History & Culture

BY WORLD’S OLDEST RODEO’S® YVONNE GIBBS

It survived two world wars, the Texas Revolution, the U.S.Mexican war, the American Civil War, and the 2020 pandemic. In the early years of the United States, it started as a simple ranch versus ranch competition, with no chutes, gates, or time limits. As Larry Bastian wrote and Garth Brooks sang:

It’s boots and chaps

It’s cowboy hats

It’s spurs and latigo

It’s the ropes and the reins

And the joy and the pain

And they call the thing rodeo

You are witnessing the culmination of hundreds of years of skills that came to be known as rodeo, from the Spanish word rodear, to surround. It is a magnificent mixture of cultures, genders, and traditions that showcase the ultimate human and animal athletes. What we know of rodeo today most likely started with Spanish ranchers and Mexican vaqueros, whose traditions began a century earlier with the conquistadores.

Blending Anglo and Spanish cultures led to the birth of the American cowboy era in the early 1800s. The real-life skills used to break horses to ride and to catch cattle were brought from the frontier ranches into local towns. Early cowboy contests were informal events with cowboys and vaqueros testing their work skills against one another. Prescott, Arizona Territory, held the first competition on July 4, 1888; the term “rodeo” was first used there in 1924.

Our Prescott Rodeo defined much of what we know today of the sport of rodeo. Seeing the popularity of cowboy contests, a committee of local merchants planned and promoted the activities, then established the structure that is still seen today: establishing rules for competition, inviting cowboys and cowgirls to compete, charging admission, and awarding prizes. The original events included bronco riding, steer roping, and cow pony races. In 1889, the first steer riding competition was held; later this event became modern bull riding. By 1917, calf roping was added at Prescott.

Prescott Frontier Days®, Inc., is made up of people of all ages from local communities who share their time to put on events each year. There are currently over 200 active rodeo members, and during the peak period around July 4th that number increases by an additional 700 volunteers. They help with the World’s Oldest Rodeo® Cowboy Golf Tournament, the Rodeo Parade, the Happy Hearts rodeo for exceptional children, an Old Timers’ Gathering, and of course, the eight thrilling performances of the World’s Oldest Rodeo.