Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede

As an historian I enjoy correcting folks who declare that the city of Medicine Hat had the first rodeo events in Alberta. Reason being, for 23 years, between 1882 and September 1st, 1905, Medicine Hat was not located in the district and future province of Alberta, but rather, in the district of Assiniboia in the North-West Territories. The real honour goes to the Town of Raymond Alberta which started their rodeo, the Raymond Rodeo, in 1902 a decade before the first Calgary Stampede.

The first Medicine Hat Exhibition took place in 1887 when several merchants and ranchers decided to hold an agriculture fair and the Medicine Hat Agricultural Society was formed. Two years later an affiliated association was founded called The Medicine Hat Turf Association and that organization organized the first horse racing in 1889 followed by Cowboy Races and Lady Rider competitions a year later. Steer roping followed and in 1908 a Bucking Horse competition was added.

The 1911 event was the most successful since inception and apart from the Cowboys and Cowgirls competing for prizes, the entertainment that year included a high wire act, a palm reader named Madam Zelda, a lady who would go into a pit with an armadillo, an act called the Hurdy-Gurdy and Crazy Horse and even Scottish Dancing by young women.

“Turn ‘er Loose” The term “Turn ‘er Loose” is an expression that is often used by cowboys or bronc riders immediately before the bucking chute is open and it is an expression that the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede has been using for over 100 years as part of their marketing campaigns. The official name of the event, incorporating Stampede was adopted in 1917 and a Stampede Committee was formed with the objective of “having the greatest Stampede in Western Canada”. In 1917 the Stampede Queen contest was also launched, twenty-nine years before the Calgary Stampede introduced their Stampede Royalty program in 1946.

The World Championship Rodeo As part of the World’s Fair in London England in 1924, A.P.

Day, the arena manager for the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede, helped organize the World Championship Rodeo held in the famed Wembley Stadium. Famed Rodeo Cowboys including Jack Furnell, brothers Art and Andy Lund, Elmer Jamieson and Dick Hutchinson along with their horses and other rodeo animals boarded a ship to England.

During the start of WWII, the Canadian government bought the grounds where the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede was held and turned it into the British Commonwealth Service Training School #34. After the war the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede Company was officially incorporated on May 8th, 1947, and the buildings that were built during the war became focal points on the Stampede grounds.

The first post war Stampede in 1947 was a financial success and apart from World Class Cowboys and Cowgirls competing, it included a big Stampede Parade, Stampede Queen Contest, midway rides and games, all things that are still part of the Medicine Hat’s Exhibition and Stampede today! Finally, I would like to share the names of five world class Canadian Cowboys from Alberta who have competed at the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede. They include Peter Knight from Crossfield, 4-time saddle bronc Champion between 1932 and 1936, Nate Waldrum from Strathmore who was the bareback champ in 1933, Carl Olson from Calgary a saddle bronc champ in 1947, and Marty Wood from Bowness, saddle bronc champ in 1958, 1964 and 1966 and Winston Bruce from Calgary the 1961 saddle bronc champion.

Pioneers Village Visitors to the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede can also explore the Pioneer Village which contains seven authentic historical buildings, including the Fire Hall that stores the horse-drawn Fire Pumper that served the Town of Irvine in the early 1900’s, the Blacksmith Shop, the 1933 McKay Creek School house, 1924 St. James church, Austin’s General Store that operated for 8 years and a replica of the Battle Creek Detachment that opened in 1890.

By Rob Lennard