The Pendleton Round-Up and The Rodeo Buckle

THE PENDLETON ROUND UP

September 14, 2026.

By Camren, Founder of Caballero Buckle.

Every September, 50,000 visitors make their way to the small town of Pendleton in northeast Oregon. Since 1910 cowboys, ranchers, and spectators travel to a rodeo known for two simple words: Let 'er Buck.

It is one of the four great rodeos in America. Bull riding, saddle bronc, bareback, steer wrestling, tie-down roping. Four days of it, in one of the oldest arenas in the country. The best cowboys in the world come here to compete, and the crowds come to watch them. Every rider that climbs on the back of a bull or a bronc knows what they are getting into. Eight seconds. That is all you get. That is all you need.

THE BUCKLE WORTH EARNING

Before the buckle was a trophy, it was just hardware.

Cavalry men wore them. Cowboys borrowed the style. A simple metal fastener, built to hold a belt through long days on horseback. It was functional, nothing more.

For the early rodeos, the prizes reflected that same practicality. Watches, the occasional pistol, something a working man could use. Then, somewhere in the 1920s, someone had a different idea.

Instead of a prize you put in a drawer, what if the winner wore it?

The first trophy belt buckle on record was awarded in 1923. It was not delicate. It was not subtle. It was a substantial piece of metal, engraved and heavy, designed to last as long as the man wearing it.

At Pendleton, that meaning ran especially deep. You cannot buy a Round-Up championship buckle. No amount of money changes that.

By the 1940s and 1950s, the trophy buckle had traveled beyond the arena entirely. Cowboys wore their winnings to town and people recognized them. The buckle communicated a whole story without the wearer saying a word.

Over time, that meaning seeped into the broader culture. Hollywood helped. Western films put engraved silver buckles on screen, and the image stuck. But the rodeo is what made people pay attention.

A Pendleton buckle is not something you buy. It is something you win, once, if you are good enough. People wear them for the rest of their lives.

WHERE WE FIT IN

The rodeo did not invent the buckle. But it gave the buckle a story that spread across the entire culture. That matters to us.

Buckles have been part of our family for as long as I can remember. My grandfather wore one every day. So did my father. So do I. Not because anyone won anything. Because it was part of how you put yourself together in the morning. That is where Caballero started.

Read how we're taking it forward. The Modern Belt Buckle →

THE RODEO BUCKLE

We named this one for a reason.

The bucking horse is the oldest image in rodeo. A rider, a horse, eight seconds. We put it at the center, a bronc mid-buck, the moment before the eight count. Around it, the words Ladies and Gentlemen. The classic ringmaster call, the one that has opened every rodeo since the beginning. An invitation into the show. Two stars anchor the sides. Caballero signs the bottom.

Hand-sculpted in solid pewter. Finished by hand in Los Angeles. The history is there. The style is yours.

Good old fashion.

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