In 1888, the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner meticulously documented the birth of the World's Oldest Rodeo celebration.
"The patriotic demonstration of 112 years ago, when old Independence Bell sent forth its peal to herald the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, was scarcely less enthusiastic than was the demonstration yesterday of the citizens of this section, away out here on the so-called borderlines of civilization," the paper stated.
The celebration on July 4 began with a procession from Mt. Vernon Avenue to the courthouse plaza, where dignitaries gave speeches and the Fort Whipple military band performed.
Firemen's hose cart races, bicycle races, sack races, shooting matches, greased pig catching, foot races and fireworks filled the day.
A grand ball featuring a full orchestra at city hall capped off the events.
Several days of horse racing took place at the "Driving Park," which was the original site of the racing and rodeo events at what is now Forbing Park on the northwest side of town.
But the paper devoted the most space to detailing the "cowboy tournament" at the Driving Park.
Juan Leivas, a cowhand from Date Creek, was the most exciting steer roper, the paper said.
"His steer turned toward the herd at breakneck speed," the writer said. "Libas (sic) made a beautiful throw with his rope, bringing his steer to earth so suddenly that he spilled his horse over, also throwing him to the ground, but quick as a flash of lightning he was again in the saddle."
Leivas went on to win the bronco riding contest as well.
While history records the spelling of his name in different ways, The Courier is using the spelling as it appeared on his all-around cowboy medal.
In a 1934 Prescott Courier-Journal story about that first rodeo contest, Sharlot Hall described how an old cowboy saved that medal.
"Many, many years from that day when Yavapai County was gathering her gift of old silver objects to be melted down and used for the hospital fund for the aviators of the Great War, that silver medal, tarnished but still readable, was found among the collections and was rescued by "Head" Aitken of the B.B. store - one of the men who had selected it in long-past 1888.
"No one knew whence it came - only that Juan Levias (sic) was long since dead - and now the medal is his only memorial - and a moment of memory in the hearts of half a dozen persons still left of those who saw him ride that day."
By 1919, the Arizona Republican (now Republic) was heralding the arrival of Prescott Frontier Days in the "Cowboy Capital of the World." Cowboy prizes totaled $10,000 - no small sum in those days.
An East Coast writer named Rosheen Lavendar described her first Frontier Days experience in that paper.
"All I can say is this - if it gives you folks who are used to it a thrill, imagine the way it paralyzed me. Paralyzed is what I mean, with no soft pedals. It sure gives one new notions of men, as far as nerve is concerned.
"The east is pretty well tamed down," Lavendar added. "All eyes are turned westward now. It's up to you. If everyone could only see this rodeo, I don't think there'd be any worry about the red-blooded stuff going cold.
"I've got to go home tomorrow, but I'm leaving with a brand-new Stetson, my lungs full of Prescott air, and a big soft spot in my heart for Arizona."
"Slippery Gulch" was a long-standing evening destination of early Frontier Days celebrations. In 1938, the newspaper said it featured a "swell" dance floor where people danced to country swing along West Goodwin Street, a big carnival with a merry-go-round and Ferris wheel, a "tango table" with kitchen wares for the housewives to check out, and the "old games of the wild west," meaning gambling tables such as faro.
The celebration attracted major western movie stars of the day, including Tom Mix (who led the 1913 parade and competed in bull dogging and steer riding), Will Rogers, Tex Ritter, Buck Jones, Slim Pickens, Andy Devine, Ken Curtis (Festus in "Gunsmoke") and Steve McQueen, whose film "Junior Bonner" featured the 1971 festivities.
The event was "threatened with extinction" during World War II, the paper reported in 1941. But it survived, and continues today.
No better person could be in charge of keeping the tradition alive than J.C Trujillo, Prescott Frontier Days general manager and the 1981 bareback riding world champion.
"I can't remember when I wasn't going to Prescott Frontier Days on the Fourth of July," said Trujillo, who was born and raised here. "It was a way of life."
He competed in his first junior rodeo here at the age of 6, then in Prescott Frontier Days at the age of 15.
Trujillo won the Frontier Days bareback riding contest five times, more than anyone else.
Some things have changed at Frontier Days, Trujillo said. The stock is of better quality and more consistent, for one thing.
"There have always been great cowboys, but the rodeo cowboy of today is more of a professional athlete," he added. Some have never worked on a ranch.
He remembers some crazy competitions that no longer take place, such as the wild cow milking contest, but then again, the wild horse race continues.
And the prestige remains, he noted.
"Being the World's Oldest Rodeo, professional rodeo cowboys love coming to Prescott," Trujillo said. "The (prize) buckle is one of the top in the circuit."
