THE ORCUTT FAMILY
INDUCTED 2026
The late Leland “Tuffy” Orcutt (1926–2018) and Burniece “Burnie” Anna Thielen Orcutt (1931–2019) and their descendants hold a special place in Kittitas Valley farming and ranching traditions and the history of the Ellensburg Rodeo. The Orcutt Family will be inducted into the Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame (ERHOF) at a Saturday, August 29, 5-9 pm banquet at Central Washington University’s Sue Lombard Hall. Tickets are available at www.erhof.org. Being inducted alongside the Orcutts are world champion roughstock riders Steven Peebles and Sage Kimzey.
Lee Orcutt was born to Scottish- and Finnish-Canadian parents and raised on a southern Alberta wheat farm. He left home at age sixteen to work as a logger and ranch cowboy on Higdon Ranch in Manyberries and the Stringham and Dave Thomas ranches astride southern Alberta’s Sweetgrass Hills. Lee soon joined the Canadian Rodeo Association and hit the “rodeo trail” competing in roughstock events—saddle and bareback bronc and bull riding. His passion for rodeo became a lasting family legacy, passed down through his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Lee competed as a roughstock rider in Alberta rodeos in Cardston, Calgary, Foremost, Lethbridge, Manyberries, McCloud, Picture Butte, Raymond, Taber, and Writing on Stone; in neighboring Montana he competed in Great Falls and Shelby. He won day money riding bareback broncs in the famed Calgary Stampede and he won the bares in Cardston and the bulls in Shelby. Lee became friends and traveled with hall-of-fame cowboys Herman Linder and Bill Linderman, both co-founders of the Cowboy Turtles Association (today’s Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association the PRC). He was also friends with Kainai Nation (Blood) cowboys Amal Small Face, Tommy Three Persons, Frank Many Fingers, and Born with a Tooth.
Burnie Thielen Orcutt was born to German-Canadian homesteaders near Milk River, on the southern Alberta prairie, and met Lee in 1944 while on holiday at Waterton Provincial Park. Their first date was the St. Kilda Rodeo Dance and they married two years later. Monica Orcutt was born in 1947, and eleven siblings followed.
To support a growing family, Lee joined the ranks of highly skilled crane operators (called “Whirlies”) and from 1948-1960 the Orcutts traversed the Northwest as he worked building seven hydroelectric dams–Hungry Horse Dam (MT), Dexter Dam (OR), Lookout Point Dam (OR), The Dalles Dam (OR), Noxon Rapids Dam (MT), and Wanapum Dam (WA). Monica and her sister Suzy recall that “moving was just a thing we did,” and there was always a “community of workers and their families who followed the hydroelectric projects and so we always had friends” in each new town.
Wanapum Dam was the Orcutts last move. “Dad always had his dream of a farm,” Monica and Suzy continue, “and they saved enough to buy a farm on Koffman Road east of Kittitas.” The Orcutts loved the Kittitas Valley and Ellensburg Rodeo. They farmed 320 acres of wheat, oats, and alfalfa and timothy hay, plus cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, and chickens while both worked day jobs in town to support their family. All the Orcutt children attended and graduated from Kittitas High School. In all, and including in-laws, Lee and Burnie’s family came to include: Monica (Jack) Wallace, Gregory Orcutt (deceased), Sandra (Danny) Thomas, Randall Orcutt (deceased), Suzanne (Bob) West, Roxy (Al) Ginochio, Mary (Blaine) Downey, Daniel Orcutt (deceased), Jeffery (Alice Lilze) Orcutt, David (Debbie Wippel) Orcutt, Christine (Chuck) McCune, Jennifer (Mark) Patteson, and 22 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren, and presently 3 great-great grandchildren.
The Orcutt children and grandchildren have fond memories of life on their Kittitas farm. Monica and Suzy recall that their mom, in addition to working alongside Lee on the farm and seasonal work at Twin City Foods, “kept a beautiful house” and excelled as a seamstress (“prom dresses, bridesmaid dresses, wedding dresses”), cake decorator and cook (“her pies were to die for”), and gardener. Importantly, Burnie brought all her kids up in the 4-H youth agriculture organization and for 20 years was leader of the Maverick 4-H Club. Daughter Christi remembers, “We were at the Fair and Rodeo from sunup to sundown since I was a child. We even got to bring sleeping bags and stay overnight in the sheep barn.” The Orcutts’ strong involvement in Kittitas County Fair 4-H continued on with grandchildren and, now, great-grandchildren.
Granddaughter Dannica Orcutt Price recalls her Grandma Burnie “was the glue that held the family together while grandpa brought the adventure.” And woven throughout Burnie’s and Lee’s family’s history is strong religious faith and membership in Ellensburg’s St. Andrews Catholic Church.
While the Orcutt children all participated in the 4-H and junior rodeo competitions, it was son Dan Orcutt who most closely followed in Lee’s footsteps as a rodeo competitor. Calf roping was his passion. “Every time I visited the home place, if Danny was not working on the farm he was roping something,” brother-in-law and former professional calf roper Jack Wallace says with a smile. “Fence posts, hay bales with mock steer heads attached, or often just roping us! All for practice. Danny had his own style of roping.”
Dan Orcutt’s daughters–Dannica, Krystalyn, and Alexa—describe their father’s roping as “precise,” “persistent,” and “aggressive,” evincing his “grit and mental and physical toughness.” With Uncle Jack Wallace and Dick Powers as mentors, Dan competed in Northwest rodeos throughout the 1980s and 90s, including Centralia, Bickleton, Goldendale, Enumclaw, Long Beach, Longview, Madras, Monroe, Roy, Wiley City, Winthrop, and others. Most notably, Dan won the prestigious Kittitas County Roping Championship five times (1985, 1987, 1988, 1994, and 1995), placing him among the top cowboys in the nine-decade history of the Ellensburg Rodeo’s County Calf Roping event. Dan also headed in the Ellensburg Rodeo’s wild cow milking event and, before his death this year, had become an adept team roping heeler. Daughter Alexa proudly states that her father “dedicated over fifty years of volunteer service working the roping chutes of the Ellensburg Rodeo.”
Dan’s daughters cherish memories of the Kittitas Valley roping community, watching slack, and viewing all four yearly rodeo performances from their seats above the timed-event chutes. They remember accompanying their dad to the Weidenbach Ranch in the northwest valley, where he “roped alongside Uncle Jack and Steve Wallace, Terry Powers, Pat, Brent, and Troy Minor, Nip Tucker, Tommy Pratt, Sam Kayser, Johnny Sloan, and many other local cowboys.”
Lee and Burnie’s 22 grandchildren continued the family’s 4-H involvement, showing sheep and cattle at the Kittitas County Fair. They also rode in the junior rodeo parade and competed in the junior rodeo’s barrel racing, pole-bending, goat-tying, and calf scramble events.
Throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the Orcutt cousins’ rodeo volunteer activities multiplied. Julie Wallace Blackmore joined her father Jack and Uncle Dan in the Kittitas County Roping Club and served as club Treasurer. Julie was 1992 Princess in the Ellensburg Rodeo Royal Court, followed by her cousins 1993 Ellensburg Rodeo Queen DeAnna Bridenback and 2016 Ellensburg Rodeo Princess Alexa Orcutt. Alexa’s additional volunteer roles include being an arena sponsor-flag rider and, since 2023, organizing and running the behind-the-chutes Ellensburg Rodeo Children’s Activity Corral, which has grown to serve 150 children. Her cousin Zack McCune is a member of Top Hands, a select group of two dozen hard-working Ellensburg Rodeo volunteers that also includes his father Chuck. Zack’s mother Christi is a longtime Ellensburg Rodeo volunteer and sponsors the calf roping prize buckle.
Work, faith, perseverance, humor, love, and family have defined three generations of Kittitas Valley Orcutts. Dannica reflects, “Family is important to us and the holidays, including the Ellensburg Rodeo weekend, have always been a time to gather those that had moved away. Our grandparents instilled in us the tradition that Rodeo in Ellensburg is a time to spend with family and friends.”
“The Orcutt family being inducted into the Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame brings a lot of joy and pride,” Alexa says, “and the recognition of my dad and his volunteering and championships means a lot to us, especially with his passing.” Dannica agrees, adding “this induction is very special to our family. We are so proud to be part of the Orcutt Family.”