The stage was now set and in 1912, Guy Weadick, a trick roper who had played more than his fair share of Wild West Shows, vaudeville and traveling rodeos, arrived in Calgary. Weadick was to take centre stage, and he saw Calgary as the crossroads of the Canadian west. He envisioned it as the birthplace of the biggest frontier days show the world has ever seen...hundreds of cowboys and cowgirls, thousands of natives. We'll have Mexican ropers and riders...we'll make Buffalo Bill's Wild West Extravaganza look like a side show...
Weadick was a dreamer, but a dreamer with a difference. As well as being a showman and a performer, Weadick was a promoter and organizer extraordinaire, and he had the substance to make his dream a reality. The only thing this cowboy lacked was money.
He haunted the lobby and the bar of the Alberta Hotel and told his story to anyone who would listen. Finally, a meeting was arranged with E.L. Richardson, General Manager of the Calgary Industrial Exhibition. Faced with an Exhibition that had been slowly losing steam and in need of a new spark of life, Richardson was intrigued and thought that Weadick's hair brain scheme might keep the exhibition from sinking into the red again. Weadick needed a $100,000 bankroll and Richardson assured Weadick that if responsible financial backers came along, he would recommend a rental of the Exhibition Grounds, but that would be the limit of his involvement.
As Weadick, frustrated and dispirited, returned to the Alberta Hotel, he was met by a man who had heard his story. He introduced himself as H.C. McMullen, general livestock agent for the Canadian Pacific Railway. He listened to Weadick's proposition and asked for a week to arrange a meeting between Weadick and four prominent Calgarians: George Lane, A.E. Cross, A.J. McLean and Patrick Burns. These men, who later became the Big Four, agreed to back the project to a total of $100,000 and the deal was cemented with a handshake. It would be known as The Stampede and if it proved to be as successful as Weadick expected it to be, the word Stampede would always be synonymous with Calgary. The first Stampede, held in September of 1912, was everything Weadick promised - a resounding public success. Thus the stage was set and the script written for The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.
The Stampede was still a separate entity from the Calgary Exhibition, and Richardson - still General Manager, was worried about the financial condition of the Exhibition. Finances were dwindling and at the Annual Meeting of the Board he recommended an experiment with the Stampede as an attraction - on a one-year trial basis.
Weadick was elated and went to work with a will to find something new and thrilling so the Stampede could catch a visitor's eye. His ever-active mind settled on chuckwagon racing and thus, the Rangeland Derby was born.
There are many different stories as to how the chuckwagon races began. Some old timers say Weadick got the idea from wagon races cowboys used to hold on the open range. Others say the idea came from a practice during land rushes when settlers in wagons raced to reach that certain piece of property they wanted to claim.
Weadick maintained his idea stemmed from his own experiences on range roundups and the practice of some roundup crews racing their chuckwagons and riders for the last half-mile to the nearest town and saloon after roundup. The last crew in usually stood the winners to one round of drinks.
In 1923, after a successful courtship, the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede became one and the same, making a winning combination of great rodeo excitement, proud agricultural exhibits of southern Alberta and the first chuckwagon races conducted under competitive rules.
In 1952, 40 years after he had organized that first Stampede, Guy Weadick was a special honoured guest at the Stampede, where he presented championship trophies to the victorious cowboys. It was not only a fitting tribute to this visionary cowboy, but a timely one as well. Guy Weadick's death in 1953 saddened the Calgary community and the expatriate American was laid to rest under the rolling foothills of his adopted home - a country he had come to love. The Calgary Exhibition and Stampede expanded from its traditional six days to nine days in 1967 and since 1968, Stampede guests have had 10 full days to let their hair down and enjoy the flavour of the old west.
In 1982, the Stampede introduced the Half Million Dollar Rodeo. At the time, it was the richest purse ever offered in the history of the sport. In 2004, the prize money was raised even higher to the Million Dollar Rodeo.
In October 2005, the Stampede announced there would be further changes to the rodeo format and an increase in prize money. The world's top ranked competitors will compete over 10 days for prizes totaling $1.6 million that includes the $1 million Final Showdown Sunday.
In each of the six major events, 20 of the top ranked rodeo competitors in the world will be divided into two pools, with each pool competing for four consecutive days. The top four contestants from each pool will then move to the semifinals on Showdown Sunday and the remaining six competitors from each pool will compete on Wild Card Saturday. Two winners from Saturday will then advance to the semifinals where ten competitors will battle it out for one of four positions in the Final Showdown. The winner of each event during the Showdown on the final Sunday will walk away with $100,000, double the amount of last year's payout, making it the 'world's richest ride in rodeo'. As Guy Weadick stated in 1912, The money is here, come and get it. |
©Jumpy 2008 - 2011
And then there are the Chuckwagon races!! You've never seen anything like it! Sixteen spirited horses aligned and anxious. Four determined drivers and their teams of primed outriders. 
The Rodeo is a hit with big audiences and the world's top cowboys/cowgirls. It is exciting to watch the world's best competitors and world-champion rodeo stock battle for glory and the lure of over one million dollars in prize money. The Calgary Stampede is the only regular season rodeo to offer one million dollars. The world's top professional cowboys and rodeo stock come together for unparalleled excitement!
You can enjoy the midway rides and the free entertainment: pig races, a split-rail maze, a petting farm and the Indian Village. The stampede is a great place for kids to meet farm animals, watch sheep shearing and witness a World Champion Blacksmith's Competition.
