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NEPHI — Almost 99 years old, Ina Seeley Morgan ikes to get out for a good old-fashioned rodeo every year, and this year was no different.
On July 31, Morgan will celebrate birthday number 99, and she has accomplished a lot in those years. In the past 78 years alone, Morgan has lived through a world war, watched a man land on the moon, benefitted from the invention of television and known 13 different men to lead the US as its presidents. And she has also made her way to the Ute Stampede Rodeo every year.
In 1934, she attended her first rodeo at the Juab County fairgrounds and he quickly learned one important lesson:
"Anyone who gets on a Brahma bull values their life at 30 seconds," she said.
This weekend, she's back where it all started, taking in the Ute Stampede rodeo. She has been in the same spot on the bleachers, every Friday night of the Ute Stampede Rodeo, every single year since 1934.
Her first rodeo wasn't just the start of an annual tradition, however, but something much, much bigger.
"They came for the Friday night for their first date, my father and she, and she hasn't missed one since," said her son, Stephen Morgan.
That first date turned into quite the family. Friday, 120 of the Morgan family were in attendance, coming from all over the country to enjoy a piece of their family history.
Ina Morgan's father was a true Utah cowboy who had horses and cattle. She's has followed in his footsteps, still managing a ranch daily at 98 years old. And tonight, during her 78th consecutive Friday night trip to this rodeo, she was the most proud of her roots here in Nephi, and the family which celebrated with her.
"It's just being in the heart of Utah, in Juab County, in America," Ina Morgan said. "It's part of our heritage and I guess you get addicted to it."
