Rounders Award Ceremony

The Rounders Award is named after “The Rounders,” a classic western novel written by New Mexican Max Evans. Created in 1990 by former New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Frank DuBois, the purpose of the award is to honor those who live, promote and articulate the western way of life.

A total of 34 recipients have received this accolade, including Max Evans himself as the inaugural award recipient.

A ceremony has typically been held each fall, at which the New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture presents the awards. All past recipients are invited, many stories are shared, and the legacy of New Mexican culture is celebrated.

Sadly, Max Evans passed away in 2020, but his memory lives on. The Rounders Award allows his legacy as a pioneer of Western and New Mexican culture to live on through future generations, as the work to which he and so many others after him dedicated their lives will live on within New Mexico through future innovators.

Below is a list of all past recipients of the Rounders Award, as well as the role they served in expanding and honoring Western culture.

Rounders Award Recipients

1990    Max Evans, author
1991    Marc Simmons Cerrillos, historian
1992    Michael Martin Murphey, country western singer
1993    Baxter Black, cowboy humorist
1996    Pablita Velarde, artist
1997    Elmer Kelton, western writer
1999    Chuck Stocks, publisher
2000    Howard Bryan, author
Alvin Davis, author
Grem Lee, western illustrator
2002    Denny Gentry, team roping entrepreneur
2012    Forrest Fenn, art collector/writer
Slim Randles, columnist/author
2013    Johnny D. Boggs, author
Don Bullis, historian/author
2014    Pat Evans, editor/artist
Reynaldo “Sonny” Rivera, sculptor
2015    Gary Morton, cowboy painter
2016    Ollie Reed Jr., western reporter
Rod Taylor, musician
2017    Jim Harris, author and editor
Curtis Fort, artist
Rosemary Wilkie, saddle maker
2018    Robert “Shoofly” Shufelt, artist
Irvin Trujillo, weaver
2019    Dino Cornay, artist
RW Hampton, musician
2021 Anne Hillerman, author
Etienne “A-10” Etcheverry, cartoonist
Archie West, rancher/musician/actor
Stephen Zimmer, writer
2022 JaNeil Anderson, artist
Tim Cox, artist
Duke Sundt, sculptor
2023 Edna Harper, artist
             Stewart Williamson, artist

2022

group of past Rounders award winners along with twenty twenty-two winners. — Pictured left to right from the 2022 Rounders Awards Ceremony at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces: Back row: Gary Morton, Etienne “A-10” Etcheverry, Tim Cox, JaNeil Anderson, Duke Sundt, Don Bullis, Ollie Reed, Robert “Shoofly” Shufelt and New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte. Front row: Grem Lee and former New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Frank DuBois.

2021

group of past Rounders award winners along with twenty twenty-one winners. — Pictured left to right from the 2021 Rounders Awards Ceremony at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces: Back row: 2014 recipient Reynaldo “Sonny” Rivera, 2016 recipient Ollie Reed, 2016 recipient Rod Taylor, 2013 recipient Johnny D. Boggs, 2019 recipient RW Hampton, 2021 recipient Anne Hillerman, 2021 recipient Archie West, 2018 recipient Robert “Shoofly” Shufelt, 2015 recipient Gary Morton, 2021 recipient Etienne “A-10” Etcheverry, 2017 recipient Jim Harris. Front row: 2021 recipient Stephen Zimmer, 2014 recipient Pat Evans (widow of Max Evans) and New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte.

2019

group of past Rounders award winners along with twenty nineteen winners. — Pictured left to right from the 2019 Rounders Awards Ceremony: Back row: 2013 recipient Johnny D. Boggs, 2016 recipient Ollie Reed, 2019 recipient Dino Cornay, New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte, 2019 recipient RW Hampton, 2015 recipient Gary Morton, 2017 recipient Rosemary Wilkie, 2014 recipient Reynaldo “Sonny” Rivera, 2017 recipient Jim Harris. Front Row: 2000 recipient Grem Lee.

2018

group of past Rounders award winners along with twenty eight-teen winners. — Pictured left to right from the 2018 Rounders Awards Ceremony: Back Row: 2016 recipient Ollie Reed, 2014 recipient Pat Evans (wife of Max Evans), 2018 recipient Robert Shufelt, 1990 recipient Max Evans, 2018 recipient Irvin Trujillo, New Mexico Agriculture Secretary Jeff Witte, 2013 recipient Don Bullis, 2015 recipient Gary Morton and 2014 recipient Sonny Rivera. Front Row: 2000 recipient Grem Lee.