Submitted Photo Brian Herman rides Why Not Minot at Cheyenne Frontier Days in 1999. The bull, named to promote the Minot Y’s Men’s Rodeo, the city of Minot and North Dakota, will be inducted in the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame this year.

Why Not Minot, a North Dakota-born bucking bull named to promote the Minot Y’s Men’s Rodeo, the city of Minot and the state, is among the 2024 North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame inductees to the organization’s Hall of Honorees.

The 2024 inductees were announced May 4.

Why Not Minot will be inducted in the Rodeo Livestock category of the N.D. Cowboy Hall of Fame.

According to N.D. Cowboy Hall of Fame information, the bull was raised by Wayne Eckroth of Flasher and originally named #311Paranoid. Harry Vold of the Vold Rodeo Company purchased the bull.

Ken Anderson of the Minot Y’s Men’s Rodeo came up with the idea in the early ’90s to name a bull Why Not Minot when the Minot Y’s Men were looking for a way to promote Minot nationally, since many Minot businesses had been longtime supporters of the rodeo. He approached Vold with his idea. Vold liked the idea. The Minot Y’s Men’s organization personally or through their businesses raised $5,000 toward the price of a quality bull and contributed the money to Vold. Vold renamed #311 Why Not Minot.

Why Not Minot bucked throughout the U.S. and Canada, each time promoting Minot and the state of North Dakota. The bull was a national qualifier for the National Finals Rodeo in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. Vold said Why Not Minot was possibly the best bull he ever hauled. Why Not Minot bucked for the last time at the Minot Y’s Men’s Rodeo in 2002 and died in 2003.

Other 2024 N.D. Cowboy Hall of Fame inductees and their categories are:

– Bonita Bohnsack Laske, Ransom County: Leaders of Ranching & Rodeo.

– Lawrence Hopkins, Burleigh County: Pre-1940s Ranching.

– Arnold Bendish, Morton County: Modern Era Ranching.

– Froelich Ranch, Sioux County: Ranches.

– Ken Neuens, Dunn County: Pre-1970s Rodeo.

– Shaun Stroh, Stark County: Modern Era Rodeo.

– Stuart Ternes, Morton County: Modern Era Rodeo.

– Jim Thompson, Bowman County: Rodeo Arena.

Fred Sorenson, a longtime rancher in the White Earth Valley, was honored posthumously with a Legacy Award. Given at the discretion of the NDCHF Board of directors, Sorenson was recognized for his generous contributions of time, talent and financial support to not only NDCHF but to the western community at large.

Formal public recognition of this year’s inductees will be Friday, June 14, with a dinner celebration at the NDCHF in Medora. The induction award ceremony follows on Saturday, June 15, at Tjaden Terrace, Medora, and is open to the public.