Pro Rodeo Princess McKenna Salminen wants to be a Border Patrol agent

Two years ago, Columbia Falls student McKenna Salminen won first runner-up in the Northwest Montana Pro Rodeo Little Miss contest. Two years later she competed again, and was crowned 2015 Northwest Montana Pro Rodeo Princess.

The 16-year-old hesitated to try out this year because she is a busy girl. However, she decided to do it anyway. She recalls thinking in May, “It’s worth the busy-ness if I win, and if not, oh well.”

Her life has her going a mile a minute, from showing horses and lambs in 4-H to running in cross-country and track at Columbia Falls High School. She’s also in a program to prepare for her future career. In March, she started training with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Explorer Program. The program teaches teenagers about a border patrol agent’s job. She learns and practices an agent’s role with the patrol.

Her eventual goal is to be an agent with the horse or canine unit. Her interest in horses influenced her participation in the rodeo royalty competition.

But some of her interest in pageantry is handed down from her mother Jenni Salminen, who was in beauty pageants as a young girl. But, not everything was passed down.

“We’re completely opposites,” Jenni said. “I was all about that. I don’t think I could have gotten her to do regular pageants, not if there wasn’t a horse involved.”

“I’d be wearing cowboy boots,” McKenna said.

McKenna has been riding since she was 7. Her horse experience showed at the pageant when she won the horsemanship and speech contests, while showing her 3-year-old colt, Cruz.

“I was actually really nervous to ride such a young horse in something that everyone else had experienced horses with,” she said. “He ended up surprising everybody and did great. He was flawless.”

“He’s still pretty fresh and learning every thing,” Jenni said. “He’s just got a good temperament.”

Having the colt is a good opportunity for McKenna because her other two horses are already trained. McKenna can mold the younger horse to her liking.

“She can train him to do what she wants,” Jenni said. “We had him with a trainer for a little while, and she’s going to finish him.”

For her winning speech, McKenna talked about the Border Patrol horse program.

“I met up with some agents, that were on the horse patrol, and they told me a ton of stuff, so I just had so many facts,” McKenna said.

Her mom recalls what happened after her daughter’s speech, “We had quite a few people come up to us and say, ‘we had no idea,’”

McKenna isn’t normally a speaker. Her speech lasted only 2 minutes 30 seconds, when it could’ve lasted up to 4 minutes.

“She has a hard time getting up and talking in front of people, but then when she got up there, it was like she was not afraid of it at all,” Jenni said.

McKenna admits she was nervous for a different reason. She was nervous about losing.

“It was more toward the people I was running against,” she said. “I felt like it was pretty equal and so I was nervous.”

With the last portion of the contest finished, McKenna sat on her horse waiting to hear the results.

Jenni was waiting in the audience. They listened as the winners of each category were announced.

McKenna was competing for princess against two other girls. One of the girls won most of the smaller categories such as the most tickets sold and most sponsors.

“The other girl kept winning, you know, I was like kind of freaking out, my heart was racing — oh my goodness I’m going to lose,” McKenna said.

Then, the winner of the two contests worth the most points was announced, horsemanship and speech.

Jenni recalls the moment “Then I knew. I looked at my husband and said ‘she won.’”

McKenna recalls getting the crown from last year’s princess and thinking that all she could do was smile.

“When they said my name, I was just like, pretty much, really excited,” she said.

As Pro Rodeo Princess, she will carry a flag and push calves at the remaining fairs across the state this summer. She will also make appearances at winter rodeos. She will reign for a year, then pass on her crown at next year’s fair.