Prescott cowboys up for 120th rodeo

On July 4, 1888, one of the most enduring customs of Western American culture was born at Prescott, Ariz., when boosters and buckaroos teamed up to establish what is now known as "The World's Oldest Rodeo."

The 120th version of that seminal event will be the centerpiece of a six-day rodeo week celebration in the historic town June 29-July 4, and visitors who aspire to see it are advised to make reservations early. Located near the geographic center of a famously warm state, Prescott attracts summer visitors with average daily temperatures in the 70s and an average daily high of only 88 degrees, even in July.

Other locations can claim earlier cowboy contests, but it was at Prescott that the custom took deep root and flourished into its second century, establishing the arena where a good part of the cowboy mystique was first displayed and refined. Rodeo historians acknowledge that range cowboys themselves originated informal competitions whenever the course of cattle-raising required gathering a large number of animals. But it was a group of merchants and other businessmen who formed a committee to formalize the event; that group included Buckey O'Neill, who later became an officer in Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders and was killed in the assault on San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War. Another member was Morris Goldwater, future mayor of Prescott and uncle of the late Senator Barry Goldwater.

Main events in that first rodeo included riding broncos, roping and tying steers, and racing cow ponies. Today, of course, the rodeo offers all the standard events sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, from steer wrestling to women's barrel racing. Speciality acts will include Tommy Lucia & Whiplash; Lucia is a celebrated animal trainer, while Whiplash is one of the oddest old cowhands on the Rio Grande -- an 18-year-old Capuchin monkey who has been riding since the age of 2. Mike Matt, who won the bullfighting competition at the 2004 Professional Bull Riders competition in Las Vegas, will appear not only as a bullfighter but as a Roman rider. That skill involves steering two running horses while standing with one foot on each, and Matt makes the horses jump over an automobile.

Rob Smets is this year's rodeo grand marshal. Nicknamed "Kamikaze," Smets holds a place in record books for winning five world champion bullfighter titles, and a place in legends rodeoing until he broke his neck -- for the third time. He'll lead the Frontier Days Parade starting at 9 a.m. June 30 in the Courthouse Plaza, under the approving gaze of Buckey O'Neill's statue. Rodeo performances are at 7:30 p.m. June 29-July 3, with performances at 1:30 p.m. on June 30 and July 1, and 3 p.m. July 4. For rodeo information and tickets, call (866) 407-6336 or visit www.worldsoldestrodeo.com.

For general information about Prescott, try (800) 266-7534 or www.visitprescott.com. The region claims much other Western history besides the oldest rodeo. Nearby Clarkdale is the embarkation point for the Verde Canyon Railroad, a restored line that travels scenic country inhabited by bald eagles. The Smoki Museum in Prescott is noted for its collection of American Indian artifacts, and the Sharlot Hall Museum for its pioneer collections.

Prescott served as the Arizona Territorial Capital, and the home once occupied by territorial governor John C. Fremont -- the same man who first put Las Vegas on the map -- still stands there. Also still standing is much of the neighborhood immortalized by cowboy poet Gail Gardner in "The Sierry Petes," with the verse,

"Oh, they starts her in at the Kaintucky Bar,

At the head of Whisky Row,

And they winds her up at the Depot House,

Some forty drinks below."

Whiskey Row is tamer today, but still fun, particularly in rodeo week.