We have old family movies (as I am sure many others do) of rodeos with large, large crowds and the only arena was the circle of cars. Rodeo is and has been a big part of our lives in this state of South Dakota. Ed Duffy, Fort Pierre, had told me that Fort Pierre had had a Fourth of July Celebration for almost 200 years and it usually included some type of rodeo. Anyone else I have talked to on this issue feels that is the way it has happened. We do know that Fort Pierre is the only town that has had a rodeo every year since the SDRA was founded and will be looking at a 50-year anniversary of their SDRA Rodeo in the near future! Fort Pierre hosted the first SDRA Finals in 1956 and the finals again in 1957,1960, 1962. 1965, 1986 and 1987.

In reading the newspaper accounts of the life of Tipperary, the famous Harding County bucking horse, there were many rodeos in South Dakota from about 1916 through the 20's featuring Tipperary along with the other rodeo events. The amazing thing was the number of people that attended these rodeos. It was nothing to have 2000 to 3000 people in a little town like Camp Crook. They came by buggy, wagon, auto and many on the trains. I read accounts of these rodeos being held at Camp Crook, Belle Fourche, Buffalo, White River, Interior, Forestburg, McLaughlin, Timber Lake, Lemmon and Buffalo Gap, to name a few. It was noted that it was a time in history when a 13-year-old, thousand-pound horse from Harding County and a thirty-one year old cowboy from Cheyenne, WY drew 16,000 spectators at Belle Fourche, SD in 1918.

Timber Lake has a lot of rodeo history. Their celebration has always been called the "Days of1910" and the first celebration was held in 1911. There was a bucking bronc contest with the 1915 celebration. In 1919 World War I was over and they had C.H. Wilson bring his famous bucking horse string, including Tipperary. The rodeo included the bucking contest, steer wrestling, cowboy and cowgirl horses races, wild horse race, roping, wild cow milking, bareback and steer riding, and, of course, the trick riding and trick roping that was so popular at that time. Wilson again furnished the stock in 1923 and 1924 at the Days of 1910. There were not many celebrations held in the early thirties due to the drought. The late thirties and early forties saw more arenas with chutes for bucking stock and a roping box. Cows and big steers were added to the riding events and there was calf roping. Casey Tibbs rode in Timber Lake's Days of 1910 in 1944 &, 1945. Bud Annis bucked his horses for the last time at the 1956 Timber Lake Rodeo. A group of men became especially interested in promoting rodeo in the late 60's and early 70's and made huge improvements to the arena, including lights. The Timber Lake Rodeo Association was formed in 1971, and they have been having the rodeos since that time. The "Days of 1910" celebration is always held the last full weekend of July.

We always think of rodeos in the western part of South Dakota, but, especially in earlier years, there were many rodeos in eastern South Dakota. The Bill Maher Diamond M Rodeos put on rodeos from 1928 through 1955 across this region. Some of these rodeos included Coleman, Cottonwood Lake (south of Redfield), Lake Kampeska, Mitchell, Ruskin Park at Forestburg, Hitchcock, Huron in 1939, 49 and 51, Aberdeen, Days of '81 in Pierre in 1944 and 1945, Faulkton in 1947, Redfield in 1947 and 1948, Kimball in 1952 and 1955. Fred Weisner, Gann Valley, helped put on the last rodeo of his career at Kimball. Bill was known for the clown acts, trick riders (including his daughters, Donna and Delores Melvin), and other top acts at these rodeos. They also bucked buffalo from the Ed Sutton Ranch at Onida in their rodeos. Weisner Brothers of Gann Valley started producing rodeos on their ranch in 1940. They started out with 30 bucking horses and 20 brahma cattle had Texas Longhoms for dogging cattle. They put on rodeos at Storia, Madison, Howard, Mitchell (twice) Kimball (twice) and Plankinton. The gate admission started at 24 cents and eventually moved up to $1.25. I have noted this range of prices in rodeos from the 1916 era also. As with most contractors of the day, there was not any money made but they enjoyed the fun and excitement of producing the rodeos. You can still note the location of this old Weisner Ranch Arena out in the middle of a pasture on the John Knippling Ranch. Stock was trailed to most rodeos held in these years.
Art Cowan of Highmore produced many, many rodeos in this time frame, also. His first rodeo at the Cowan ranch was in 1947 and Seneca, Watertown, Winner, Chamberlain, Kimball, Fort Pierre and Pierre. There were 7 SDRA approved rodeos in 1955. Art had the stock for the Highmore Rodeo and he and Erv Korkow together produced Watertown, Miller and had stock at the Blunt Rodeo that year. Willie remembers that the Harrold rodeos were in the early they continued until 1963. Many of the rodeos in the early years did not have an arena, bucking chutes or roping boxes. When they did get bucking chutes, they opened 2 chutes together to hold the calf, and the horse was parked beside the chute gate. The Highmore Rodeo at the Cowan Ranch was one of the SDARA approved rodeos in 1955, the first year of our association. Art Cowan would tear down his bucking chutes (with a lot of man power) and haul them to rodeos he was producing. Over the years. Art produced rodeos in Ree Heights, Miller, Blunt, Harrold, Fort Thompson, Cottonwood Lake, Seneca, Watertown, Winner, Chamberlain, Kimball, Fort Pierre, and Pierre. There were 7 SDRA approved rodeos in 1955. Art had the stock for Highmore Rodeo and he and Erv Korkow together produced Watertown, Miller and had stock at the Blunt Rodeo that year. Willie remembers that the Harrold rodeos were the early fifties in the time that Jack Alexander and Lyle Ebert were riding there. Cowans had put on rodeos on the north edge of Miller but the one in 1955 was south of Miller and was co-produced with Erv. Dutch Meeks and Judd Henriechs were the committee heading up the Watertown Rodeo, and Erv and Art put on the first rodeo held at Derby Downs in Watertown in 1955. Ben Bruine produced rodeos through eastern South Dakota for a long period of time. He was having rodeos in Parkston, Huron and many other locations until the late fifties and early sixties. Most generally, all of the top-caliber cowboys in South Dakota were present at these. Parkston was one of the rodeos that did not have a calf chute and used two bronc chute gates to hold the calf. The wild cow milking was a popular event at this rodeo.

The Faith Stock Show and Rodeo is a very historical rodeo and, although they were not SDRA approved in 1955, they have been a constant presence since that time and hosted the SDRA Finals in 1961 and 1981 - 1985. The first rodeo was held on the Fourth of July in 1910, the year the town began. In 1913, the Faith Fair and Rodeo Association was formed but emphasis was on the fair. The 1928 and 1929 fair and rodeo were exceptional events. Chet Dayton, MT, won first money in the rodeo and a Duhamel Saddle in 1928. Four thousand people attended this event the second day and 3000 people the third day. Elmer Hepler, New Mexico won first prize money and a Duhamael saddle in 1929 and the crowds were so large they were on top of the grandstand, on fences, etc. There were cars there from all over South Dakota plus 10 other states. What we would not give for those crowds at our South Dakota Rodeos today!! There were a few years in the mid-thirties that a rodeo was not held. Eddie Bachman furnished the stock from 1939 through 1950. An interesting note in the published rodeo results for 1942 was: CALF ROPING—calves too fast, none caught. The 1946 rodeo featured $100 prize money in the bareback and saddle bronc, and $50 in the calf roping, wild horse race and wild cow milking. Bud Cooper was the stock contractor in 1950 and 1951, with the 1952 show being R.C.A. approved, with most events carrying a $200 purse, with the exception of the bull dogging at $100 purse. Eddie Bachman (West River Rodeo Company) was the contractor again in 1953-1955. Familiar SDRA names began to show up in these years such as Bud & Kenny Day, Jack Young, Pete Carmichael, Pete Longbrake to name a few. The contractor for the 1956-1958 rodeos was Bud Cooper and the rodeo was again R.C.A. approved. The Faith Rodeo was a year of "firsts" in 1959. Merrill & Nelson were the contractors, this was the first year the Faith Rodeo was SDRA-approved, they had team roping in Faith for the first time, and Babe Mansbridge sponsored the Wild Saddle Bronc ride which was a given at Faith from that time on. Merrill & Nelson remained the contractors through the 1962 rodeo. Jim Sutton was contractor in 1963 and Eddie Bachman was the contractor again for the next 2 years. Holloway Rodeo put on the Faith Rodeo 12 years between 1966 and 1982. The first barrel racing was held in Faith in 1954, the goat tying was first in 1974; Bud Day entered his first Faith Rodeo in 1946 and was entered in Faith consecutively for more than 35 years.

Even though organized rodeo was almost non-existent in Lemmon's early years, you could always count on there being some form of rodeo put on by local ranch hands and ranchers. It could have been snubbing a bronc in the middle of a small pasture or in later years using the two chutes built at the Fairgrounds arena. Charlie Wilson had Tipperary and the rest of his bucking string in Lemmon on September 19-21, 1923. Babe Mansbridge made one of the best qualified rides on Tipperary at Lemmon, riding him 22 jumps, but did not ride him to the necessary standstill. There continued to be local jackpots and get-together's in the area and in the 1960's, bareback riding, cow riding, calf roping
and team roping were added. The Boss Cowman Rodeo began in 1971, put on by Lemmon Roping Club and Holloway Rodeo furnishing the stock. The Lemmon Chamber Commerce took over the rodeo1975 and moved it to the rebuilt Old Fairgrounds. The rodeo was held in this arena for the next eighteen years. In 1993, the arena was completely rebuilt out of well pipe and sucker rod. The Holloway Rodeo Company provided stock for twenty years. Lemmon credits the Holloway Family for helping them to have the rodeo arena they have today by helping them out all those years. The 2002 Boss Cowman Rodeo will be the 32 Annual Rodeo for Lemmon. It is held every year on the second weekend of July.

Canova had an SDRA approved rodeo in 1957. I do not find much history of rodeo at Canova but do remember it was a really nice location, and it stands out in my mind, as it was the first time I saw a woman competing in the men's calf roping. Theresa Sully Humphrey had just arrived back in South Dakota from Texas and she did show them that she could rope and tie calves!!

Bison started with their SDRA rodeos again in 2001 and are planning a rodeo in August of 2002. Bison had held some jackpot rodeos in earlier years but had their first RCA rodeo in 1949 and. continued this in 1950, 1951 and 1952. Eddie Bachman put on some rodeos at Bison in the 50's including in 1959. Eddie and Babe Mansbridge put this rodeo on which was the 50th anniversary of Bison. Herb Kolb built a rodeo arena in 1962 and they had matched bronc rides there until 1968 and also started having 4-H rodeos. The Bison Rodeo Club was formed and they put on SDRA - N R CA sanctioned rodeos from 1978-1993. Holloway Rodeo was the contractor of these rodeos.

Scotland had their first rodeo in 1955 on July 4th, produced by Bob Barnes. The VFW put on this rodeo and it was PRCA approved. Their first SDRA Rodeo was in 1957 and they again held one in 1960 with stock furnished by Erv Korkow. The Scotland Rodeo Club was formed in 1965 and they held their first rodeo in 1966. They joined the SDRA in 1989 and have continued to hold SDRA Rodeos. Scotland was the SDRA Rodeo of the Year in 1995. These rodeos have been produced by Hollenbeck Rodeos.

Vivian (located south of Pierre) had rodeos in approximately 1950-51 that were put on by the American Legion, and Joe Schomer of Pierre furnished the stock. Vivian had an SDRA rodeo in 1957 and Norval Cooper and Billie Sutton furnished this stock.

Fort Thompson had so many rodeos over the years. The rodeos were originally down on the bottom and that arena is flooded now. These rodeos were put on by local contractor Louie Truman (Louie had the great "Hitler" that was seldom ridden). Cowans trailed their stock down there in 1949 and 1950. When the arena was built in Fort Thompson, Joe Waln produced some of the rodeos and Pete Longbrake has put on many rodeos there.

Chamberlain held a lot of rodeos on American Island and the crowds were tremendous. When they flooded the river, American Island was to be no more. Cowans remember putting on rodeos on top of the hill by the airport. They put on several PRCA Rodeos and converted the ball diamond into a rodeo arena for the weekend—no easy job. The Missouri Valley Horseman's Club was formed and they built the arena in the bowl in the early 60's. The SDRA Finals were held in Chamberlain from 1968 through 1980. They have been the selected site for High School Regional finals, many 4-H rodeos, and hosted SDRA rodeos in a couple recent years. Fishing and water sports are too dominant in that area to draw a rodeo crowd anymore.

Belvidere had an SDRA approved rodeo in 1957 & 1959 with Joe Waln as the contractor, Belvidere was approved again in 1961. I am sure they were approved some of the other years but I do not have records for those years. Kary's put on a rodeo in Belvidere in 1950-51 for a couple years. They used some of the Don Hight horses and had parked cars around to make a fence. The town later built a really good arena. Baxter Berry and Burrel Phipps built a good arena on the Berry Ranch in 1953 (south of Belvidere) and put on some really good rodeos there. They had some 3-7 year old Mexican steers that they would round up for the "bull riding". They sold some of these to Sutton and Korkow to use in their rodeos. Baxter had some highlander bulls that they used and Waln hauled them some, also. Berry & Phipps furnished all their own cattle for the rodeos. They felt they had some of the first team roping's at their arena. They also did some single steer roping at that time. It is noted in the SDRA minutes that team roping became an approved event in 1958.

Early Fourth of July Rodeos were held at 7 Mile Comer, west of Kadoka in the early years and moved into Kadoka in the late 40's. Denny Drury sponsored rodeos next to the cemetery in the late 1950's and 1960's and they were Labor Day Rodeos. I do find SDRA approved rodeos in 1957 and 1959, 1961, 1962. There were probably many more approved rodeos but I do not have the verification. In 1970 they started with the Buffalo Stampede Rodeo east of Kadoka and then moved the arena back to the present location.

Wall had rodeos as early as1929 and they were just snubbing the broncs up to a saddle horse and letting the cowboys mount there. Hank Lempkey, Harry Vanderkamp, Ray Schull and Charlie Romans put on these early rodeos. In about 1938, George Knapp and Ray Schull had started a bucking string and produced Wall in the early 50's. George Tivis managed the Wall rodeos in the 50's and some of the contractors were Eddie Bachman, Roth, and Glen Powers. I do know that an SDRA approved rodeo was held in Wall in 1963 and 1964 by the record books. Wall had an SDRA Rodeo again in 2001, and will be hosting one in 2002.

Four Comers Rodeo (west of Hayes) was a favorite of all cowboys and cowgirls. Their first rodeo was in 1955 and was SDRA approved. My records show they had SDRA rodeos through 1964, but I believe they had them a couple more years after that. Eddie Bachman put on their first rodeo with the help of Bud Annis. They did use Bullet Pearman's horses at some of the rodeos, also Martin Samuelson's and Dick Williams, Erv Korkow and Jim Sutton furnished stock for quite a few of the rodeos. They also had the Four Comers Roping Club and many jackpot ropings were held there over the years.
Bison started having SDRA Rodeos again in 2001 and 2002. The Bison Junior Chamber of Commerce started jackpot rodeos in the 40's and held their first RCA rodeo on June 23, 1949 and continued these through 1952. Any rodeos held after that were amateur. Eddie Bachman put on a rodeo for the 50th anniversary of Bison in 1959. The Jaycees had quit their rodeo affiliation and Herb Kolb and the Bison Community Club were putting on the rodeos at this time. Some of the contractors were Stevenson and Weekes of Carson, ND and Eddie Bachman and Babe Mansbridge. Herb Kolb built a new arena in 1962. They held matched bronc rides for seven years in the early 60's. The Bison Rodeo Club put on rodeos from 1978 through 1993 and the contractor was Holloway Rodeo for these years.

Parmalee has a sign that states they are the "Rodeo Capital of the Rosebud" and rodeos are a constant there. I find Parmalee had an SDRA-approved rodeo in 1956 & 7957, but I know there were a lot more over the years. The 1956 rodeo poster advertises a $75 purse and the stock was furnished by Waln, Whipple and Bradford. Admission was $1.25 for adults. They were having rodeos every year from the late 40's on. They formed a rodeo club in the early 90's and had rodeos for the last 8-9 years, with the stock being mainly furnished by Jim Meeks.

For at least the last 10 years, Faulkton has had one of the biggest SDRA Rodeos over the July 4th holiday. I do note that they had an SDRA-approved rodeo in 1961 also. There has been rodeo in Faulkton for a long time. Maher's had put a rodeo on in Faulkton in 1947. They started their Fourth of July rodeos in the early 70's, and, even though it was not an association -approved rodeo, not too many cowboys missed it, as it was a good one. Harlan Gunville furnished horses for some years; the other years the committee would round up Jim Sutton's horses and haul them to Faulkton to conserve on expenses. Hoss Roseland was instrumental in producing a lot of these rodeos.

The matches between the top Nebraska and South Dakota cowboys were a highlight for many years. They would alternate states and most often alternated which state was the champion. The first match was in 1959 and was held in O'Neill; the 1960 match was held in Winner; 1961 in Mullen; 1962 in Winner; the 1964 match was in Martin. An interesting note in the secretary's books is that the SDRA purchased the film of the 1960 Winner match from KPLO TV for $25.00.

The first SDRA rodeo held at Winner was in 1956 or 1957 at a set of feed yards converted into a rodeo arena behind the Country Club Motel. Erv Korkow and Jim Sutton produced the first rodeo. The rodeos were held here until the early 60's. There was usually just one rodeo per weekend in these years and they might be 2 go rounds. Contestants were not in such a big hurry to hit the road and a lot of fun was had in those years of rodeo. Different rodeos had different events to add excitement to the rodeos. The event we all remember Winner by was the Cowboy Trailer races. The vehicles and trailers were parked at one end of the arena with the horses tied to them and the cowboys were at the other end. They had to run to their trailer, unsaddle the horse, stow the gear, load the horse, get in the vehicle and make a circle of the arena ending in front of the grandstand. I am sure you get the picture - it was wild. Some cow- boys got a little "rushed" as did Tex Fulton and Pat Cowan. They were hauling "Old Blue" belonging to Willie Cowan and highly valued by him. They were circling the arena before anyone else had their horse loaded - they thought the crowd was cheering them on – but they were trying to tell them the tail gate was open and "Old Blue"had hit the ground rolling!! As Willie and I discussed recently, we thought that might have been the last trailer race in Winner and Willie exclaimed, "It was sure the last time those boys hauled my horse!"

The Winner rodeo moved to the Fairgrounds in about 1962-1963 and the Elks took over the rodeo to raise money for the crippled children. George B. German (from WNAX) was rather a fixture at the Winner and Fairfax rodeos before 1961.
Long valley Rodeo was a favorite of the cowboys and originated in the 1960's. Even though it was just a jackpot, not many missed competing there. They had the first approved rodeo in 1970 or 1971 and their date was the first part of July, just before the 4th. They would have so many entries it would take four long performances to complete the rodeo. They had 500 entries for several years – that was a lot of entries for that time. It was remarked that they paid out more money than the Deadwood Days of '76 for a couple years!! The contractors for the jackpot rodeos were Bucky Buckles, Art Noble, Jacky Steele, Hank Grooms and Don Hight. Contractors for the approved rodeos were Squeak Hollenbeck, Ray Sell, John Holloway, Joe Waln and Jim Bradford. Cowboys were anxious enough to come to this rodeo that they would hire Johnny Morris out of Montana to fly them to the rodeo; he would land in the middle of the highway and park the plane in the road ditch.

The Fairfax Rodeo was another cowboy favorite. Their rodeo was on the Fourth of July and it was always a trailer race to get from Fairfax to Fort Pierre, (the speed limits were almost non-existent then, also). This rodeo, put on by the American Legion, began July 4th, 1953. Arnold Opbroek, Billie Button and. Fred. Wolf furnished the stock. Later on it was just Sutton and Wolf furnishing the stock. This rodeo was SDRA-approved for most of its existence and had its final rodeo in 1972, with $200 added per event and $20 entry fees. Fairfax hosted the SDRA Finals in 1959. Sutton Rodeos of Agar put on the last rodeo. This rodeo was consistently one of the biggest rodeos in South Dakota and drew large crowds. There were specialty acts, music and good clowning by Dick Wolf and Billie Sutton.

Dupree was settled in 1910-1911 and there are pictures and records of 4th of July parades and rodeos held that year. Even in the 1920's rodeos, they were still using a snubbing horse in the middle of the arena to get the cowboys mounted on their broncs. A rodeo club was organized in 1948 and the rodeo arena was built west of Dupree. Rodeo stock had been furnished free by Ed Maynard, Wally Knight, Voyle Samuelson, Fred Miller, Bill Damberger and others. Now that the rodeo club was in business a stock contractor was needed and they used Eddie Bachman, Bud Annis and O'Leary Brothers from about 1938 through the 40's and 50's. Eventually the Dupree Rodeo became part of the SDRA. They built a new arena in the early 70's. They have a regional high school rodeo there each year, 4-H rodeos and, of course, the SDRA-NRCA Rodeo held in July.

Rodeos started early in the 1900's for McLaughlin and it was then called the Fair and Rodeo. The Rodeo Association organized in the late 40's and a few professional rodeos were held. They started the SDRA approvals in the late 50's and early 60's; about that same time they chose the name "Major James McLaughlin Rodeo." McLaughlin annually has their rodeo in mid-June.

Buffalo, SD saw rodeo action at their 1919 and 1920 Labor Day Celebration when Charlie Wilson brought Tipperary and his bucking string to town. Wilson had his horses in Buffalo for the celebration again in 1926 when 21 year-old Harold Ekberg drew 21 year-old Tipperary and rode him until he stopped bucking. Art Ritchie produced some of the rodeos during the 40's. In 1949, the rodeo was produced under the direction of Buss Allan and Leroy Cooper, with horses from the Frank Mitchell string. During the 1950's the Labor Day Rodeo became RCA and NCA approved and was produced by Mackey Brothers. The new arena was built in 1961 and was named the Tipperary Arena, in honor of the great bucking horse who had some of his greatest performances on this site. In the early 1960's, Jim Sutton, Jr. produced the rodeos and they became SDRA-NRCA approved. The rodeo became a jack pot rodeo in the late 60's, but, during the 70's, the Mclnerney Brothers produced the rodeos and they were once again NRCA- approved. During the 80's it became SDRA-NRCA approved as it still is today. Byrne Rodeo Company of Montana and Spearfish Rodeo furnished the 80's rodeos. Big Circle Rodeo has been the contractor in recent years.

Isabel Rodeo has a relatively short rodeo history compared to many. The Isabel , Rodeo Association Corporation was formed in 1961 and their first SDRA rodeo was that year, and they have continued with this association.

The first rodeo in White River was in 1912, and the townspeople took up a collection for some cowboys to ride broncs. In 1919, The White River Frontier Days were incorporated and improvements were steadily made from that time. The Indian community was instrumental in this fair and rodeo, which had races and exhibitions also. The Booster Club would go east to such places as Sioux Falls, Sioux City and Omaha advertising Frontier Days. The rodeo went out of business in the 30's, and was started back up by Frank Krogman from 1941-1955. The American Legion put on the rodeo in 1962 and it was SDRA approved. They moved the arena south of White River in 1963. White River continues to be one of the bigger rodeos in South Dakota.

Clearfield built a rodeo arena and held their first rodeo in 1955 and became SDRA- approved in 1956. Hollenbeck Brothers of Longpine, NE, furnished the stock. The arena sported new floodlights for the 1956 rodeo. The added money was $75 per event and entry fees were $7.50. Clearfield drew great crowds and had 2500 people at the 7th Annual Rodeo. Jack Lynass had announced this rodeo from it's beginning. Jack retired and Hadley Barrett was the announcer in 1964. A rodeo was not held in 1965, Hollenbecks dispersed the stock, and H & R Rodeo of NE was the 1967 contractor. H & S Rodeo Company provided the stock from1970 through 1991. The rodeo enjoyed its 40th anniversary in 1995. The Clearfield Rodeo Club has sold the arena, lights, bleachers etc. and does not hold rodeos anymore, as there are not people left in the community to help with the rodeo or for attendance. This rodeo had some of the largest number of contestants in a South Dakota Rodeo and will be remembered as one of the good ones!!

Interior was famous for its early rodeos. I have bills advertising the 1919 Interior Frontier Days and a 32-page program advertising August 22-23-24, 1923 as being the Fifth Annual Round-Up, sponsored by the American Legion. This program contained many ads from across South Dakota and all of the ads from Sioux City, IA, etc. are amazing. The rules for all contests are listed, including the Omaha Indian Dances, the Wild Horse Race, the bulldogging, calf roping, etc. The number 2 rule in the calf roping is very interesting: "Calf shall be given 50 feet start and roper shall not start until calf crosses line." Today, we hear complaints on 12 foot barriers!!. The next rule goes on to say that calf must regain his feet and be standing before roper's hands are on him. Doubleday took many pictures at the Interior Rodeos and sold them on post cards. There are some rank bronc rides, including some women riders, on these cards!! I have found an article of the spectacular celebration in August of 1920. The Milwaukee Railroad brought eastern tourists, some from as far away as Chicago, by the train-load. Gasoline for cars ran out the second day of the celebration, grocery stores and restaurants were out of food by the third day, but everyone still had a grand time. The Sunrise Charge and the Omaha Dance were standard at these celebrations. There was a $300 purse for the Cowgirl Bareback Riding and Bull Dogging, $400 purse for the Cowboy Bareback Riding. A $2000 purse was offered for the Cowboy Bucking Contest, etc. The same agenda of events was followed all 3 days of the celebration. It has always been told that Interior was the number 2 rated rodeo in the entire United States at the time of these rodeos. Interior has been SDRA-approved over the years. I find that in all of the early 1960's they were approved and there were other years also. They will be having a SDRA-approved rodeo in August of 2002

---by Karen Knippling

IF YOUR RODEO HAS BEEN omitted, it was not intentionally. There are many, many stories of South Dakota rodeo information floating around out there yet. I did not have a "clue" as to what I was getting into when I started this project and I did not even scratch the surface. There are so many people I would still like to talk to and information I would like to gather. There are more big stories (or books) out there. I would like to sincerely thank all of the people that " dug up" information for me on their rodeos. I would have not been able to put even this much together without you. 

Thank you so much!! 

Karen

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