Yakima Canutt

Yakima Canutt
Promotional image of Yakima Canutt
Born	Enos Edward Canutt (1895-11-29)November 29, 1895 Colfax, Washington, U.S.
Died	May 24, 1986(1986-05-24) (aged 90) North Hollywood, California, U.S.
Other names	Yak Canutt
Occupation	Actor Director Stuntman Rodeo rider
Years active	1912–1975
Spouse(s)	Catherine "Kitty" Wilks (1916–1922) (divorced) Minnie Audrea Yeager Rice (1931–1986 (his death)), 3 children

Yakima Canutt (November 29, 1895 – May 24, 1986), also known as Yak Canutt, was an American champion rodeo rider, actor, stuntman and action director.

Born Enos Edward Canutt in the Snake River Hills, near Colfax, Washington, he was one of five children of John Lemuel Canutt, a rancher, and Nettie Ellen Stevens. He grew up in eastern Washington on a ranch near Penawawa Creek, founded by his grandfather and operated by his father, who also served a term in the state legislature. His formal education was limited to elementary school in Green Lake, then a suburb of Seattle. He gained the education for his life's work on the family ranch, where he learned to hunt, trap, shoot, and ride.

He broke a wild bronco when he was 11. As a 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) sixteen-year-old, he started bronc riding at the Whitman County Fair in Colfax in 1912, and at 17 he won the title of World's Best Bronco Buster. Canutt started rodeo riding professionally and gained a reputation as a bronc rider, bulldogger and all-around cowboy. It was at the 1914 Pendleton Round-Up, Pendleton, Oregon he got the nickname "Yakima" when a newspaper caption misidentified him. "Yakima Canutt may be the most famous person NOT from Yakima, Washington" says Elizabeth Gibson, author of Yakima, Washington. Winning second place at the 1915 Pendleton Round-Up brought attention from show promoters, who invited him to compete around the country.

"I started in major rodeos in 1914, and went through to 1923. There was quite a crop of us traveling together, and we would have special railroad cars and cars for the horses. We'd play anywhere from three, six, eight ten-day shows. Bronc riding and bulldogging were my specialties, but I did some roping," said Canutt.

During the 1916 season, he became interested in divorcee Kitty Wilks, who had won the Lady's Bronc-Riding Championship a couple of times. They married on July 20, 1917, while at a show in Kalispell, Montana; he was 21 and she 23. They divorced about 1922. While bulldogging in Idaho, Canutt's mouth and upper lip were torn by a bull's horn; after stitches, Canutt returned to the competition. It was not until a year later that a plastic surgeon could correct the injury.