September 23, 1897
On this day Cheyenne, Wyoming, kicked off its first Frontier Days celebration and rodeo. Some 120 years later it’s not the simple cowboy contest it used to be. 
Modern Frontier Days midway
The original date has strayed from September back to mid-July, attracting more than 200,000 visitors annually. The largest outdoor rodeo in the world, the ten-day event includes Wild West shows, a Native American village, vendors and a flyover by the US. Air Force precision flying team, the Thunderbirds.
Cheyenne can actually lay claim to hosting the first organized rodeo after the Civil War. Santa Fe, a half century earlier, however, is believed to be the first recorded “cowboy contest.” Based on the 1847 letter of Santa Fe resident, Captain Mayne Reid to a friend in Ireland from, his description of the local cowboy gathering sounds pretty much like a rodeo. A “Donny-brook fair,” Reid said, the working cowboy’s round-up was followed by a contest “with each other for the best roping and throwing…and dancing in the streets.”
Not to be outdone, Prescott, Arizona, is credited with holding the first professional rodeo in 1888. They charged admission and awarded two trophies.
Early round-up task was branding
But rodeos didn’t begin as spectator sport; just the tail end of a necessary part of the cattlemen’s life dating back to the Mexican vaqueros. Anglo cowhands had already borrowed many of their skills, tools and vocabulary. Round-up contests became a fixture that survived after the Spanish-American War.
The vaqueros (right, Frederic Remington painting) actually brought the basic round-up traditions to the New World from Spain. Bull riding and bull dogging in Mediterranean cultures dates back to the ancient Minoans on the Island of Crete. While not proven, some historians believe they may have even been original Olympic sports.
The vaquero-style work-a-day round-up was given legal status in California with the 1851 “Act to Regulate Rodeos.” ”Any owner of a stock farm” it stated, was obliged to “give yearly, a general Rodeo within the limits of his farm…in order that parties interested may meet for the purpose of separating their respective cattle.” The act was deemed necessary as a result of open range grazing.
Surprise! Showman William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, (right) was the first to capitalize on the growing popularity of rodeos. He including one in his first Wild West Exhibition, July 4, 1883, in North Platte, Nebraska. Taking the show on the road for decades, Cody made rodeos the rage in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and London.
Women joined contest rodeos in the 1890s but a tragic accident in 1929 ended their participation for many years. Superstar 
cowgirl, Bonnie McCaroll, (right) was killed during a bronc riding event in Pendleton, Oregon. Her death caused many rodeos to completely eliminate womens’ events.
Also not helpful to the cowgirls, the Rodeo Association of America was formed that same year as an all-male organization. While not managing to end female participation entirely, it took a Texan to change the rules by ignoring RAA’s ban. Colonel William T. Johnson, who had taken over New York’s Madison Square Garden rodeo in the 1920s, continued to feature his lucrative cowgirl contests.
The premier women’s rodeo sport of barrel racing and the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association may owe its existence to RAA’s “boys only” rule. The WPRA was organized after a highly successful “all-girl” rodeo in 1948.
Professionalizing rodeos resulted in a number of important changes. Before WWII, the use of chutes and gates was unheard of and events were not even timed. The additions of chutes and timers made rodeo substantially more spectator friendly and safer for contestants.
In 1951, rodeos went to college. The Collegiate Rodeo Association began holding national finals that year with 41 participating colleges and universities. (Right, the late Harley May, first collegiate bull riding champ and World Champion professional rodeo star.)
The sport of rodeo as we know it is a New World phenomenon. Major events like Cheyenne’s Frontier Days now attract thousands but hundreds of smaller contests have become a rite of summer at fairs and celebrations throughout the West. If big is what you’re looking for, however, the 2019 Cheyenne event is July 19 through 28.
Casey Tibbs Rodeo Museum, 210 Verendrye Drive, Fort Pierre, South Dakota, honors ProRodeo Hall of Famer and nine-time world champion, Casey Tibbs. Rodeo fans don’t have to wait until summer to explore the story of the state’s rodeo history and stars. It features memorabilia on Tibbs and 1920s era trick rider Mattie Goff. As a bonus, the Bronc Room gives visitors a close-up look at just what an eight-second bull ride is really like. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $4 for veterans and students 6 to 18. Children 5 and under are free.
Open June through August from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday and 1 to 5 Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Winter hour,s September through May are 10 to 5, Tuesday through Friday, 10 to 3 Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday. For more information go to caseytibbs.com, e-mail cindyb@caseytibbs.com, call (605) 494-1094 or write PO Box 37, 210 Verendrye Drive, Fort Pierre, SD 57532
© Text Only – 2018 – Headin’ West LLC – All photos – public domain or fair use.
*Head On West strives for historic accuracy and uses a number of sources considered reliable. When research differs on significant facts, the various points of view will be cited.