Cheyenne, Wyo. – Wyoming is home to the largest outdoor rodeo in the nation. Every July, thousands of athletes gather for a chance to compete at the world’s largest outdoor rodeo. Wyoming has been a state for 135 years, and Cheyenne Frontier Days celebrates 129 years.
One question we might ask is how this annual tradition came to be known as the “Daddy of ‘Em All.”
“Cheyenne Frontier Days, when it started in 1897, was put together by the people in the community and the Union Pacific Railroad, trying to drum up business during a very difficult economic time nationally,” said Michael Kassel, the Associate Director and Curator of Collections for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum.
In the late 1800s, Cheyenne residents wanted to revitalize the area. They were aware that nearby communities such as Greeley and Loveland held festivals to showcase their products and crops, attracting visitors from outside the area. According to Kassel, after some research, Cheyenne citizens decided to showcase their agricultural culture by turning it into a competition.
“They came up with a fantastic idea to give people an experience of being able to see the American West, as they had always envisioned for themselves.”
Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD) is not the oldest rodeo, but it was the first to expand beyond the confines of the rodeo.
“Cheyenne had that combination of the location of where it was, it’s heritage and history and then the ability to pull something off that no one else was thinking about at that time on such a scale all those gel together to create the Cheyenne frontier experience that made it legendary,” said Kassel.
Following the success of the first few Cheyenne Frontier Days, it set off a chain reaction of other rodeos, shaping rodeo culture into what it is today, gaining popularity and earning the infamous nickname “Daddy ‘of ‘Em All.”
“This event became so successful that it went from 4,000 people coming to see it on the first day when it was held in 1897 to the next year going to two days and over 20,000 people and it just kept getting bigger after that,” mention Kassel.
Kassel claims that CFD has no intention of slowing down.
“We are very happy that Cheyenne Frontier Days has been able to continue its legacy and its contribution to the sport of rodeo for 129 years where there’s no sign that we’re ever going to slow down.”
The first Cheyenne Frontier Days featured only a saddle bronc riding contest and a wild horse race.
