Knowing Nevada: 100 years of Reno Rodeo history

RENO, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — Even before the state of Nevada was ratified, the western lifestyle has been a prominent part and parcel in this region. Whether that is hauling hay bales, wrangling cattle, or even just enjoying our wild horses, each person who lives here is able to recognize this heritage.

With those components in mind, the sport of Rodeo was originated by 18th century Spanish vaqueros, who dressed in the attire we notice today: cowboy hats, button-up shirts, dusty jeans, handkerchiefs, and all.

The events we see at a rodeo were regular tasks that would take place on ranches with a little twist. This includes tie-down roping, barrel racing, mutton busting' and, even, castration.

Those events soon became the inspiration to early days of rodeo in the western frontier. So, let's talk a trip back one hundred years to when the first rodeo began in Nevada.

The year was 1919 when the city of Reno was gearing up for another successful Fourth of July parade. The first World War had ended and our boys were making their way on home. With this new sense of patriotism, the Commercial Club (the precursor to the Reno Chamber of Commerce) decided to put their heads together to create a commemorative event like any other.

This inspired the board members to make a 'carnival', of sorts, that would highlight some of the state's finest herders of cattle and pro-claimers of horsemanship. The name would be coined The Nevada Round-Up, which would bring large sums of visitors and locals alike to see these rodeo events.

It was deemed a success overnight. Within the two-day-long round-up, the 'Reno Evening Gazette' (now RGJ) exclaimed:

For an initial attempt, the rodeo was magnificent entertainment. The rodeo should be made an annual event. It should continue in the hands of volunteer citizens who have started the ball rolling so auspiciously.

(R.E.G. July 1919)

And by that exclamation, the board took the advice of the column to begin the round-up as an annual event. The board got back to work the following year and began creating committees and sub-committees to bring it all together. About fifteen years later in 1935, that would eventually become the Reno Rodeo Association (formerly the Reno Rodeo and Livestock Association), a brigade of local volunteers to give their blood, sweat, and tears into making it a phenomenal show.

As the years carried on into the second World War, 1944 was one of the only years without a successful rodeo. A rodeo would be held the year after.

The only time after that where the rodeo would seem inconceivable would be during the early 1960's when the grandstands caught on fire and burned down to dust a t the Livestock events center. Eventually, Harry Frost, one of the most notable rodeo presidents, made the effort to gather business partners to fund an new grandstand. This tenacity would keep the rodeo's momentum alive into the next half of the 20th century.

That business partnership would create a connection from community to commerce with the Reno Rodeo. As of the 21st century, the Rodeo has brought in over $52 million dollars to the local economy through sponsorship, food and services. Which is why we consider it the one of the 'wildest richest rodeos' in the west.

Through trials, 'trails', and tribulation, this centennial round-up will press onward to a new generation of Reno and rodeo goers through "The Legacy Project", a complete renovation to the Reno-Livestock Event Center that would fit the demand for the state's growing population and business economy. You can read more about this 2.5 million dollar project here.

For the next 100 years, members of the Reno Rodeo association hope it will be remembered for bringing some of the western heritage into the minds of 'new-comers' who may not know where the roots in rodeo have laid for centuries.

For tickets and more info about the Reno Rodeo, click here.

Photos in both this article and the broadcast were thanks to the Nevada Historical Society and the Guy Clifton Collection library.

Knowing Nevada is a historical heritage series that highlights some of the interesting, unknown, and known, tales about the state of Nevada. This series is researched and put together by our own native Nevadan, Miles Buergin. If you have any suggestions for our next Knowing Nevada, please e-mail him at: mjbuergin@sbgtv.com