Former Stampede Queen Returning For Celebration

A former Wolf Point Wild Horse Stampede queen is returning home for this week’s 101st Stampede activities.

Terri (Taylor) Anderson was selected the queen for the 1960 Stampede. Now living in Chippewa Falls, Wis., she remembers competing against a couple other young women by riding a horse in patterns and answering questions from judges.

She doesn’t think she was too surprised about being crowned queen because of her experience. “My dad [John Taylor] raised horses and I showed horses,” she explained. “I was probably thinking, like cool.”

Terri, who grew up on a farm about 35 miles north of Wolf Point, went on to earn valedictorian honors for Wolf Point High School’s Class of 1961. Her father was grand marshal of the Stampede in 1980.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in library sciences from the University of Wisconsin.

Terri explained she decided to attend the school in Madison because it was one of the few universities at the time to offer a degree in international relations. Plus, she had a relative who lived in Wisconsin.

After getting married, she worked in the University of Wisconsin’s library system for 20 years.

Still, she has fond memories of Wolf Point and her time as the Stampede’s queen.

“It seemed like a big idea at the time,” Anderson said. “I enjoyed it. It was a fun thing to do.”

This weekend will be the first time in about seven or eight years that Anderson has returned to Wolf Point for the Wild Horse Stampede.

“Just being there,” she said of what she’s looking forward to the most during her visit. “I grew up with rodeos and horse shows. I love coming back.”