Tucked away in the Little Belt Mountains is a town called Belt. This small town lies within a few city blocks, just off of Highway 89. Its historic Castner Street, lined with flower baskets recently purchased by the city’s Chamber of Commerce, houses a few businesses that support the town’s 500 residents throughout the year. But for one weekend in June, Belt bursts with life as cowboys, ranchers and rodeogoers from all over flock to the community’s annual rodeo and this celebration of Western heritage. The Belt PRCA Rodeo is a weekend full of all things Americana, with a parade, a traditional Calcutta auction and all the rodeo events you know and love, from bareback riding to barrel racing and everything in between.
This early summer tradition has been the marquee event for this town for the last 65 years, since the Little Belt Cowboys Association built the arena and established the rodeo. Those same cowboys — and their descendants — still work the rodeo to this day, ensuring that the celebration, and the town hosting it, are able to thrive.
Here, the ties to the rodeo run deep. For the better part of the last 50 years, Clancy Sivertsen, a Belt resident, has helped to put on the celebration each summer. He even met his wife through the rodeo — her father was one of the founding members of the Little Belt Cowboys Association. In the years that followed, he eventually stepped into a leadership role, and now serves as the vice president for the LBCA — following in the footsteps of his father-in-law.
“We do [the rodeo] because we love it,” says Clancy.
The Belt PRCA Rodeo is the first event in the Montana rodeo circuit each summer, and when the rodeo comes to town in tight-knit Belt, it’s all hands on deck to make the event happen. From locals who have called this place home their whole lives to rodeo stars with their hearts set on the ride of a lifetime, Belt is the rodeo.
“When the rodeo comes to Belt, you better get involved or stay away, one or the other, because it’s crazy and fun. A bunch of really great people get together and have a good time and enjoy each other’s company, and watch some people do some crazy things on animals,” says Russ Ehnes, a local rancher.
This small-town rodeo is well-known among competitors, who dream of their eight seconds in the arena. Jeff Marn is a retired bull rider whose first ride was in Belt — where he called home for decades. Now he announces for professional rodeos all across the country. He spends his summers traveling across Montana from corner to corner, announcing at the best rodeos in the state, but getting to announce in Belt has always meant something more to him.
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“I get to see everyone’s favorite weekend. We dang sure get to see every inch of this state. This weekend is my favorite place of all time to ever be, so Belt, Montana, always has a special place in my heart,” says Jeff.
For riders competing in everything from breakaway roping to saddle bronc riding, it’s always special getting to kick off rodeo season in Belt. Tristan O’Neil is a bull rider who was born and raised in Montana. He’s competed in the Belt PRCA Rodeo for the last nine years and says the excitement you feel before that first competition of the season is palpable.
“Everyone is in high spirits and ready to start riding,” says Tristan.
This town that is normally home to just over 500 booms with about 2,500 on rodeo weekend, with folks lining streets for the parade and packing bars that are used to only serving their regulars. Quiet streets and empty stands are packed with spectators from all over, buzzing with energy and anticipation for the events of this landmark event for the community.
This one weekend in June defines the rest of the year for Belt, with the town making most of its income in just a couple of days, allowing for opportunities to reinvest in the community. For Jim Olson, the town’s 24th mayor, it’s an opportunity to bolster this small town, and make it a place for visitors the other 51 weekends of the year too.
“I’d love for Belt to be a destination as opposed to a stop,” he says.
Jim works hard to ensure the town is able to grow and prosper throughout the year. In the process, he’s become more than just Belt’s mayor — he’s also a sheriff’s deputy, the floodplain administrator, and even the president of the Belt Performing Arts Center.
“Like many small towns, sometimes you wear a lot of hats,” says Jim.
Proceeds from the rodeo don’t just support the maintenance and prosperity of the event. They also support community members and the town itself in the form of scholarships for graduating seniors, donations to the volunteer fire department and EMTs, and funding for initiatives to make Belt a place that its residents are proud to be from and a destination that visitors will return to each year.
An event like this touches everyone in town in one way or another. It takes many folks to successfully stage the rodeo each year, whether it’s the cowboys who make the PRCA rodeo an event worth traveling for, the announcer who spent his youth dreaming of his chance at the perfect ride in Belt, the mayor who ensures the town’s prosperity in the off season, the vice president of the Little Belt Cowboys Association who helps stage the event, or a longtime local who just wants to share the magic of rural Montana. This event — so big a part of Belt itself — brings people together.
The Belt PRCA Rodeo is a tradition that is tough, enduring and a whole lot of fun, just like the people who call this little corner of the world home.
The Belt PRCA Rodeo kicks off Montana’s rodeo season each Father’s Day weekend. For more information on the Belt PRCA Rodeo, visit beltprcarodeo.com.
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