{"id":170,"date":"2012-04-09T00:14:55","date_gmt":"2012-04-09T00:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/?p=170"},"modified":"2012-04-09T00:16:50","modified_gmt":"2012-04-09T00:16:50","slug":"wagons-west-cheyenne-frontier-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/?p=170","title":{"rendered":"WAGONS WEST! CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continuing on down the trail from the majestic Tetons, this week we\u2019re lookin\u2019 at a whole different kind of spectacle.\u00a0 Let\u2019s talk rodeo folks!! And if we\u2019re talkin\u2019 rodeo we must be \"\"<\/a>talkin\u2019 the largest outdoor rodeo in the world. The Daddy of \u2018Em All\u2026Cheyenne Frontier Days!<\/strong><\/p>\n

YEEE-HAAAW!! Strap on your spurs we\u2019re in for a rip snortin\u2019, six-shootin\u2019, bronc bustin\u2019, bull riden\u2019, steer ropin\u2019, bulldoggin\u2019 thrills and chills ride!<\/p>\n

Acting on a suggestion from Frederick W. Angier, Traveling Passenger Agent of the Union Pacific Railroad, in 1897 plans for the first \u201cFrontier Day,\u201d were formulated in the Trivoli Saloon at the corner of 16th<\/sup> Street and Carey (the Saloon serves as the present day Chamber of Commerce). \u00a0On September 23, 1897, a legacy of the old west began with the first Frontier Day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Flags decorated the town and a special excursion train brought in a band and visitors. The Sun-Leader <\/em>reported on the \u201cthousands of visitors from all over the state and from Colorado and Nebraska.\u201d The first Frontier Day presented ox teams, vigilantes, and stage holdups as major parts of the presentation. The first Frontier Day parades consisted merely of cowboys racing down the street \u201cperhaps scaring women, children and dogs.\u201d The first celebration only lasted one day. It started at noon with a cannon fired by Battery A of the 76th<\/sup> Field Artillery and concluded with a Grand Ball at Keefe Hall.<\/p>\n

Bill Jones won the saddle bronc contest, and the only marring incident on the first Frontier Day was when bleachers were smashed by wild horses, which had broken loose and spectators fled for safety. The following year William F. Cody\u2019s \u201cWild West Show and Congress of Rough Riders of the World\u201d attracted an audience of 6,000 to the festivities. The event was such a success it was expanded to two days, but continued to be referred to as \u201cFrontier Day\u201d until 1910.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Frontier Day gained national attention in 1904 with the spectacular performance by black cowboy Will Pickett. Pickett, who is credited for single-handedly inventing the Bulldogging contest, observed that cowdogs would bring steers down by biting the steer on the muzzle. Thus Pickett would, \u201cattack a fiery, wild-eyed, and powerful steer, dash under the broad breast of the great brute, turn and sink his strong ivory teeth into the upper lip of the animal, and throwing his shoulder against the neck of the steer, strain and twist until the animal, with its head drawn on way under the controlling influence of those merciless teeth and its body forced another, until the brute, under the strain of slowly bending neck, quivered, trembled and the sank to the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickett\u2019s performance was reported nationally in Harper\u2019s Weekly<\/em> and he was offered a place in the Miller Bros. 101 Wild West show. He was the first black man inducted into the Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Women, though participating in rodeos since the 1880s, made their first appearance in the Frontier Day rodeo in 1904. Bertha Kaepernick gave and exhibition of bronc riding.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>By 1908, Cheyenne Frontier Day, was recognized as the premier rodeo in the United States and cowboys from all over the country came to compete. That year the citizens of Wyoming were shocked by at least two of these out of state cowboys. The Basin, Wyoming newspaper The<\/em> Big Horn County Rustler<\/em> reported, in their August 28th<\/sup> edition, \u201cfor the first time in history neither the world\u2019s champion bronc buster or steer roper was from Wyoming, also neither man was a resident of the group of states immediately surrounding Wyoming.\u201d The steer roping champion was Ikua Purdy of Hawaii.<\/p>\n

The bronc riding champion that year was Dick Stanley of Portland, Oregon. Stanley won the championship \u201cby the most splendid exhibition of horsemanship ever seen in a frontier arena…Stanley performed a feat never before accomplished by a buster, riding to finish old Steamboat and spurring the horse at every jump. Many men have ridden old Steamboat for years the undisputed worst bucker of the world, but never before did a rider spur the equine warrior and manage to remain on his back until he was subdued.\u201d<\/p>\n

After his death in 1910, it was discovered that Dick Stanley was really, Earl Carl Shobe, and he had jumped bail in Wyoming some years before on charges of murder and post office robbery.<\/p>\n

Steamboat continued to compete until John Coble sold out. He donated Steamboat to the Cheyenne Elks Lodge. In 1914, Steamboat contracted blood poisoning from a barbed wire fence and met his end. The horse was inducted into the Pro-Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.<\/p>\n

Legends, both man and beast, continued to be made at Frontier Park and cowboys from around the country enter to test their metal at the Daddy.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Basin Republican<\/em> reported in July 1909, \u201centries are still coming in for various events at Frontier and judging from the official program\u2026there will be more contests and more interesting features than ever before. Six fine band [sic] have been engaged to supply music, and in addition to the purely wild west sports, Uncle Sam\u2019s crack Ninth Cavalry will do some special stunts\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Only war could threaten the Daddy, but after World War I ended the question on the people of Cheyenne\u2019s mind was whether there would be Frontier Days. In November 1918, the Wyoming State Tribune<\/em> put their minds to ease. \u201cWith the War over, troop movements stopped, and many of the best performers who have been in the army probably out, and ready to appear again by the time the show is held, things are said to be looking up for a good Frontier celebration next summer.\u201d Trains were running under normal conditions without troop and munitions being transported, so tourists could once again travel West.<\/p>\n

One blight caused concern for the success of that year\u2019s show. Prohibition. How would being a dry state effect people\u2019s desire to come to Cheyenne \u201ca wide open town in the minds of many\u2026They come to frontier [sic] to see a wide open cow town, and when the town is no longer that, the effect on the number of people who come here for the show forms a subject of much speculation.\u201d\u00a0 They didn\u2019t speculate too long, and in July 1919 Frontier Days was held in all its pageantry to large crowds.<\/p>\n

Parades, concerts, pancake breakfasts, Indian dancers, the largest outdoor rodeo in the world, and more cowboys than you can lasso in a year, the Daddy of \u2018em All never disappoints. So put it on your bucket list, or better yet high tail it to Cheyenne this July and live the experience.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And while you\u2019re in the neighborhood mosey on over to Fort Laramie or the Wyoming Territorial Prison and Old West Park.<\/p>\n

Whatever you do, get a move on pilgrims and get your hides down to old Cheyenne!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sources<\/p>\n

\u201cBasin Republican.\u201d July 27, 1909. page 1<\/p>\n

\u201cBig Horn County Rustler.\u201d August 28, 1908. page 1<\/p>\n

\u201cWyoming State Tribune.\u201d No. 288. November 20, 1918. page 6.<\/p>\n

Wyoming Tales and Trails. http:\/\/www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com\/frontierdays.html<\/p>\n

Kirsten Lynn @ 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continuing on down the trail from the majestic Tetons, this week we\u2019re lookin\u2019 at a whole different kind of spectacle.\u00a0 Let\u2019s talk rodeo folks!! And if we\u2019re talkin\u2019 rodeo we must be talkin\u2019 the largest outdoor rodeo in the world. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-old-west-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=170"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170\/revisions\/188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}