The award is sponsored by the Agricultural District No. 3 as a way to recognize those men and women who make their living as ranch hands, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and have contributed to the fabric of our Great Basin culture and community.
2025 – Will Delong
Will, age 50, passed away on November 13, 2024, in Reno, Nevada. Will’s entire life represents
exactly what a strong ranch heritage can provide; he was dedicated to this way of life and wanted to
help others also see success within ranching and rodeo. Will’s honor came a little earlier than we
anticipated because of his death, but it is easy to see how much he deserves this award and the chance
to be recognized alongside all those who have strengthened our local ranching heritage.
Will was born in Winnemucca, Nevada, to John and Judy DeLong. He joined sisters Christy and
Jhona on Trout Creek Ranch, becoming part of the fifth generation of family ranchers on the Jackson
Mountains. Will started school at home at Trout Creek, attended the one-room Jackson Mountain
School, and graduated from Albert M. Lowry High School with the Class of 1992.
After high school, Will attended the College of Southern Idaho and Treasure Valley Community
College as a college rodeo athlete. He earned his Associate’s Degree in Ag Business in 1995. In June
2002, he married the love of his life, Katie Marvel. They began their life together at Jackson Creek Ranch
where they welcomed son William “Billy,” daughter Matti, and daughter Louise.
Will was a hard-working cattle rancher who loved his horses, cattle and lifestyle. He was an avid
reader who loved spending time with his family, and loved watching his kids compete in junior high and
high school rodeo as well as other activities and sports such as wrestling, dance and basketball.
Will was an adult director for the Humboldt County High School Rodeo Club for many years; he
also served on many cattle industry boards. He was president of his family-owned business, DeLong
Ranches, Inc., which was honored numerous times by the Red Angus Association for their high-quality
cattle. Will was loved and adored by many and will be greatly missed.
2023 – Dennis Brown
2022 – Chris Bengoa
The first Winnemucca High School Rodeo was held in the rodeo arena situated behind the current Ridley’s Supermarket location. Chris was a member of the high school rodeo club that produced that rodeo. When he was a senior in high school, he helped build the first arena at the current rodeo facility at the Winnemucca Events Center. Chris graduated in 1970 from Oregon State University with a degree in Animal Science and a minor in Business Administration. In 1976, Chris purchased the original Quinn River Merc in McDermitt. In 1986 Chris sold the Quinn River Merc and began a long career as the manager of the Lucky 7 Ranch in McDermitt. In addition to his ranching responsibilities, Chris has been very active in the agricultural community, serving on the Ag District 3 Board for over 20 years and on the Humboldt County 4-H Show & Sale Committee for eight years. Chris has lived in Humboldt County all of his life. He has been on horseback from West of Denio to the Owyhee River in northern Humboldt County. He has team roped with everybody and knows even more people than that. He has spent his life working for the county he calls home in many capacities, but the most important one is the legacy he has passed down to all the people who have had the privilege of knowing him.
2021- Diana Vesco
Diana and her husband Bob began to farm in the Lovelock Valley after their marriage. They eventually bought a farm and also ran a custom haying business. A few years later they sold their farm and went into a family partnership buying one of the old William Stock ranches in Paradise Valley in 1969. Five years later they sold out and bought the old Pierce Ranch in Pleasant Valley where Bob and Diana along with son Vance developed a thriving ranch and have been there now for almost 50 years. Diana starts her days early with feeding chores and bookwork for the ranch. You will find her on a horse during the gathering and weaning season in the fall and always when loading cattle on shipping days or on a piece of haying equipment in the summer. A vacation to Diana is irrigating our meadows and taking in the beauty of the our ranch around her.
2020 – Ross Zimmerman
In 1972, Ross and his young family moved to the RO Ranch in Round Mountain, Nevada, with Ross’s parents. They ran cattle on the Toiyabe mountain range. The desert went on for miles, and it was quite a challenge. Ross, Dodie, and the girls lived in cattle camps, and sometimes Ross would camp out farther with the hired men and his brothers. He was always on horseback, chasing wild steers and roping bulls, sometimes even working in snow up to the horse’s belly.
2019 – Jack Warn
Jack quickly became known as a good cowhand and a “helluva” bronc rider. Jack rode mustangs and wild buckers that shouldn’t have been started until they were five or older; they had a wildness in their eyes and would launch into unexpected fits and starts that would land a guy head first into the hard ground. These were the horses that spoke to him the most in the early years. People far and wide would bring Jack horses to break and ride. He turned horses that were rough, rude, and crude into finely tuned animals. The finished product was never anything less than a Jack Warn special.
2018 – Buck Tipton
Buck is very proud of all his family and his extended family of cowboys and cowgirls, some of whom are past champions of the Ranch Hand Rodeo and some of whom are continuing to compete today. Not bad for a kid that drifted off the “High Plains” 90 years ago! “Buck has been a friend to northern Nevada, to ranching, to family values, to community values. He has shared his skills from his earliest youth through his later years; his life has served to strengthen our local ranching heritage.”- Kent Maher, AG District #3
2017 – Garley Amos
“Garley is one of those people who make up the backbone of Humboldt Count. He has served in so many capacities in this community, on local boards, as a local rancher, as a mentor and a good friend. He really epitomizes everything good that we stand for in this area.”- Kent Maher, AG District #3
2016- Woodie and Lilla Bell
“Woodie and Lilla have been an integral part of the cattle industry, as well as, their community. They alongside their family continue to contribute to our western heritage and way of life day after day.”- Michelle Hammond, WCVA
2015— John Falen
“John Falen is commited to the cattle industry, as well as the preservation of the ranching culture and way of life.”— AG District #3
2014— Dan & Sammy Ugalde
“This pair have contributed in numerous ways to Humboldt County over the years. They have really left a lasting impression that will carry forward into the future.”
— Garley Amos
2013 — Louie & Frank Bidart
“These two men have established a legacy and a cowboy heritage that will continue for generations to come”
— Kent Maher, Ag District #3 President
2012 — Larry Hill
“Well, I mostly just like Humboldt County and I always thought Winnemucca was my home”
— Larry Hill
2011 — Jane Angus
“Cattle, rodeo, ranching and everyday life, you have always been as example to me since I was a kid. Even today, we still have a line of communication that I feel is priceless”
— Bob Tallman
2010 — Buster Dufurrena
“Buster can look at a tough, complicated situation and see the positive aspects of it. He can see his way through the difficulties. He is a true optimist.”
— Linda Dufurrena
2009 — John & Tim DeLong
“Both John and Tim are horsemen in their own right, true buckaroos, rodeo cowboys, and well-respected cattlemen.”
— Christy Stanton DeLong & Rita DeLong Fowler
2008 — Harold Chapin
“His first love is horses and cowboying. He hates to come to town. He’s a quiet and modest man, but has a sparkle in his Irish blue eyes.”
— Rita Chapin
2007 — Loui Cerri
“Loui is one of the few remaining Great Basin buckaroos who can remember range in Nevada before ther were fences, stock trucks, pickups and horse trailers”
— Garley Amos
2006 — Frank Loveland
“If a cowboy tells you he worked in northern Nevada in the ’50s and ’60s and doesn’t know who Frank Loveland is, you should question his honesty.”
— Garley Amos
