The Miss Rodeo Montana Pageant is in its ninth decade, having begun during the 1940s.

After scouring records, the earliest Miss Rodeo Montana was Barbara Beirdneaux Wilson in 1948. She was followed by Nona Brown, Penny Carson, and Toady Yeckel. Before she was Montana’s first female governor, Judy Morstein Martz was Miss Rodeo Montana in 1961.

The pageant has graced stages and arenas across the state of Montana. During the late 60s, Montana’s capitol city, Helena, was the pageant home. After those early years, the pageant moved to Dillon, situated in southwestern Montana, which is also the home of one of Montana’s largest PRCA rodeos, the Dillon Jaycee Labor Day Rodeo.

In 1997, the pageant moved to Great Falls and was held in conjunction with the Montana ProRodeo Circuit Finals for over 20 years.

Like the rest of the world, COVID-19 forced the pageant to pause for the year 2021 as Katie Lynn (Kraus) Smith reigned for two years after her crowning in 2020.

When the world reopened, so did the pageant, but this time with the idea of Lady in Waiting. Lady in Waiting came to fruition in Great Falls for 2022 titles and continued in 2023, moving the pageant to Billings during the Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE). The NILE is held each October and gave the winner for the following year the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas in December for the Miss Rodeo America Pageant.

This move also allowed the Lady in Waiting to prepare for her upcoming year traveling the state promoting professional rodeo. The 2024 Lady in Waiting pageant found itself back in Great Falls, this time during the Big Sky ProRodeo in early August.

The year 2024 also brought the reorganization of Miss Rodeo Montana, Inc. to the newly formed and updated Miss Rodeo Montana Pageant Council as an affiliate in good standing of Miss Rodeo America, Inc. and the approval of the 501(c)(3) status. Along with the reorganization, the new council chose after much consideration to hold a double pageant in March of 2025 for both the Miss Rodeo Montana 2025 and 2026 titles. An unorthodox but not unprecedented decision proved successful, with Billings again playing host to the pageant.

Miss Rodeo Montana serves as the “First Lady of Montana Rodeo”. She attends Montana’s professional rodeos and appears at countless community events addressing attendees, coordinating kiddie rodeos, and lending support where needed. Along with traveling the state of Montana extensively, Miss Rodeo Montana may also travel to some of the most popular rodeos across North America representing our state while promoting the rodeos and educating the public about professional rodeo and agriculture in general.

To become Miss Rodeo Montana requires high moral and ethical character, talents in public speaking and public relations, and excellent equitation skills. Miss Rodeo Montana is a highly sought-after title, but it is also an important job. She must understand rodeo in its entirety and be able to explain in detail to anyone she meets to do this job well. All the while she must portray good sportsmanship, professionalism, and careful, humane treatment of animals. The experiences and contacts made throughout her reign will provide numerous opportunities for her future.

At the end of her year, Miss Rodeo Montana is given the opportunity to compete in Las Vegas for the Miss Rodeo America Pageant. This extensive competition takes place over nine days complete with interviews, speeches, horsemanship, written test, fashion show until finally the coronation. The Miss Rodeo Montana organization boasts many Top 10 finalists and Top 5 finalists as well as winners of esteemed scholarships and categories like Written Test won by Amber LaCross, Miss Rodeo Montana 2024 (tied with Miss Rodeo Colorado).

Winning Miss Rodeo America guarantees a $20,000 scholarship, western clothing and jewelry wardrobe, a custom saddle, and the honor of representing the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, and the American Quarter Horse Association across the nation and internationally all expenses paid.