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Practice dictation & shadowing on the daily life story: The Calgary Stampede
The Calgary Stampede
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The Calgary Stampede,
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the Wild West as we know it from Hollywood westerns did not last a long time.
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Its height was from about 1865 to 1885, for only 20 years.
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By 1885 they were railways across the plains.
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Fences had been built around farms and ranches, and lawmen were on the lookout for any troublemakers.
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Not only that, but by 1885 nearly all the Buffalo had been killed and most of the Indians were on reservations.
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Still, the Wild West had captured the imagination of the reading public.
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A former Buffalo hunter and Indian scout, Buffalo Bill Cody decided to take advantage of his fame as a cowboy.
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In 1883, he organized Buffalo Bills Wild West show and toured North America and Europe.
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Alberta, Canada had been the last part of the Old West to be settled, but by 1912 ranching was being replaced by farming.
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The city of Calgary was itself becoming a commercial and industrial center.
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Old timers look back fondly to the old days of Cowboys and Indians.
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In 1908, the Miller Brothers Wild West Show visited Calgary.
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One of the Cowboys, Guy Weedick, talked to local businessmen about putting on a rodeo and the Wild West Show.
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Eventually, for Calgary, businessmen put up $25,000 each to finance the event.
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Weedick was a good organizer.
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He advertised all over the US and the Canadian W for Cowboys and rodeo riders to come, and with $25,000 in prize money, people came from as far away as Mexico.
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Weedick was able to persuade the Canadian government to let large numbers of Indians leave their reservations to attend.
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In fact, the Indians were a big part of the program.
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The main rodeo events were Bronco riding, ******** riding, women's Bronco riding, steer roping and bulldogging.
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These events were based on things that working Cowboys actually did, but to make them harder, special bucking horses were brought in.
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One horse named Cyclone had never been ridden long by anyone.
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He had thrown 127 riders in a row.
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Most of the rodeo Cowboys came from the United States, from Wyoming, Oregon, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Arizona.
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But there were also Canadian Cowboys and some Canadian Indians competing.
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Queen Victoria's son, the Duke of Cannat, was the Grand Marshall.
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Many Cowboys rode well, but no one could stay on Cyclone.
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On the 6th and final day, the grounds were muddy from rain and the horses kept slipping.
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Cyclone escaped from his handlers and ran around the track for his last Bronco riding contest.
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Cyclone's rider would be Tom, Three Persons.
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Three persons was a blood Indian from southern Alberta.
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When three persons got on Cyclone, the horse would rear up and plunge its head down and to throw the rider.
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Cyclone acted as though it would topple over backwards.
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But three persons hung on.
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Then it hurled itself forward with its head almost touching the ground.
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After a wild ride of several minutes, Cyclone began to tire.
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The judges declared Tom Three Persons, the winner of the Bucking Bronco event.
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Three Persons was the only Canadian to win a major event at that first Calgary Stampede in 1912.
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Today, the Calgary Stampede continues to be the largest rodeo and Wild West show in North America.
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It has many new events and attractions and still attracts the best rodeo riders from all over North America.