We don't have to depend totally on the memories of old-timers to find out what the earliest rodeos were like, because there were rodeo reporters back in those days, too. A few yellowed pages describing the excitement still exist, going back as far as July 4, 1869. The following account of a bronco busting contest was published in a sportsmen's magazine, Field & Farm, on July 8, 1889, some 20 years after the event occurred.
The prize at the contest in Deer Trail, Colorado, on Independence Day 1869 was a new suit of clothes. Of course, the anonymous writer who recorded this contest didn't call it rodeo. To him it was a riding competition between the cowboys of the Hashknife, Mill Iron and Camp Stool outfits. These men had met during a cattle drive, and had decided among themselves to have a test of strength, skill and endurance.
In addition to the suit, there may have been some money to be won, but the reporter doesn't say how much. The rules he quotes specified that the horse should be ridden "with a slick saddle, free of the roll usually tied across the back." Stirrups were not to be tied underneath the horse's belly, and spurs were banned.
According to the story, a young cowboy named Will Goff claimed he could ride anything with hair on it. A bay horse was led out, and Will proclaimed he was ready to go.
"He pulled off his coat, threw his suspenders aside, took a reef in his belt and with one bound landed on the bay's back. Swish and his felt hat whistled through the air and caught the bronco across the side of the head. The pony pitched violently for 50 yards, making about 30 revolutions a minute."
When the bay quit spinning, he started to run. Goff brought him back to the group of men shouting, "Give me my spurs and I'll make him pitch!" They gave him his spurs, and Will raked and rode the bucker until he was exhausted. That was quite a ride, but it wasn't the winning one.
Another cowboy, Drury Grogan, drew a sorrel pony bearing the Camp Stool brand. As soon as the horse was saddled and Drury was on his back, he plunged, pitched, see-sawed and kicked, but did not unseat the cowboy. Grogan's successful ride was rewarded with applause and cheers, but he was not to be the winner.
The champion of the day was an Englishman with the fancy name of Emilnie Gardenshire, a cowhand for the Mill Iron ranch. He drew a wild Hashknife bronco named Montana Blizzard.
The horses used in this contest were what the cowboys called "outlaws." They were difficult or even impossible to break to ride.
The reporter describes the contest between the Brit and the bronc with gusto. "Gardenshire, rawhide whip in hand, crawled aboard cautiously, and once firm in his seat began to larrup the horse unmercifully. A sight followed which tickled the spectators hugely. The Englishman rode hands free, plying the whip constantly."
For 15 minutes, the bronc bucked, pawed and jumped from side to side, but Gardenshire refused to be unseated. "Amid the cheers, the mighty Blizzard succumbed, and Gardenshire rode him around the circle at a gentle lope."
In addition to the suit of clothes, Gardenshire won the title "Champion Bronco Buster of the Plains."
-- Information from an article
by Ron Schaffer for the
Deer Trail Historical Society
