Chris LeDoux, for whom the 2005 Linn County Fair concert series is dedicated, was inducted posthumously last Saturday into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Attending the event was Tom Ordeman, chairman of the Linn County Fair Board. Ordeman was a good friend of the popular singer and former rodeo champion.

The fair, which opens Thursday at 11 a.m., will feature popular artists Starship on Thursday night (free as part of the River Rhythmns program, and country stars Aaron Tippin, Friday at 8:30 p.m. and Dierks Bentley, Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Tippin was booked to replace LeDoux and his Western Underground band. As of this morning, there were a few reserved seating tickets available for Tippin's show, but none for the Dierks Bentley concert.

LeDoux was born Oct. 2, 1948, in Biloxi, Miss., but he loved his adopted state of Wyoming, and acted as a traveling ambassador for it. LeDoux died of cancer March 9 in Casper, Wyo.

The LeDoux family continues to live on a ranch near Kayce, Wyo., where Ordeman plans to hunt in October.

LeDoux and Ordeman became friends in the late 1990s. Their friendship grew over the years because, "even as different as our lives were, we had a lot of common interests," Ordeman said.

The men enjoyed enjoyed rodeo, country music, hunting and fishing, and perhaps most of all, playing golf.

"We actually met while golfing at Prineville," Ordeman said. "He and his band really liked to play golf."

"Chris LeDoux was a bonafide, hard-to-beat cowboy long before he was an entertainer," the hall of fame induction program stated.

LeDoux grew up in an Air Force family, and won the all-around title during his first junior rodeo in Texas. He went on to win the Wyoming high school bareback riding championship and in college, won the 1969 Intercollegiate Rodeo Association bareback riding title. Upon turning professional, LeDoux qualified for the National Finals Rodeo four times and won the 1976 world bareback riding title.

Multi-talented, LeDoux's musical career started at age 12 on a harmonica and at age 14, he taught himself to play guitar.

LeDoux and his band, the Western Underground, were popular around the rodeo circuit and performed nationally with Garth Brooks, Bon Jovi, Toby Keith and Charlie Daniels, among others. Daniels said he treasures the gift of a bronze sculpture hand-crafted by LeDoux.

On July 30, the governor of Wyoming will declare Chris LeDoux Day during the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days celebration.

Ordeman said he was joined at the Hall of Fame induction by his son, Scott, who attends the University of Wyoming. They plan to attend the Frontier Days event as well, at which Toby Keith will perform in honor of LeDoux.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame along with LeDoux were rodeo contestant/actor Slim Pickens, and cowboys Jimmie Cooper, Joe Marvel, Marvin Brookman, and Charles Maggini.