RODEO

If one were to record the story of rodeo the names of Arizona, Yavapai, and Prescott would inevitably be prominent in the record. Also, the writer would need to understand the history behind rodeo, and the rodeo's relationship to cattle-raising and the development of a frontier; and he would, likewise, need to know the nature and character of cowboys. A writer of note, Clifford P. Westermier, has with true understanding said: "American rodeo dramatizes (the) phenomenal development of an unknown country and the important cattle-raising industry The genius of the cowboy made this movement possible. Thus in the story of rodeo contests of America it is fitting to consider the first known public event of that kind."

"Twelve years before the turn of the century in the hills of Yavapai County in Arizona, in a frontier town by the name of Prescott the world's first active rodeo was held. On July 4, 1888 cowboys from the surrounding ranches gave as an entertainment for the people of the town an exhibition of ranch activities and cowboy sports." But, behind that first rodeo at Prescott lay Prescott's tradition of having each year a Fourth of July celebration -that annual celebration giving birth, in a roundabout way, to The Prescott Frontier Days Celebration and Rodeo noted by Mr. Westermier. The late Sharlot M. Hall, Arizona historian and poetess, relates that Prescott's first Fourth of July Celebration was held in 1864, being held when Prescott was scarcely three months old. Governor Goodwin, the first Territorial Governor, was camped under a clump of pine trees at the north end of a little plateau (where the Old Governor's Mansion-a building in only the planning stage at that early date-now stands), the Governor's flag floating from a tall young pine tree in front of his tent; the tree shorn of its branches to make a natural flagstaff, the site of which today is marked by the spot where Captain Pauline Weaver is now buried.

Weaver himself had been camped in that little grove, but the Governor's household were more folks that the old trapper could stand and he moved down closer to a beaver dam on Granite Creek-which was his reason for being in the lovely little mountain park at all.

A few steps away from the flagstaff a clear ripple of water flowed down from a spring where the West Methodist Church now stands. It was there the Governor's cooks and dishwashers got water. And on the south side another little stream flowed down a small gulch up which a street now climbs toward The Pioneers' Home. Quail and wild turkey drank at those ripples; and where the water slipped over the bank into Granite Creek, bunches of fern grew.

Already a bid had been printed in the June Arizona Miner of 1864 asking some gold-seeker to lay off long enough to cut down pine trees and build the Governor a house on the crest of the hill between the two little streams.

Now the "power behind the throne" in earliest territorial days was the young Secretary of State, a blue-eyed Irishman as gay as the morning sun on Killarney. He took time off from planning the Governor's new house long enough to decide upon and arrange the first great social occasion of the first Governor's administration; and that took real planning because he decided to entertain everybody in Northern Arizona at the biggest "Fourth of July" the region had ever seen.

In the first issue of The Miner, March 9, 1864 (issued at Chino Valley where the Executive party were then established, near Del Rio Springs), Mr. McCormick, the Territorial Secretary, had advertised for a saddle mule of sufficient dignity and sobriety to fittingly carry the right-hand man of the official family. That animal was provided for him; and during the month of June the Secretary and his mule became well known in Walker's Camp, up Granite Creek, and down to Walnut Grove, they making a round of visits to each settlement to invite everybody to come to the Fourth of July Celebration.

It was McCormick's good fortune that he could draw upon the military commissary at near-by Fort Whipple for flour, sugar, and coffee. Those were scarce, precious, and expensive items of food in that day in the Prescott area. But venison and antelope and wild turkey and duck and quail-plenty for everybody were easily acquired by contract with young Sam Miller, soon to be hired as official hunter for the settlement. There were to be beans too, and potatoes and onions-out of the rations due General Carleton-and, as for cooks, Henry Fleury, the Governor's private secretary, was, also, the best cook in the whole territory; and he had a bunch of helpers in training, having even negotiated for the best of the army cooks from Whipple.

McCormick had chosen the best part of the area for a plaza; had it cleared of timber, using the rough logs to make tables; and a particularly large smooth stump was designated "the speaker's stand."

The Fourth of July dawned. From the time of the first rays of daylight until past noon, settlers poured in for the celebration-most being on hand early. The military band furnished the music, and the Governor and the Territorial Secretary and other officials furnished the oratory. Everybody sang, led by a soldier who outsang even the Secretary, singing the well-beloved "Annie Laurie"-a song which expressed the nostalgia of many of the frontiersmen in the nearly womanless community; there being at the time only one American woman in the whole area.

Then began the games of skill, contests, races, and other events, among which there were horse races, and races between men. There were soldier-against-miner races; yokes of oxen competed against each other, pulling great logs for a prize; and, although there is no written record to prove it, we feel quite certain there were demonstrations of skill at wrestling and of marksmanship.

And there were eats and more eats until all the kettles were empty and all the guests were full-almost too full to dance upon the bit of ground cleared, smoothed, wet-down and packed hard for that purpose.

That was Prescott's first "Fourth of July"; watched and participated in (to a degree) by Yavapai Indians tame enough to live near the settlement and to be smiling, goggle-eyed spectators of the strange proceedings of the white men.

Some twenty-four years later, in 1888 the first of the now traditional rodeos was held in the pioneer settlement. That Prescott Frontier Days Celebration is the original cowboy rodeo of America, a form of entertainment which has in time taken the place of the Wild West Shows of the past: Buffalo Bill's Far Western Show and Pawnee Bill's Far Eastern Combined Shows, both of which featured real Indians and real Indian-fighters in various versions of the popular tableaux of Indians attacking the Deadwood Stage Coach.

Westermeier has said, "A rodeo at Prescott, Arizona has gained national fame because it is the oldest rodeo in existence . . .

"The details of the (first) contest have been obscured by time but one important record is left in the form of a trophy. It is a plaque with an inscription stating the individual honors were won by Juan Leyvas. This relic and a few remaining pioneers are all that are left of this important occasion. However on the Fourth of July, Prescott, Arizona still stages a contest as the annual entertainment for the people of the city . . ."

But Frank Guyberg, a rancher, philosopher, and man-of-letters, residing at Cornville, about thirty-five miles from Prescott, has commented facetiously (in his own inimitable style) upon Prescott's well-documented claim to have held the first rodeo, saying: "I guess the origin of the show business in Prescott is lost in the dusty records of time. But it is probably true that the First Frontier Days was originated shortly after Columbus landed somewhere west of Gurley Street.* Of course I know there are various and different theories about where the Ole Boy landed but certainly none of them hold in Arizona or, you might say, west of Albuquerque. Columbus was a great showman himself and probably had visions-could see the potential richness of the region-and, in his exuberance, staged the first rodeo in America. What with the long sea voyage, you can understand this...

Whether or not all concede that Prescott had the first rodeo in America, many living today do report with conviction that it was there they saw, through the years, some of the best shows of that kind.

One such show and contest might have been on that particularly dusty, hot Fourth of July in the early years of 1900, when at daylight the big fire-crackers commenced to boom and the sprinkler wagons were out early to lay the dust in the streets around the Plaza. Delivery wagons drawn by sleek-coated teams hurried here and there, racketing along the streets, making deliveries early so that everyone might attend the celebration at The Fairgrounds that afternoon. Nearly all the store-fronts were covered with red-white-and-blue bunting, and even at an early hour the wheels of the bicycles and buggies that one saw everywhere at the time had begun to line the main streets.

Some of the establishments profiting from the celebrations of that day were "Ruffner's Stables," "The O.K. Corral," "J. 1. Gardner's Store," "The Owl Drug and Candy Company" (called "Shumates"), "Biles and Lockhart" (a men's clothing store), "Brisley Drugs." These are gone now with time, but are replaced by enterprises whose owners are equally glad to welcome all Yavapai County, the State of Arizona, and The World to their annual Fourth of July Celebration.

At that early celebration we describe, Sheriff George Ruffner had but recently captured the famous train robber, Parker, and brought him back from Diamond Creek.* Parker had broken out of the Prescott jail, killing a man on the way out as he made his way to Ruffner's Stables, took one of the best horses there and raced out of town -to be re-captured at Tuba City and returned by Sheriff Ruffner. It was of this the ranchers, cowboys, farmers, miners, and townspeople conversed as they stood on the street or drank in bars waiting for The Big Parade. That same George Ruffner was one of the officials of the show that afternoon.

The small wooden grandstand accommodated the crowd because many preferred to sit in their buggies and surreys, or "roost" on the board fence; some climbed up into the pine trees and on the points of rocks nearby, so doing not only to gain a good view of the proceedings, but, also, to avoid paying the $1.00 gate fee.

up into the pine trees and on the points of rocks nearby, so doing not only to gain a good view of the proceedings, but, also, to avoid paying the $1.00 gate fee.

The single steer-roping was first on the program of cowboy sports. They were tying four and five year-old steers, giving them a one-hundred-foot start in the wide open infield, without chutes or fences to lane them out. The contestants were good hands from the ranches, and for them to go out there and rope and tie one of those steers was just what they did nearly every day on their own ranges. Some of the ropers that day were the two Rudy boys: Joe and Al Rudy; Oscar Roberts; Bert and Buck Johnson; Dave Berry; The Carter Boys: Grant, Charley, and Jim Carter; Walter Cline; Joe Bassett; Frank Condron; the Dickson boys: Joe and Van-all top hands on the range.

Walter Cline made an awkward catch and broke his steer's leg; and before the show was over the Indians had skinned, cut up, and carried away the whole steer.

Jim Carter won the steer-roping, his time being just thirty-eight seconds, riding a roan horse of the Carters' that was one of the best in the county for that kind of work. Jim had unhooked him from the buggy and saddled him up when he got ready to rope.* In the bronc riding, the contestants brought their own bucking horses, and they were blinded (with blindfolds) eared down, and saddled in the open arena. Most of the riders' names have been forgotten except that of Joe Bassett (we've all heard what a great rider he used to be); and that of the winner of the bronc riding, who, on that particular afternoon, was Frank Condron from the Walnut Grove country. He happened to be the last rider and he realized that something had to be done or he couldn't win, because there had been ahead of him that day some wonderful bucking horses riden with science, skill, and showmanship. He sensed that the grandstand had about made up its mind to give Joe Bassett the honors. So, to show what a rider he was and to make a dramatic play for the judges' attention, he told the help-

ers, after mounting, to strip bridle, halter, and all from the horse's head; and he rode with both hands free, spurring all the way while the horse, a great bucker of that day, did everything he could, but with Condron on his back, sunfishing him right into first money.

After that there was a half-mile horse race open to horses used in the steer roping. Only two horses ran, a gray owned by Charlie Burke and a little brown horse owned by Jim Carter. The odds were on the gray but the little brown horse won handily with Grant Carter riding.

That evening, uptown, the celebration continued with hose racing and fireworks. "Hose racing" was men running in harness drawing a hose cart to see which team could get to a designated water hydrant first and start the play of water through the great fire hose-all part of the fun that marked those Fourth of July days when the memory of Prescott's great fire (July 14, 1900) was fresh in the minds of everyone.

And as the last skyrocket zoomed across the plaza and the sky, late that night, people turned home with the feeling in their hearts that Prescott and the ranchers and the cowboys had put on a really great show that day-thrilling, and the judging fair; and, that the town had treated its visitors like home-folks.

It would be impossible to reminisce about the earlier Fourth of July Celebrations of Prescott within the memory of most of the people of that area today, without remembering Grace Sparks, who for many years was the backbone of Prescott Frontier Days. She knew all the ins and outs of the rodeo business from beginning to end, and served as one of the official timers in the judges' stand, along with that veteran timer, Homer R. Wood. Others who helped to make the show were Clarence C. Jackson, Chairman of the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors for many years, and a successful cattleman who took part regularly in the earlier contests; Roland Mosher, Parade Marshall for many years; and C. W. "Doc" Pardee, the seasoned arena director; and many others lent their talent to make The Prescott Frontier Days Celebration and Rodeo "just a bit different."

In this vein Frank Gyberg has said, "That showman, Doc Pardee, probably landed in Prescott with the Genoese navigator and the town grew up around him."

Aficionados of the Prescott Rodeo may not all agree with Guyberg as to when Doc Pardee came to Prescott, but they certainly do remember him as one of the colorful old hands at the rodeo business. Years before the advent of the mike his booming voice at the Prescott rodeo arena carried the results of all contests to all parts of the grandstand; and he was in great demand, too, for calling the old-fashioned square dances held in the plaza each night of the annual celebration.

When a town puts on a show for sixty-seven consecutive years it becomes an intrinsic part of the town. Tradition is established-tradition which lends the show flavor and interest, as does age mellow a wine and endear one's friends, and as does likewise, use season a favorite pipe.

"Prescott is known as 'The Cowboy Capital of the World' and its contest has assumed such spectacular titles as... the 'Grand-Daddy of them All'" says Westermier, and continuing: "The contest attracts the active range cowboy and has the honor of being the oldest rodeo in existence. This Prescott Frontier Days celebration is a non-profit, civic, recreational enterprise which is held for three or four days For the cowboys, who work the year around on the ranges, the show provides an opportunity to contest and to exhibit their skill in their specialized form of work."

It should not be surprising that rodeo sports are developed to a high degree in Arizona, because, from the time of Father Eusebio Francisco Kino Arizona has been a land of cattle and horses. Domestic cattle originally from Spain were introduced by the great European Jesuit Priest into what is now Arizona in 1691. And in the vear 1700 it is recorded that there were seven hundred head more brought in, in an executive, religious, and "cowboy" cavalcade from Mexico City, all under Father Kino's personal direction; he riding horseback and in charge of all that assured the great herd's safe progress over the rugged and dangerous Camino del Diablo to what is now Arizona land. Arizona's importance as a cattle and horse state dates from the development begun by Father Kino who truthfully may be termed Arizona's First Cowboy; whose swarthy converts herded, wrangled, and ran the great spotted, horned cattle of Spain on Arizona's lush valleys, harsh deserts, and rugged chaparral when the English colonies on the Atlantic seaboard were in their infancy.

And, nowhere in Arizona do cattle and horses play a greater part in the economy than in Yavapai County, of which Prescott is the county seat. There, ranches represent a great percentage of the assessed valuation of the county and contribute an important portion of all taxes collected by the State and its subdivisions. Besides playing a vital part in the economy, the ranches and the men and women who operate them blend the colorful traditions of Western and Eastern backgrounds into a way of life that is attractive to the local residents and to visitors from all over the world.

Prescott, widely known as Arizona's first Territorial Capital (because The First Territorial Legislature did meet there) is a City of open-handed people, a community richly steeped in the history and the lore of the West; and its civic, social, and business life still retains, to a degree, a flavor of the old, pioneering days.

Many characters of the days-gone-by and some that are still prominent in the nation, today, are identified in one way or another with Prescott. Bucky O'Neill was at one time Yavapai County Sheriff, and was Mayor of Prescott at the time of his enlistment as Arizona's first volunteer to join the Rough Riders of Spanish-American War fame. He rode with Theodore Roosevelt at San Juan Hill, and there he was killed. His memory is preserved in a bronze Rough Rider in front of the Court House steps on the plaza; and that statue, the work of Solon Borglum, is considered one of the finest equestrian statues in the world.

The late Foirello La Guardia, noted as Mayor of New York, was born in Prescott at old Fort Whipple.

Some residents of Prescott recall personal acquaintance with Will Rogers, America's best-loved cowboyhumorist, because he visited Prescott often during his hey-day and he rode in the Frontier Days parade.

Harold Bell Wright, whose work as a writer has contributed toward immortalizing the West, lived on a ranch in Williamson Valley only a few miles from Prescott.

J. R. Williams, the widely noted cartoonist, ranched in the Prescott area (on Walnut Creek) and there enjoyed the life which was the inspiration of some of his best western cartoons.

John Cooper (J. T.) who discovered Traveler, a now famous horse, and who put Traveler on the racetrack at San Angelo, Texas and so laid the ground-work for his later fame as the foundation sire of the Quarter-Horse breed, spent half of his life on a ranch near Prescott and lies buried in a local cemetery.

The distinguished Arizona historian and poetess, Sharlot Hall, author of many historical sketches and of two volumes of published poems ("Cactus and Pine" and "Poems of a Ranch Woman") lived in the Prescott area of Yavapai County; and it has been truthfully said of her that it is from the land and lives of the people of that area that she "panned the gold of her poetry." Able critics have observed that Sharlot Hall's poem "TwoBits," based upon an authentic historical incident in the area of Prescott, is the finest ballad about a horse that has ever appeared in print.

Many well-known personages have visited the wide avenues of Prescott. But every year on the Fourth of July the town demonstrates that it is the working cowboy, the nameless, unsung rider of the range, who is the hero of Prescott, a truly Western city. When the first cattle of the great herd-drives from Texas and California came to Yavapai ranges, every week of the year was "Frontier Week" and the ceaseless contestants in that wider arena were hungry Indians to whom a milk cow or a work ox was easier game than antelope or deer. The methods used by those grim and wily "contestants" and the practices of the men who fought them, held the herds together, and assured the increase of the cows to their rightful owner, were perfected into skills; all of which had practical use in their day. The cattle industry, as we know it today, has come about through more than the investment of capital in cattle to be turned loose to graze: Much credit is due that skillful, hard working, hard riding, hard playing, and hard fighting man-the cowboy.

Our description is of the cowboy who believed in square shooting and square play. His vocabulary might have been limited but his logic and horse sense were adequate. He generally told the truth-except when trading horses. He wasn't the polished drawing room type of individual, but was, essentially, a product of vast, open spaces, the desert, and the mountains. He had a keen eye, a strong body, and a strong heart. And when it came to drinking he had a strong stomach. He would drink rain water out of a cow track or a wagon rut; liquor, out of what it was in. He was a glutton for punishment because his life had so taught him to endure that he faced sandstorms, blizzards, and “bad times” with the same degree of stamina and courage. He would ride anything on four legs. His rides were often long miles across deserts that quivered under a blistering sun. His rides were usually for long hours without food or drink.

To a degree, his was a land of his own imagining in which he was king of a realm of open range. And from that same imagination verse, song, stories, and some fine paintings have sprung. The beauty of sunsets, the magnificence of great clouds that sailed the limitless sky from horizon to horizon-and a daily panorama of color extending from mountain range to mountain range-firmly impressed the heart, the brain, and the soul of the rangeland wanderer; and some with simple humbleness communed with God through those gifts of scenic beauty so abundant in their environment.

Cowboys of today still pattern their ways, their dress, and in large measure, their thinking after those cowboys of Old. They were loyal to their kind-clannish, you might say; fearless, to a degree; and always dependable. Many a real gentleman rides the range and would be known by no other title than that of “a cowboy.” There are many cowboys that grew with the show business in Prescott and became noted among the greats in rodeo contests publicized all over the nation. Most of those stayed with the shows and were, in truth, rodeo hands. But one of them, Perry Henderson, rose to the pinnacle of rodeo fame; and in spite of the tempting call of distant shows, he never left the Prescott area. He is there today in the company of men who are keeping alive the pioneer tradition of America's oldest and Arizona's best cowboy contest.

Perry was born in the Middle Verde Valley. His parents were pioneers; his mother, Martha Jane Human, was the first American child born in the Verde Valley. In him we find the type of the real cowboy. He was born to the saddle, and many who cheered the events of the area at Prescott's rodeos during the years from 1926 until 1943 remember his fine horsemanship and excellent conduct in the arena, not only as a top contestant, but also as a successful arena director.

But Perry was never a professional showman. Rodeo was his hobby, but he was a rancher then as he is today, having gone into the cattle business for himself in 1922, running the Half-Box Six brand at his ranch near Dewey. He started competing in the famous Frontier Days show at Prescott in 1926. He worked at perfecting his skill until in 1935 he won the coveted award of The World Champion Bronc Rider, and claimed the gold medal set with diamonds which was at that time the most soughtafter trophy of its kind in the West.

Among the broncs he rode that year, 1935, when he won the bucking contest, were “The Crying Jew” and “C. Y. Jones.” But, of the event and all that it entailed for him, Perry says today, only, “Pshaw, I won because the other boys got bucked off.” Love of rodeo sport caused Perry to start The Dewey Rodeo, a preview during the last days of June of the world famous Frontier Days Celebration and Rodeo at Prescott, and as such he has conducted it successfully every year since its beginning in 1927 on his ranch near Dewey, Arizona.

And, of the Prescott Rodeo, today, Westermier has written: “During the celebration the cowboys take possession of the town. Besides the regular rodeo events, parades are held and other forms of entertainment provided for the visitor-if he needs entertainment other than that of watching cowboys from the entire West 'make merry' during this widely celebrated Western holiday! The Prescott show is a . . . fling with all that still remains of the Old West in the full flavor of that era.” Authors' Note: The quotations from Westermier are to be found in his book, “Man Beast and Dust: The story of Rodeo.” Much of the historical matter is based on the writing of Sharlot Hall to be found in files of the Prescott Evening Courier. Some of the referIn regard to our collaboration on the writing of this manuscript, one of us had prepared and narrated two radio scripts based on the rodeo theme and the other had prepared and narrated onea long one. It seemed advisable that the best parts of each of the three should be combined into one manuscript for this publication. So, that your Editor has done. But what is “Johnie” in the above was written at the Rafter Eleven Ranch forty miles away from where that part which is “Learah” was written on the CooperMorgan Ranch-a rather lonesome form of collaboration which has, nevertheless, resulted in a piece of writing liked by both of us.