous background consisted of client meetings with high profile corporate meetings with multi level executives. Meeting Dan and Peggy was a new experience for me. I had met many asphalt cowboys but now I realized I was meeting a true one now.
You cannot separate the true cowboy from them. When you meet Dan you meet a true modern day cowboy with a heart as big as his ranch.
They are at work the way they are at home.
I say all this to summarize that in order for me to produce a website that met their criteria, which was keep it simple, I had to understand their business and them, to whatever extent that may be.
Not being a cowboy myself, this was a task. Working phase by phase with them on the site it dawned on me that I simply had to apply my knowledge of what I have observed of each of them and put it into color and format. When you visit the site, what you see is sun up to sundown workers that pour themselves into the cowboy life, whether they exist for the cowboy life or the cowboy life exists for them, it's hard to tell. Keeping the site simple and tactfully straight forward was the answer.
The more I work with them now on various projects the more I am pleased to know that real down to earth people who tell it like it is and do it tactfully, still do exist and it's refreshing to see.
If you ever get the chance to meet them you will remember this posting.
I am grateful for the chance to work with them on their website and other endeavors and regardless of what changes may come in the future, it is and has been an experience knowing them.
Post your comments on this article
