Betty Joy Daniels Benson
Betty Joy Daniels Benson, 53, passed away Jan. 1, 1998, in a riding accident on the open range that she so dearly loved. Betty was born July 24, 1944, in Helena to William C. and Pauline Knapp Daniels of Townsend. She attended school in Townsend, Lodge Grass and graduated in Roundup in 1962. She high school rodeoed and qualified for the National High School Rodeo Finals in Valentine, Neb., and Hot Springs, SD, where she placed third in the nation in the Breakaway Roping.
Betty Benson was a real Montana cowgirl, earning a living by working on ranches in the Melstone area and raising, breaking and training horses. Benson first rode a horse when she was 3 on her father’s cattle ranch near Townsend. Horses continued to be an addiction when she married John Benson on Sept. 21, 1962 and moved to Melstone. She spent the next 14 years on the Benson family ranch north of Melstone. When her children were young, Betty would hoist them into the saddle in front of her and take them along as she worked on the family’s ranch. All of them rodeoed through high school and are still involved in raising, riding or working with horses.
A petite blonde, Benson was no stranger to hard work. She worked for Texaco as a roustabout hand for four years, it was one of the few times in her life that her work didn’t involve horses. She also worked on various ranches in the Melstone area including the Kincheloe Ranch and the DeJaegher Ranch. In 1981, she was the NRA Reserve Champion in the Breakaway Roping.
She would jokingly refer to her horse raising and training business as “Badly Scattered Horse Co” because her stallion, 10 brood mares and five or six saddle horses all lived at different ranches. Some of her fondest memories were roping and doctoring cattle in the hills.
Betty was a hardworking and caring person. She was friendly, happy and would talk for hours about her horses and dogs. She would do anything for her four children that she cared for and loved dearly; Kari Burns, Joy Benson, J.B. Benson and Billy Bob “Duck” Benson. Horses were her life. She raised, trained and sold them. She always rode a good horse and had a spare one tied in the barn.
Betty Benson was a real Montana cowgirl, earning a living by working on ranches in the Melstone area and raising, breaking and training horses. Benson first rode a horse when she was 3 on her father’s cattle ranch near Townsend. Horses continued to be an addiction when she married John Benson on Sept. 21, 1962 and moved to Melstone. She spent the next 14 years on the Benson family ranch north of Melstone. When her children were young, Betty would hoist them into the saddle in front of her and take them along as she worked on the family’s ranch. All of them rodeoed through high school and are still involved in raising, riding or working with horses.
A petite blonde, Benson was no stranger to hard work. She worked for Texaco as a roustabout hand for four years, it was one of the few times in her life that her work didn’t involve horses. She also worked on various ranches in the Melstone area including the Kincheloe Ranch and the DeJaegher Ranch. In 1981, she was the NRA Reserve Champion in the Breakaway Roping.
She would jokingly refer to her horse raising and training business as “Badly Scattered Horse Co” because her stallion, 10 brood mares and five or six saddle horses all lived at different ranches. Some of her fondest memories were roping and doctoring cattle in the hills.
Betty was a hardworking and caring person. She was friendly, happy and would talk for hours about her horses and dogs. She would do anything for her four children that she cared for and loved dearly; Kari Burns, Joy Benson, J.B. Benson and Billy Bob “Duck” Benson. Horses were her life. She raised, trained and sold them. She always rode a good horse and had a spare one tied in the barn.