Mattie Goff Newcombe - Inducted 2023

A lifelong South Dakota rancher from Meade County, Mattie Goff was born Dec. 21, 1899, at Tepee Creek south of White Owl. She was educated at the Tepee Creek School. Goff Newcombe, who died July 26, 2005, used her love of horses to become a pioneer for women in rodeo in the 1920s.

Goff Newcombe was a world champion trick rider on her horses Bob, Pal, and Buster. She could ride standing on her horse, underneath it, hanging upside down on the side of it. She also perfected the most dangerous stunt called the back drag or suicide drag.

The cowgirl was known for her broad-brimmed, 10-gallon, white-beaver Stetson hat she wore in shows and competitons. Goff Newcombe started riding horses at age 3, was still breaking colts in her late 70s & riding horses into her 90s.

She won so many first-place awards in rodeos nationwide that she was named America’s All-Around Cowgirl from 1927-32. When and wherever she performed, she drew large crowds and impressed President Calvin Coolidge with one of her performances at the Black Hills Roundup in 1927. She was also a champion bronc rider, horse relay racer, and equestrian.

Goff Newcombe is a member of the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and the South Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame. She also played a major role on a state and national level in preserving cowboy and cowgirl history. She not only established the Mattie Goff Newcombe section of the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center in Fort Pierre, but Goff Newcombe also helped start the National Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.