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Cattle Straying
Originated Rodeo
In the early days of the cattle
industry, before the advent of the
barbed wire fence, cattle of one
rancher would stray across the
imaginary boundary which was
supposed to separate the ranches,
and mingle with the cattle of an
other rancher.
It was from the arguments and
wagers made among the cowboys
of the different ranches of a
section while on roundup to
gether that it became a custom
to hold an impromptu riding and
roping contest at the close of
many roundups to settle the
question as to which ranch was
the home of the fastest roper or
best bronc rider.
These contests, while v i s
ited principally only by the con
testants and the few ranchers in
a section, were the stepping
stones to our great rodeos of to
day, for in order to settle an ar
gument as to best ropers and
riders of a much larger section
there was held at Pecos, Tex.,
July 4, 1883, the first riding and
roping contest where cash prizes
were awarded to the winners.
This was a big public rodeo,
but spectators were not charg
ed an admission fee. The con
test was held in the open flat
near the courthouse and the
prizes were $25 first and $15
second.
Morgan Livingston, top hand
of the NA ranch, won the steer
roping, and Trav Windham, boss
of the Lazy Y, was second.
There was no fenced-in arena,
I and only 2 events, steer roping
and bronc riding.
r""" .. .. ■ " -.
At a Fourth of July celebra
tion at Prescott, Ariz., in 1888,
the first rodeo or cowboy contest
in which cash prizes were a
warded to the winners and an
admission charged the spectator,
was held. It was called a tour
nament, and in addition to races
there were only 2 events, steer
roping and bronc riding, both
won by Juan Levias.
North Platte lays claim to stag
ing a rodeo as a Fourth of July
celebration in 1883, with Col.
William F. Cody as chairman,
but all records that we have been
able to dig up seem to point out
that this affair was just a tryout
of cowboys for the Buffalo Bill
Wild west Show, and we cannot
find any records of any prizes
having been awarded, and until
other records are brought to re-*
fute it Prescott, Ariz., will have
the distinction of staging the first
American (box office) rodeo.
In 1896, a big well advertised
rodeo was staked in Denver,
Colo., but was not a financial
success, in fact there was so
much work and expense to get
ting up a 3- or 4-day contest
that there were few of the early
ones that were financially suc
cessful.
In 1897, Wyoming's great an
nual rodeo "Cheyenne Frontier
Days," was organized and
while it had financial difficul
ties in its first few years it en
dured and is today the oldest
rodeo in America, its slogan,
"The Daddy of Them All" is
correct.
Up until about 25 years ago,
rodeos were staged only in open
arenas and practically all of
them in summer, the contestants
usually worked on ranches be
tween rodeos. Now the rodeo
season extends throughout the
year more than 150 well adver
tised rodeos during a season and
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admissions running into the mil
lions.
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