For the challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, 100 horse trainers took 100 wild mustang horses for 100 days. In the finals, the trainers showed their horses, competing for $25,000 in prizes.
For some, the 34-year-old Paiute/Shoshone Indian seemed to have come out of nowhere to win the 2009 Word's Greatest Roper title. But for those who have followed the Indian National Finals Rodeo circuit, Williams' win came as no surprise.
The 1980 All-Around World Champion was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame as the 2008 all-around cowboy. Today Tierney raises and trains American Quarter horses on his ranch near Hot Springs, South Dakota, and conducts roping clinics.
Between the Pendleton Woolen Mills and the Pendleton Round-Up, the last century has ensured Pendleton's place on the list of the most iconic Western towns.