History of the Calgary Stampede

The Calgary Stampede turns 100 this year. Here’s a look back at its history.

While there were cattle sales and even a national fair in Calgary in the first decade of the 20th century, the Stampede itself didn’t start until 1912, when Wild West performer Guy Weadick was invited by CPR livestock agent H.C. McMullen to produce a show and the pair managed to secure financial backing from the “Big Four” ranchers: George Lane, Patrick Burns, A.E. Cross and Archie Maclean.

They used the money to produce a “Frontier Days and Cowboy Championship Contest” – the very first Calgary Stampede. It was held from September 2 to 7, 1912, and was wildly popular from the outset: attracting an estimated 80,000 people to its first parade. This was no small feat considering that Calgary’s population was only about 60,000 people at the time.

Stampede competitors aimed to win prizes like saddles, $1000, and a gold belt buckle. Tom Three Persons, of the Kainai First Nation, won the Stampede’s first saddle bronc championship, riding a horse named Cyclone to a standstill.

Although the Stampede was suspended during the First World War, Weadick returned to produce the second Stampede in 1919.

He stayed with the Stampede for decades, overseeing new events like the chuckwagon races, first run in 1923. The event was called the “Rangeland Derby” and it was nicknamed the “half-mile of hell.” The races soon became the Stampede’s biggest attraction, and today teams compete for more than $1 million in prize money.

Daredevil stunts were also added to the mix as Stampede attendance continued to grow – hitting almost 260,000 by 1928. Acts such as Sonora Carver and her diving horse drew in the crowds, and Weadick produced downtown events and community activities like the pancake breakfasts that still carry on today.

The crowds thinned, however, when the Great Depression hit the province. In the early 1930s, declining attendance meant that the Stampede was forced to make cutbacks. This led to a falling out between Weadick and the Stampede Board. Weadick was fired from the festival that he had helped to create. He would return as an honoured guest at the 1952 Stampede, and died in 1953.

In 1946, Patsy Rodgers was appointed the first Stampede Queen, in a tradition that carries on to this day. Rodgers helped to give the Stampede international exposure, by travelling across the U.S. as part of singing cowboy Gene Autry’s rodeo.

By the 1950s, the Stampede was bigger than ever, and entered its “Golden Age.” Calgary’s population skyrocketed, and so did attendance. Among the many guests were celebrities and Hollywood stars, including Bing Crosby, and even Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip in 1959.

New venues and events continued to be added to the Stampede, and the festival got longer and longer. But it was not without controversy. A series of crashes in the 1980s that killed nine horses had fans, the Humane Society and even some drivers calling for changes to the chuckwagon races. The Stampede made some changes in 1987 to improve animal safety, and made further changes in 2011.

Nowadays, the Stampede is more popular than ever. It posted an all-time attendance record in 2006, with 1,262,518 people passing through the gates at Stampede Park. Many special events are planned as the Stampede celebrates 100 years as the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.