CHIEF JOSEPH DAYS
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Royalty:
Continued from Page B4
were young,” she said. “We
had a great summer travel-
ing through the Northwest
representing the CJD. … It
was very, very memorable.”
She and Miller were
1996 EHS graduates, while
Archibald was a 1997 grad-
uate of EHS.
McDowell and her hus-
band, Matt, have four chil-
dren. One son shows horses
and the family does more
with reining horses instead
of royalty. They also have
one daughter “who wasn’t
horse crazy,” she said.
Other family mem-
bers did participate in CJD
courts. Her younger sisters,
Brooke Follett Pace and
Chelcee Noland were CJD
royalty.
Since her reign, the
McDowells train and raise
horses at Harrison Idaho.
During the school year,
she and her sons are in
Enterprise.
She fears she’ll likely
miss the CJD this year,
because horse shows often
confl ict with it.
Miller, one of the 1996
princesses, was unavailable
for an interview being at a
pro rodeo event her son was
participating in out of state.
Archibald, who currently
lives in Dallas, Oregon, and
works for a land broker, but
is hoping to move back to
the county, remembers her
reign well.
“It was one of the best
summers of my life grow-
ing up,” she said. “We had
a lot of fun and got to see
lots of things. We had lot of
great experiences between
the three of us.”
The 1997 EHS gradu-
ate recalls her grandmother,
Beverly Shortridge, was on
the CJD court in the 1950s,
as were other relatives,
although her daughters have
not gotten into rodeo royalty.
2011
Ten years ago, in 2011,
Queen Silje Christoff ersen
and Princess Brooke Green-
shields reigned.
“It was kind of a pas-
sion,” Christoff ersen said.
“I’d been riding since I was
about 4 or 5 and got into the
Nez Perce Riders 4-H Club.
I grew up riding in all diff er-
ent disciplines … I did it all
in 4-H.”
She remembers the
Imnaha Rodeo “when it was
still happening.”
She also looked up to
people who had served
before her on the CJD court.
“Seemed like a challenge
and to represent the commu-
nity and to help bring money
in,” she said.
Born in Zimbabwe, the
daughter of Nils and Anette
Christoff ersen moved at age
4 to the county where she
grew up.
She graduated from
EHS in 2012 and spent a
year in Norway going to
school. She speaks Norwe-
gian courtesy of her parents
and that year in Norway.
She then went to college
in Massachusetts study-
ing natural resources, but
shifted to graphic design
after college. Now she
works as a graphic designer
in Hailey, Idaho.
“I do kind of miss home
and I think we’d like to
eventually make our way
back,” she said.
Her boyfriend, Kevin
Harlander, fought fi res for
the state here. She also has
an aunt and uncle in Lostine.
“It was a really fun year
with Brooke,” Christoff ersen
said of her year as queen.
“We were really close. … I
loved riding — there’s noth-
ing like doing that in your
hometown rodeo. … It’s
one of my favorite things to
go back to the rodeo every
year.”
Her memories are of
more than the rodeo. Wal-
lowa County is not just a
beautiful backdrop, but full
of animals and history, she
said.
“It’s about what it means
to be a real place,” she said.
“I appreciate the rodeo and
what it off ers and represents
for the community.”
Greenshields also has
fond memories of her reign.
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Kevin Harlander/Contributed Photo
Silje Christoff ersen, queen of the 2011 Chief Joseph Days Rodeo, enjoys an active outdoor lifestyle such as here when she was
rafting on the Snake River in Hells Canyon.
Nicole Slater/Contributed Photo
The 2011 Chief Joseph Days court, from left, Princess Brooke
Greenshields and Queen Silje Christoff ersen pose.
“I always wanted to do
it. Doing horse 4-H and that
was the natural progression
of things,” she said. “Silje
and I were good friends and
it was a really fun year.”
Greenshields, who works
as a veterinarian at the Dou-
ble Arrow Veterinarian
Clinic in Enterprise that is
co-owned by her father, still
volunteers at the rodeo.
“It’s great to come full
circle and I hope to continue
to work with the rodeo in the
future,” she said.
The 2012 EHS grad later
attended Oregon State Uni-
versity for both her under-
graduate and veterinarian
degrees.
“Maybe someday,” she
said of plans to have a child.
“Right now, I’m busy enough
with my career. … We work
on everything here.”
Contributed Photo
Now a veterinarian at Double Arrow Veterinary Clinic
in Enterprise, 2011 Chief Joseph Days Princess Brooke
Greenshields still helps with the rodeo. Here she poses with
her dog, Ridge.
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