07/03/2025
2025 Maverick Club Rodeo Grand Marshall, Chuck Enloe
“Chuck Enloe attended his first 4th of July Rodeo in 1972 while working as a wrangler for Philmont Scout Ranch. He got on his first bull at that rodeo. Even though he got bucked off hard and fast, he really enjoyed it.
In 1972 Chuck enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He served in Japan and Korea, getting out in 1975. After that Chuck attended Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. He graduated in 1980 with a degree in Animal Production. But every summer he came back to Philmont as a wrangler and was always present at the 4th of July Rodeo. Chuck moved to New Mexico in 1980 and started working for Alice Moore near Raton. Alice had many nice horses. Alice was tough to work for. You got New Year’s Day off and then your next one was Easter. But Chuck learned a lot from Alice and those horses.
The winter of 1983, Chuck went back to Texas and worked for Pylas Ranch at Sivells Bend, Texas, near Gainesville.
In the Spring of 1984, Chuck returned to New Mexico to work for his old boss, Bob Knox, who managed the UU Bar Ranch back then. Chuck worked at the UU Bar from the spring 1984 till 1992, when the ranch was put on the market for sale. This was one of the best times for Chuck. He met and married his wife, Yvonne; his daughter Marissa ran barrels every year at the rodeo. Also, his son Dawson rode a fun horse called Frog at the rodeo and put on many miles on the ranch. The UU Bar was a great place to cowboy. Back then horses were cheap, and the ranch was horse poor! Not sure how many horses they had,but you could rope and tie down a steer on all of them. Bob Knox was a lot of fun to work with. At the UU Bar in those days, they were always waiting for trucks to load or unload steers. Bob loved to pitch Pennies or roll dice while everyone waited for trucks.
The ranch ran about 5,500 steers a year, and the hands roped a lot. The crew was great, including Bob and RC Knox, Chuck, Clamaco Garcia, Chuck Pledge, Keith Walters, Leo Martinez, and many more good hands.
After the ranch shut down, Chuck came back to the UU Bar to work for Leroy Webb. Working for Leroy was a lot of fun, but he was old school. Didn’t seem like Leroy knew what a day off was like-like Alice Moore.
Chuck joined the Maverick Club in 1984 and became president of the club in 1985. The4th of July Rodeo and Ladies Night were two of the biggest events of the year.
In 1995 Yvonne, Debra Sanders, Colleen Gibson, and Mindy Vigil- all moms of Marines, started the We Care Program, sending Christmas packages to local servicemen serving overseas. This lead to the formation of the Maverick Club Veterans Committee, focused on raising and contributing funds to help veterans of all ages and conflicts. The Veterans Committee has hosted an auction for 16 years, and 2025 was their best event yet, raising $20,000 through auctioning off items and trips from generous donations of elk hunts, fishing trips, artwork and handmade jewelry; and from the proceeds, writing checks to organizations such as Tunnels to Towers, Horses for Heros, the Wingman Foundation, and many more deserving projects.
Chuck started working full time for Philmont in 1995 and is there yet today. The 102nd rodeo is Chucks 50th. He would like to thank everybody that has helped him put the rodeo on over the years: Spider Holmgren, Barney Coppedge, and many, many others. When Chuck took over the rodeo Tim Morrow and Toli Martinez were the judges- they were great judges and a big part of the July 4th rodeo for many years.
Have a great 4th of July, everyone! And thank you for supporting the Maverick Club.”
