When former world champion bull rider Lane Frost died after being butted by a bull in the arena last weekend at the Cheyenne Frontier Days, the Vernal area lost a cowboy it considered a son. Frost, born in Kim, Colo., spent his elementary-school days in the Ashley Valley on the Frost Brothers Ranch near Deep Creek, leaving with his family for Oklahoma when he was 13. He was a crowd favorite each year at Vernal's PRCA-sanctioned Dinosaur Roundup rodeo.
"He was extremely well-loved in this area," says Nancy Bostick, feature editor of the Vernal "Express." An acquaintance of Frost's, she wrote a tribute to him in Wednesday's edition of the paper. "Lane was considered the hometown boy who made good," Bostick said."When he came out here to rodeo, they watched him quite a bit; he was pretty much a regular," added Steve Wallace of the "Express."
Bostick called Frost a soft-spoken young man who made time for everyone. She relayed a story she'd heard about him at the Dinosaur Roundup: A boy asked Frost for an autographed picture, and Frost told him as soon as he finished his bull ride, he'd get him one if the boy would wait. Frost then realized he'd given away all his pictures, so he went looking for the boy, pulled off his expensive riding glove, autographed that and gave it to the youngster.
Frost, 25, of Quanah, Texas, died Sunday in the final round at Cheyenne after scoring an 85 during a ride. That placed him second in the round and third in the average at Cheyenne. As he hit the ground after the ride, the bull, Mack Altizer's "K," butted him twice with its horns, then turned away. Frost got up and walked a couple of steps, then collapsed, signaling for help. He was pronounced dead at Cheyenne's Memorial Hospital. The cause of death was determined to be a burst major blood vessel that was punctured by a broken rib.
In 1987, Frost won the world bull-riding championship, earning $105,697. His total earnings were $489,736 since 1983. Frost did not fare as well last season; his best earnings were the $3,320 he won at the 1988 Days of '47 Rodeo in the Salt Palace. He did, however, gain notoriety in 1988 when he became the first man to ever ride a bull named Red Rock, who had thrown more than 300 previous contestants.
Bostick said several Vernal-area residents, many of them relatives, were among the 1,200 who attended Frost's funeral Wednesday in Atoka, Okla., near the town of Lane, where parents Clyde and Elsie had moved after the breakup of the Frost Brothers Ranch some 12 years ago.
Pall-bearers included rodeo stars Tuff Hedeman, Jim Sharp, Cody Lambert and Clint Branger.
Frost was buried in Hugo, Okla., next to legendary bull rider Warren "Freckles" Brown, a family friend and mentor who has also conquered an unridden bull in 1967.