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that were first built when CFD moved from its original location in Pioneer Park to our current site. The steel grandstands were a vast improvement over the hand-me-down wooden grandstands that served CFD’s first ten years of visitors at the event’s original location. In those early days, beggars could not be choosers, and the Frontier Committee had to use what was on hand. For the most part, those stands were sturdy and reliable. The same could not be said for the myriad of knock-together bleachers that provided cheaper seats for guests. 1899 proved to be a bad year for CFD seating when twenty feet of the bleachers collapsed, causing a few broken bones but apparently no lawsuits. From that time on, the CFD Committee was concerned about the safety of the seating and were always looking to make improvements.

On February 29, 1908, the Frontier Committee discussed the location of that year’s celebration. They had the option to purchase the old Territorial Park from its owners. This had the advantage of being a known location, but the maintenance costs were skyrocketing, and renovations would be expensive. The other option was to move to a new location north of the city. The city owned a 640-acre lot, a portion of which could be utilized. This, too, would be expensive as brand-new facilities would have to be built. In the end, it was decided that the new location was better suited to the future needs of Cheyenne Frontier Days™ and more cost-effective.

The most obvious and biggest expense on the new park would be the construction of new grandstands. It was initially anticipated that the new facility would be made of wood, like its predecessors, and could accommodate up to 5,000 people. This structure, along with fresh amenities, was hoped to encourage yearround use as a race track and gathering place. On March 14, the plans for the new stands were revealed. Designed by Cheyenne Architect William Dubois, the stands could accommodate 4,000 people and cost no more than $10,000. The design called for a structure with two tiers. The lower tier seats would be luxuriously appointed for guests willing to pay premium seating prices. The upper deck would feature seating similar to the grandstands in the old park but be considerably higher, offering people in the top row a view of the arena and surrounding countryside fiftythree feet in the air, prompting some editors to comment that the new grandstand would look like the Eiffel Tower. The grandstand location would be placed on the west side of the arena to protect spectators from the sun and dust from the event, something many had complained about in the old park arrangement in which every seat faced south.

Under commission from the Frontier Committee, Dubois began discussions with metal fabricators and bridge companies in Denver who recommended building the new structure out of steel and concrete instead, making it absolutely fireproof for a cost of $12,000. A feature of this new stand is that it would buck tradition and be accessed by staircases at the back instead of requiring patrons to enter from the front. The CFD Committee approved the plans, with seating further reduced to 3,500, reasoning that the durability and lack of needed maintenance would more than counterbalance the cost.

The Patterson Construction Company of Denver won the contract for $12,388 and promised to construct the new edifice within ninety days. The concrete work, mostly for the stands’ flooring, was subcontracted to the Cheyenne Cement, Stone, and Brick Company with Gus Johnson as foreman.

The steel for the new stand arrived on June 25, and work commenced at a furious pace. By July 7, the frame of the structure was erected. Within a week, the only portion of the grandstand yet to be completed was the roof. In anticipation of the upcoming rodeo, the Frontier Committee implemented a novel plan reserving the best seating for patrons who were willing to pay in advance. This is the first time this practice was used at CFD. The grandstands were officially completed on August 4, two weeks prior to show time. A local man who examined the new structure described what patrons could expect:

“The grandstand is a thing of beauty as well as a tower of strength. It is built of steel and concrete and is the first to be constructed in the Rocky Mountain west. There are reserved seats, boxes, lodges, and every comfort and convenience necessary for handling a crowd.

Standing on a fine elevation above the city, from a seat on either floor, the visitor has a sweep of the grounds, the lakes, the city, and the country, and by turning half around, he may view the mountains or the military post in its garb of red….”

The demand for the new seating quickly became apparent. Prior to show time, it was reported that reservations on the first floor were entirely sold out, and the first four rows of the top floor also had to be reserved due to demand. Even so, the stands on the first day demonstrated their capacity as there were still seats available to people arriving late. For three days, the grandstand offered an unparalleled view of the historic performances by Dick Stanley on bucking saddlebroncs, Harold Brinker winning the first Frontier Days Denverto-Cheyenne Auto Race, and the iconic performance of Ikua Purdy and Archie Kauaa during the steer roping competition that stunned competitors and spectators alike. Some of the spectators in the stands were from the very first Denver Post Special that had been chartered by Frederick W. Bonfils to witness the auto race and the rest of the celebration. It was an auspicious beginning for the new facility.

Thirteen years later, at the end of the 1921 show, the Frontier Committee recognized that original stands were no longer sufficient. Eighteen thousand people had come to the show, and their experience was marred by the long lines waiting to get tickets. Ultimately five thousand people had to be turned away as there were no more available seats. Realizing that the revenue lost easily justified the expense of new stands, the Committee, unanimously backed by the Chamber of Commerce, determined to create a twentyfive-thousand-dollar expansion effort. Launched in October, the new project would be to add a duplicate of the original stand to the original structure and increase the capacity to 10,000 seats. This doubling of capacity was constructed by R. N. LaFontaine at double the original stand price at $25,000. The steel arrived on March 20, brought to the park from the railroad spur going to nearby Fort Russell. The work, this time aided by a crane, was even faster, with the framework for the expansion complete by late April and the last details finished by June 6. The 1922

Cheyenne Frontier Days™ rodeo proved so successful that the new addition was nearly paid for with the proceeds. The newly expanded grandstands were the main seating for Cheyenne Frontier Days™ for the next forty-nine years.

In 1949, a young E. O. Davis saw his first Frontier Days rodeo as part of a company party from his perch in the grandstands. As a recent arrival from Denver, he was enthralled by the event and became a volunteer in 1950. Twenty years later, he was General Chairman of the Frontier Committee. For years it had been known that seating in the park had again grown inadequate, and he was determined to do something about it. In 1970, Davis and the Frontier Days Planning Committee secured the issuing of bonds totaling a million dollars to expand the grandstands again to hold an additional 3,000 people.

Architect Robert W. Postin was hired to design and oversee the project. Taking into account the numerous advances in construction techniques since the 1920s, Postin opted to construct the extension out of heavy steel beams and pre-stressed concrete. The new addition would be built directly behind and above the existing stands. The older stands would be retained with only their roof removed and the wooden seating replaced with aluminum, and the old concrete floors replaced with new pre-fabricated concrete inserts. The new seating would continue the plane of the top floor, be slightly higher than the original deck, and could be accessed by new small staircases at the front. All of the stands would be accessed through a series of ramps built below the new extension. The whole new addition would be covered with an enormous flat-span roof supported by angled steel tube pillars. Above it all and suspended from the roof would be a new hanging booth for night show lighting and track event judging. Built by the Reiman-Wuerth Construction Company, the new grandstand was erected at a break-neck pace to be ready for the 1971 show. At its opening, the B-Stand presented a striking appearance and has become iconic throughout the rodeo world.

It is hard to grasp that this newest iteration of the west grandstand is now fifty-two years old, but some of its seats have been there for 115 years. The people who sit in the southernmost portion of the stand, which isn’t covered by the massive roof, are sitting in the oldest seats on the park. From there, our guests saw many of our early Hall of Famers make history. In front of those stands, Charlie Irwin and his family performed. Ikua Purdy won lasting accolades. Steamboat cast off all challengers. Prairie Rose Henderson, Mable Strickland, and other early cowgirls dazzled the crowds. Those seats also saw visits by presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Howard Taft. Famed Wyoming citizens like Francis E. Warren, Joseph M. Carey, and Nellie Tayloe Ross sat in those seats and enjoyed the show. So too, did other famous persons like Will Rogers, Charles Russell, Amelia Earhart, and Chester W. Nimitz. There were many hundreds of others who took time out of their lives to witness the spectacle that can still be seen here every year during Cheyenne Frontier Days™, and we are fortunate that we too can see the show from their perspective. Enjoy the view!