McCone County Fair & PRCA Rodeo

The McCone County Fairgrounds lie half a mile southwest of Circle on Highway 201. Each August the county fair sets up there with showmanship classes, exhibits, a stick horse rodeo for preschoolers, and evening entertainment. A PRCA rodeo runs alongside it. The rodeo’s own page describes it as “held during the McCone County Fair each year in August” and promises “Great Rodeo Action and Local Raised J Bar J Broncs.”

Slack, Kids Night, and the Calcutta

The program is spread over several days. Visit Montana’s listing, dated August 16, 2025, gives the order:

• August 13: slack at 5:30.
• August 14: Kids Night, when children 12 and under got in free and adults paid $20.
• August 15: the evening opened with the Calcutta at 6:30 and the performance at 7:30. Kids paid $10 and adults $20.

Pre-sale tickets cost $15 at Redwater Valley Bank from August 1 through August 13.

A Lively Times listing, which gives no year, describes a fair running August 13 to 15 with pro-rodeo action Thursday and Saturday. It lists tickets at $15 at the gate. After Saturday’s rodeo came an after-party with music by Kolt Barber, whom the paper called a “rising country star.”

The Calcutta is a betting auction held before the performance. The rodeo sells it as fantasy teams of contestants. Before one sale the organizers explained the rules:

• When some events lack enough entrants to fill ten teams, names are drawn in to complete them.
• If a team member does not compete, the team gets a draw-in.
• There are no refunds.
• Three places are paid.

The rodeo in August 2026

The rodeo’s posts trace the 2026 edition:

• August 7: the page announced the last day to buy pre-sale tickets.
• August 8: it posted the fantasy teams, color-coded green for Sunday and pink for Monday. All teams would sell that night.
• August 9: it reminded followers there was “still time to make it out for the 2:00 performance.”
• August 11: it was asking whether any contestants had misplaced an item. Things “left at the rodeo,” the page said, could be picked up at Redwater Valley Bank, the same bank that sells the pre-sale tickets.

The Circle Chamber’s community calendar lists the McCone County Fair for August 2027. It gives the rodeo’s date as August, to be determined.

J Bar J stock and the 2022 results

The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association gives 2015 as the year the McCone County Fair rodeo joined. Its results page for the August 18–19, 2022 rodeo shows added money of $29,460 and a total payoff of $30,907. J Bar J was the stock contractor.

The crew that year:

• Rodeo secretary: Marlene Dreesen
• Officials: Craig Miller and Johnnie Barlogio Jr.
• Timers: Jan Marshall and Paige Oveson
• Announcer: Randy Taylor
• Music director: Carmen Taylor
• Flankmen: Sparky Dreesen and Paul Eiker
• Bullfighters: Sylvan La Cross, Kleveland Gastineau, and Travis Langan
• Pickup men: Gastineau, Brad Marshall, and Ben Wrzesinski
• Clown and barrelman: Donnie Landis

The bucking-horse events went to riders on J Bar J horses:

• Bareback riding: Tucker Zingg won with 83 points on Wild Night.
• Saddle bronc riding: Chuck Schmidt won with 81.5 on Just Bugs.

The timed events and the all-around:

• All-around cowboy: Landon Williams, $625 from tie-down roping and team roping. In team roping he placed fourth with Cadee Williams.
• Barrel racing: Abigail Knight won in 16.39 seconds. Eight places paid, and the eighth came in at 16.77.

In bull riding, Cole Hould scored 72 points on J Bar J’s Risky Business for $3,744. The sheet records no other qualified rides.