by Reid H. Brown and R. Kent Nilsson

by Reid H. Brown,

OGDEN PIONEER CHAPTER,& R. Kent Nilsson

Ogden had long been a livestock center of the West. Rail lines brought livestock from the outlying ranches in Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana to the stockyards of “Junction City,” where the lines converged. Cattlemen stayed in Ogden to shop and re-supply. It was home to the Utah Tailoring Mills, a retail establishment regionally noted for outfitting the incoming cowboys with the latest and finest in Western attire. In the 1930s, the local economy was built on stockyards, meat packing plants, and agriculture.

Ogden Pioneer Days Celebration was first conceived and orchestrated by Ogden’s colorful “Cowboy Mayor,” Harman W. Peery, as a means to alleviate his hometown from the dire conditions of the Great Depression.

The Ogden Rodeo, touted by the Standard Examiner as “The Fastest Rodeo Ever Given in State,” was the first event of its kind in Utah. The three-day rodeo was first hosted in the new Ogden Stadium—a community facility just dedicated by B. H. Roberts in 1932. Boasting an “Array of Best Talent Ever Shown in the West,” the rodeo treated its patrons to a show of “bucking horses, bulldogging steers, the wildest cows ever milked, wild buffalo and the finest calves.” Unusual looking livestock such as Texas Longhorn steers and shaggy Scotch Highland cattle were imported from the high plains of Montana to add to the spectacle.

That first Pioneer Days Celebration program in 1934 also included ball games, an air circus, a pioneer pageant, dances in the famous Ogden ballrooms and two parades. Governor Henry H. Blood, Senator William King, LDS church president Heber J. Grant, mayors, and railroad officials delivered patriotic addresses in the city park.

Within a few years, tourists and spectators were arriving from all the surrounding states and even from foreign countries. The celebration expanded from three days to a six-day event that included trick riding, roping, music and the daring rodeo clowns. The celebration drew famous performers that included Abbott and Costello; Gene Autry and Coco; Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Trigger, and Monty Montana (Hollywood actor, stunt man, and famous roper and trick rider). Throughout the decades, the Ogden Rodeo showcased homegrown talent and celebrities. Its first was fourteen-year-old Lorraine Donaldson, who was selected by Mayor Peery to become “the Whoopee Girl,” an official representative of the Ogden Pioneer Days Celebration. Her image as a pretty cowgirl with a lasso twirling around her ultimately became a world-recognized icon of the rodeo and Ogden.

Other local talent included Alan Warren (from North Ogden), a renowned horse trainer who delighted the crowd with his wide variety of riding and roping skills. Ronald and Ginger Brown and sons (North Ogden) become famous throughout the U. S. and Canada for their Roman riding shows, a style of horsemanship where the rider stands atop a pair of horses, with one foot on the back of each horse. A long list of local rodeo stars had their beginnings in the Ogden rodeo.

Another source of hometown pride has been the Weber County Mounted Posse. The Mounted Posse was founded in 1942 to assist the sherriff’s office in their search and rescue efforts in the rugged and remote areas of Weber County. The smartly uniformed group has always been distinguished by its beautiful mounts, matched for color, size and speed, and outfitted in handsome saddles and horse blankets. Since its inception, the Mounted Posse has participated in the rodeo and parade.

The lasting success of the Ogden Pioneer Days Celebration is a tribute to its creator, Mayor Peery, and has provided a proud Western heritage shared by generations.

References: Standard Examiner; R. W. Sadler; R. C. Roberts, et al.; Weber County History, Weber County Commission, 2000; R. C. Roberts; R. W. Sadler, et al.; Windson Publications, 1988.

Interviews: Roseanne King, daughter of Harman Peery; Robert Harry King, grandson of Harman Peery; Ronald and Ginger Brown; Jane Chugg Renstrom; Wynn R. Covieo, executive director, Ogden Pioneer Days.