Cowboy State Daily’s Wendy Corr shared a stage with Reba McEntire, Graham Greene, and Brooks & Dunn in Oklahoma City on Saturday for the 64th Annual Western Heritage Awards.
Corr accepted the 2025 Wrangler Award, presented by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for Outstanding Western Lifestyle Program, for her interview with mystery novel writer Craig Johnson on her weekly Cowboy State Daily podcast, “The Roundup.”
Corr has been to the Western Heritage Awards in years past, but this was her first time being honored for her work to preserve Wyoming’s Western heritage through her career as a journalist and presence of positivity in the Cowboy State.
“The opportunity to represent what we are doing at Cowboy State Daily to a whole new audience of Western (icons) was the biggest boost for me,” she said. “Receiving the award is proof that the Western Heritage Museum finds value in what we are working toward at Cowboy State Daily — news and conversations that are relevant to Wyomingites and others who hold up the Western way of life.”
Western Weekend
An entire weekend’s worth of events was associated with the Western Heritage Awards. It started with a Friday night mixer.
“We didn't know until then that Reba (McEntire) was in attendance for the event,” she said. “She was sitting quietly with Robert Carradine and Graham Greene - until some fans noticed her.”
Corr had a dry run in the theater Saturday to do a sound check before the ceremony. Then, she returned to her hotel to get dressed up for the big evening.
“We took a shuttle from the hotel with two gentlemen from Pendleton, Oregon, and had a nice chat with them,” she said. “Interestingly enough, we happened to catch the shuttle back with the same gentlemen after the event, and they were tickled. They said they had no idea that they had been riding over with the stars of the show!”
Friends To Family
The Western Heritage Awards ceremony is held in a special theater at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. In Corr's opinion, it is always a colorful mix of gala formalities and Western pragmatism.
“The fashion is interesting,” she said. “Fancy dresses and tuxes, beauty queens and billionaires, contrasted with country folks and blue jeans. Our table was right next to the stage, so we got to see everyone up close. What a thrill to be just feet away from Reba and Pete Coors!”
Pete Coors, the former chairman of the Molson Coors Brewing Co. and chairman of MillerCoors, is a museum board member and was one of the presenters that evening.
Actor Rex Linn, now starring alongside Reba McEntire in the NBC sitcom "Happy’s Place," was the master of ceremonies for the evening. He immediately set the laid-back, jovial tone of the evening.
“I'm thrilled to be back with you tonight, celebrating creative endeavors that honor Western traditions,” he said in his opening speech. “This ceremony means so much to me. It's a labor of love among friends and the kind of friends that become family.”
Then, Linn pulled a duck call out of his blazer and engaged in a back-and-forth with other duck calls in the audience. That was how he confirmed the country music duo Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn were in the house, there to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Awards are given to people who have contributed significantly to Western heritage through creative works in film, television, literature and music, either through long, illustrious careers or singular creations that embody the Western spirit. Wyoming’s Dan Miller, a well-known and respected figure in the community, was one of the presenters at the Western Heritage Awards, as was longtime Longmire actor Bailey Chase.
“This year’s winners demonstrate the characteristics of the American West as portrayed in the regular statue of determination, persistence, and honor,” Linn said.
The Wrangler for Outstanding Fictional Drama went to “Desire is All You Need,” the ninth episode from the fifth season of “Yellowstone.” Outstanding Theatrical Motion Picture went to “Toyko Cowboy,” and Outstanding Documentary went to “Playing Cowboy,” which was about the history and legacy of cowboy toys.
Idea To Institution
Corr’s award for Outstanding Western Lifestyle Program was presented by the ceremony’s “power couple,” actor and producer Robert Carradine and two-time Wrangler Award-winning actor Bruce Boxleitner.
“’The Roundup’ is a gathering of voices, opinions and perspectives from interesting people in the Cowboy State of Wyoming,” Boxleitner said. “The Wrangler Award for Outstanding Western Lifestyle Program goes to Wendy Corr (for) ‘The Roundup,’ a Cowboy State Daily podcast with Longmire author Craig Johnson.”
As Corr gave her acceptance speech, the familiar voice Wyomingites hear on their radios and video news every morning spoke clearly into the podium’s microphones.
“Cowboy State Daily started out as an idea in 2019: Let's report just the news that's important to Wyoming and highlight the interesting people, events and history unique to this Western way of life and to the state,” she said. “In the last six years, we've grown into the largest … news publication in Wyoming.
“This podcast, ‘The Roundup,’ is meant to focus on and highlight the most interesting people in the cowboy state, and who better to highlight than one of Wyoming's favorite sons, Longmire author Craig Johnson?”
The mention of Johnson got a round of applause from the audience.
“I'm thrilled to accept this Wrangler Award which, to me, recognizes the importance of these conversations with the people who keep this cowboy culture alive for audiences around the world.”
Corr thanked Cowboy State Daily co-founder and Executive Editor Jimmy Orr, owner B. Wayne Hughes Jr., her partner Dan Miller, and parents and children for their support and patience for “all of this career that I have found myself in.”
“To be here tonight with all of you amazing people has just been a gift,” she said. “So, thank you to the Western Heritage Awards Committee for singling out this episode to honor. Thank you so much.”
Corr said she wasn’t nervous “at all” before accepting the award — her speech had been written months before so it could be ready on the teleprompter. The moment of overwhelming emotion came once she stepped off the stage.
“When I walked off the stage with the little gal who was carrying my VERY heavy bronze award, and got my picture taken for the museum, and interviewed for Cowboys and Indians magazine, my knees were knocking,” she said.
Lifetime Achievement
When they came up to receive their Lifetime Achievement Award, Brooks and Dunn communicated how much the moment meant to them.
“Every truly great cowboy is someone we wish we were, someone will probably never be, and someone we desperately need to believe we really are,” Dunn said. “I've always come to appreciate that every cowboy is a true and authentic original. He serves as a perfect trope for anything as wild as the West Texas winds are as steady and reliable as your grandfather's word.
“So, whatever the best part of cowboy and the ideals of the West have come to convey, one thing is, for certain: our nation, the world beyond, could use it now more than ever. I'm eternally honored.”
Brooks mentioned his excitement to return to this year’s Cheyenne Frontier Days in his speech and how he and Dunn both grew up loving “the singing cowboy” in the heyday of Western films, TV shows, and icons like Roy Rogers.
“The guys I admired so much could lose a finger on a pipeline, stick it in their pocket, and wait until after work to get it sewn back on,” he said. “Tough. Solid tough. But the right song could get real grown-man tears coming out of their eyes. That’s what we contribute. There’s still a singing cowboy out there.
“That’s me and Ronnie, and the fact that you would honor us today — so many real cowboys in this room —that’s about the greatest honor I could think of.”
The final honoree was Oscar-nominated (and now Wrangler Award-winning) actor Graham Greene. He is best known for portraying Kicking Bird in 1990’s “Dances with Wolves” and for dozens of other films and television shows.
Graham will now appear in the Hall of Great Western Performers, along with the late Anthony Quinn, who was also inducted this year. Other inductees include Roy Rodgers, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Ronald Reagan.
“Tonight, I’m walking by myself through some pretty tall corn,” Greene said. “I want to thank everybody here. This way of life, the Western way of life, is something that’s been in my blood since I was a young man.”
Graham mentioned how he watched “Gunsmoke” with his surrogate grandfather every afternoon when he was growing up. One day, Graham surprised him with a brand-new color TV.
“He turned it on, looked at it, stood up, and went to the kitchen,” Greene said. “I went out there to see what he was doing. I said, ‘You OK?’ And he said, ‘Yeah. It’s better in black and white.’” And I said, ‘I agree with you.’”
When Greene finished his speech, Linn concluded the ceremony by congratulating the honorees and inductees. Corr got a moment to meet Greene at the hotel after the ceremony concluded.
“How fun it was to shake Graham Greene's hand at the hotel after the event and thank him for providing such wonderful entertainment over the years,” she said.
The Weight Of The Award
Everyone honored at the 64th Western Heritage Awards commented on how meaningful it was to be honored there. Everyone was connected in intimate ways that resonated with the audience.
McEntire seemed to be a point of connection between everyone. After years of performing with Brooks and Dunn, she called them “the most ornery, mischievous, fun-loving pranksters I’ve ever worked with” and “brother to me that I love with all my heart.”
Meanwhile, Greene said that he did sound for a McEntire concert at Molson Park in Ontario, Canada, “last century” before his acting career took off.
Corr admitted that she’s also immersed in the enormous emotion of receiving a Wrangler Award. She’s been to the Western Heritage Awards before, even performing with Dan Miller at the 2023 ceremony, but being there as an honoree was an altogether different, humbling and gratifying experience.
“You don't realize how meaningful these awards are until you are in the room with the recipients, donors, presenters, and stars who are there for this event,” she said. “It was an incredible honor — made even more so by talking to the board members, who are all so gracious and genuine with their praise.
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
