Cowboy, 82, says rodeos keep him going

For 76 years, Charlie Hahnkamp has sat tall in the saddle, just like he did last weekend as a pickup cowboy during the Kootenai River Rodeo.

His job is simple but not all that easy. Sometimes he rescues a cowboy from the back of a surrendering bronco or shoo-ing livestock back through a gate. But always — always — in the saddle.

“I started riding my horse to school when I was five,” said Hahnkamp, 82, waiting outside the arena on Saturday during the second day of the rodeo.

Hahnkamp has seen it all at rodeo, and he admits not too much surprises him any more.

“Been doing this for about 20 years now,” Hahnkamp said. “It keeps me going. Seen a lot, done a lot.”

The Melrose resident admits hard work keeps him going, but it’s more than that.

“Fresh air and the good love of a woman,” Hahnkamp said referring to his wife of 55 years, Joyce.

“Charlie’s a good man,” Joyce said from the comfort of the couple’s big Dodge Ram flatbed truck. “He’d do anything for anybody.”

The couple were married on her father’s ranch so many years ago.

“Boy, that was something,” she said referring to their wedding.

“Charlie got his start doing pick-up years ago when one cowboy had too much to drink and didn’t show. Charlie told ’em, ‘I can do that,’ and he’s been doing it ever since.”

Along the way, Hahnkamp has rescued such well-known cowboys as Shawn Davis and Jess Martin.

“Those are some great ones,” he said.

Last year, Hahnkamp was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. This year, he’s been nominated to the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame.

“It’s nice, but it’s better from up here,” Hahnkamp said from atop his horse Bitty. “Gotta go to work now,” he said as he rode into the arena to help cowboys a fourth his age.

“He just keeps going. He really loves this,” Joyce Hahnkamp said.