“A Bullfight Shuts Down The Rodeo Grounds”
by Pablo Capra
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| The Coopers' Ranch and The Rodeo Grounds, pic c/o UCLA library, 10-4-1926 |
On the Fourth of July weekend of 1924, the Cooper brothers tried to top the successes of the Elks and Moose Rodeos with “one of the biggest rodeo programs ever attempted,” a four-day event that would include bullfighting, for which they claimed to have obtained a special permit.
“Scores of Mexico’s most prominent picaderos, toreadors and matadors [were] chosen to furnish thrills for the spectator.” The star was Refugio “El Cuco” Hernandez, advertised as the most popular bullfighter in Spain. Two weeks earlier, El Cuco had become a local hero by saving a man’s life when a bull broke loose during filming at Ince Studio, now located in Culver City. The film may have been The Siren of Seville (1924).
Bud Crone, a well-known Wild West circus performer, contributed “hundreds of his tempered bronchos along with scores of other animals” to the rodeo.
However, bullfighting was bound to be controversial. Miriam Brase, of the Santa Monica Bay Humane Society, warned the Cooper brothers that it was impossible to get a permit to wound an animal. On the afternoon of July 4, she showed up with four deputy sheriffs and had the rodeo shut down.
No bullfighting was happening when Brase arrived, but she had heard rumors that the fights were taking place at a secret location for a select clientele. Since the rodeo had started on July 3, it’s possible that some bullfights really did happen.
It’s also possible that the bullfights were never intended to hurt the bulls. A year earlier, El Cuco had fought a bull in Tulare, CA, following special rules laid down by the event organizers: “The toreadors will be unarmed and will rely solely upon their agility to escape. Bloodshed is not a feature of the show.”
After the Bullfight Rodeo was shut down, no further Wild West events were planned, and the Topanga Beach rodeo era came to an end.
That same year, Miller Cooper started the Sea View Ranch Riding Academy, presumably to capitalize on his ranch’s new fame. The instructor was H. J. Porter from London, who had previously instructed Canada’s Royal Northwest Mounted Police. However, Miller’s riding academy was short-lived.
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This is an excerpt from the book Topanga Beach: A History, 1820s-1920s. Author Pablo Capra is a former Lower Topanga resident, and continues to preserve the history of that neighborhood on his website, www.brasstackspress.com, and as a board member of the Topanga Historical Society, www.topangahistoricalsociety.org.
