The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
For folks in the Gunnison Valley, the word “continuous” is as important as that first cup of coffee in the morning.
This is home to the longest-running continuous rodeo in Colorado and one of the oldest events of its kind in the United States. This year marks the 125th consecutive Cattlemen’s Days rodeo, and that sentiment brings such great pride to the people in this community since they’ve fought to make it happen.
Cattlemen’s Days began in 1901 as a way for those in the valley to gather and celebrate their Western way of life. The dates were chosen to conduct the event just before the busy haying season. It has continued through two world wars, several other international conflicts and two pandemics. When COVID threatened the rodeo’s cancelation five years ago, community members bonded together. It occurred because a select few realized the rodeo’s impact to the folks in the valley
The show must go on, they said. Nothing had stopped Cattlemen’s Days before, and they weren’t about to let it happen in 2020. Local businessman Kevin Coblentz, who had already served as president of the volunteer-based organization two years, stepped in for another and led the charge to ensure the streak continued. He had help from several others and a proud group of residents who found the dollars to make sure there was a rodeo.
“Kevin and Brad Tutor were a huge part of that,” said Roger Johnson, a longtime Cattlemen’s Days committee member and a past president. “There were others on the committee that put in their two cents worth and fought to have that.”
That’s why the community will celebrate another milestone 125 years after the celebration began with a rodeo on Main Street. This year’s Cattlemen’s Days will take place Thursday, July 11-Saturday, July 13, at Fred Field Western Center in Gunnison, and there’s no better way to honor the event than to look at its legacy.
Johnson is a bit of a historian for Cattlemen’s Days. He was president in 2000 during the festival’s centennial celebration and helped organize a video commemorating it. He’d done his research and continues to expound upon the growth and development of Gunnison’s marquee event.
“Like everything else, it got started in the late 1800s but wasn’t officially recognized as an organized rodeo until the 1900s,” he said. “The first ones were held just across from my house on the highway here where the railroad tracks split. It featured all sorts of things, but mainly it was bronc riding and horse racing. Those two events stayed for the longest time until horse racing ended a few years ago.
“But the rodeo has been continuous even through world wars and the Korean War and the Vietnam War and everything else. We’ve always had a rodeo every year.”
Cattlemen’s Days started on the dirt streets downtown. Folks from all over made their way to town, whether by horse and buggy or horseback or any way they could make the trek. Livestock for the rodeo was driven into town from Mergelman Flats, similar to the cattle drives that paved the way for westward expansion of the United States.
“That was the only time that herd ever saw a human, so you can just imagine what that was like,” Johnson said.
There was a shindig in town, and it may be the only time some families and ranch hands would see friends annually.
From 1913-’28, the rodeo and races took place at the Colorado Normal School, now Western Colorado University. It returned to downtown for a few years before the Cattlemen’s Days committee was established in the mid-1930s. The western center that houses the annual gala was created in 1938 and has served as the home of Cattlemen’s Days since.
“We’ve had the college’s economics department do our studies for us, and Cattlemen’s Days is still the largest moneymaker of the year for the community,” Johnson said. “They’re saying tourism is taking over as the main staple for Gunnison, but a lot of tourism comes in July when we have Cattlemen’s Days. I still think it’s an extremely important part of the Gunnison community.”
The economic impact to the town is important, but there are bigger things at play. This is the community’s jubilee, its county fair. It’s the time of year for class reunions and family gatherings. Children work all year on their 4H projects to have them ready for Cattlemen’s Days. It’s the perfect setting for longtime friends to honor one another and to showcase their pride in Gunnison.
“Everything still centers off the rodeo,” Johnson said. “If you didn’t have the rodeo, none of the other things would have taken place in the style they do now.”
Johnson served on the committee for about 20 years but continued to volunteer his efforts, working on the timed-event crew until a couple years ago. He’s offered his post to the younger generation, opening opportunities for others to learn the importance of Cattlemen’s Days and what it means to serve the community.
Since joining the committee 29 years ago to his status today, Johnson has seen the development of the town’s rodeo. He’s witnessed the growth of the sport from his younger days as a rodeo cowboy originally from Minnesota to the professional athletes competing for more prize money than ever. He’s seen his hometown rodeo go from a small event to one of the top events of its size in the country.
Gunnison’s rodeo has an incredible history that has outlived generations of community servants and continues to thrive. Its foundation was laid on the dirt-and-gravel streets along Main Street and has been built into a magnificent showcase of athletic talent and a community’s fortitude to continue that legacy.
Cattlemen’s Days remains a staple in Gunnison, and it’s the perfect reflection of everything that’s right in this picturesque Rocky Mountain community.
