2013 JACKSON HOLE RODEO SOUVENIR PROGRAM
OLDER
than
Jackson
6
Cowboys and businessmen have kept the state’s oldest sport alive for more than a century.
JACKSON HOLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Spectators watch a bucking bronc and rider from around the judges’ stand at a rodeo from Jackson’s early days.
By Miller N. Resor
A
t the turn of the 20th century, Jackson was not yet officially a town. In addition to Jackson, Wilson and Kelly, settlements such as Elk, Grovont, Zenith and Cheney dotted the land on either side of the Snake River, from north of Jackson Lake 50 miles or more to the southern fringes of the valley. Nevertheless, neighbors from thoughout this spread-out community would come together on holidays and special occasions for horse races and bucking contests held beneath the Grand Tetons. The 5-mile relay race was the most popular event, but half-mile, quarter-mile and Roman races — where a rider stands atop two horses — were regular contests, too. Ranchers
brought their unbroken horses for bucking competitions, and brave ranch hands took turns trying to tame the beasts. Eating, drinking, music and gambling were popular side activi-
ties at these festive gatherings. In 1911, three years before Jackson was officially incorporated, the first organized rodeo, “Jackson Hole’s Frontier Rodeo,” premiered on a
property just west of today’s Town Square. The show, put on by a mix of early Jackson businessman and cowboys, was held every Labor Day weekend continued on page 7
JACKSON HOLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Professional women rodeo competitors Rene Hapley, Fox Hastings, Rose Smith, Ruth Roach, Mabel Strickland, Prarie Rose Henderson and Dorothy Morell.