Cowboy Town has selected the 2018 Ute Stampede Royalty.

Once a Queen, always a Queen! That was our take when we heard the news of the 2018 Ute Stampede Royalty selection in Nephi, Utah. With that rodeo going back to 1935, us old folks recall many of the royalty of yesteryear, and today we roll back the years and tell a little of the life of Betty and Kemp Motes. Kemp was the local King of Cowboys, and the shy Betty has always been the Queen, first being in the Royalty in 1949, then the Queen in 1950. Kemp is now roping with Roy Rogers, but Betty remains living at the family home. The first photo shows Jean Gowers Yates as the Queen with Arlene Jarrett Jones and Betty Pew Motes as the attendants. Betty is on the left. Background wise, Kemp was born in Solomon, Arizona, with seven brothers and three sisters. He graduated from Safford High. The family moved to Mesa, where Kemp worked as a carpenter, until Uncle Sam sent him packing in 1942, being a "packhorse" for front line supply duties in Italy. As a Lineman he was wounded twice  from mortar shells. He received two purple hearts; two bronze stars and the Oak Leaf Cluster, then came home at the end of World War Two, but seldom spoke of his heroic acts, but a valiant fighter he was. He enjoyed one of his furloughs, as that was when he met Betty, who was a native of Mesa, Arizona. At the time she was working at Williams Military Base. They got hitched in 1946 and since Kemp didn't like pickin cotton, they moved to Nortonville, Utah, where Kemp had a dairy farm for ten years. Years ago, the LDS church assisted Native Americans in what was called the "Indian Placement Program" which helped Tribal kids get an education and the Motes kids started with Kee Nez, who maintained his noble heritage, but appreciated the love and support of Kemp and Betty. Christmas brought a big bonus for the Motes in 1956 when Anna Marie came to live with them, and later married Nephi local Billy Lunt and both now help assist Betty along with grandchildren. Phil joined the family roping team in 1960. Betty worked at the Nephi Processing Plant; Thermoid, then secretary for School Supt. Evans, and Principal Clarence Pay. She served her church, holding a variety of positions in the Primary; MIA, Relief Society, then Sunday School Chorister for twenty years. Kemp has always known for his hard work, being employed as a Nephi City police officer for 14 years, then the water department for several years. At the same time, he was roping and riding in rodeos all over the western states and helping the youth. He was a member of the Nephi Nebo Posse and Nephi Roping Club. To this writer, the Betty and Kemp Motes tag team will always reign as the King and Queen of the Rodeo of Life, as their Service will put them in the heavenly hall of fame.