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Photo gallery: Rodeo history
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Photo gallery: Rodeo history

  • Feb 21, 2010
  • Feb 21, 2010 Updated Feb 21, 2013

A look at the history of the Tucson rodeo.

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
A photo from the Tucson Rodeo, 1963. Courtesy of the Arizona Historical Society.

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Sheriff's deputies escorted Elvis Presley to his car after a press conference at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds in June 1956. From the book "Jack Sheaffer's Tucson 1945-1965." Copyright 1996 The Arizona Daily Star Organization:PCG/Sheriff's Department; Location:Tucson Rodeo Grounds; Event:Press Conference; People: Elvis Presley 6/8/06 JACK SHEAFFER / THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR 1956 - Sheriff's deputies escort Elvis Presley to his car after a press conference at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds in June of 1956. It was his first visit to the Old Pueblo. Jack Sheaffer

Raisin' some dust

Raisin' some dust
Lady Astor crowns 1948 rodeo queen, Marian Verch Gray. Courtesy of Marian Verch Gray. ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Raisin' some dust

Raisin' some dust
15 bonnie column-p1 HANDOUT PHOTO Kenny Smith (CQ KENNY SMITH) during his early steel guitar-playing days in Tucson. (Photo courtesy of Kenny Smith family). courtesy of Kenny Smith family

Raisin' some dust

Raisin' some dust
Coed Quadrille pecedes the University of Arizona Marching Band during the Tucson Rodeo Parade downtown in 1971. Tucson Citizen file photo ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Raisin' some dust

Raisin' some dust
Neg~85779; No Title clowns professional rodoe entertainer and bullfighter Chuck Henson tunes his guitar before a performance in the arena at the Tucson Rodeo. Chuck Henson has been performing at rodoes since 1949. Photo by Joshua Trujillo. Neg.#85779. Photo taken on 2/25/2000. Copyright 1996 The Arizona Daily Star Location:Rodeo Grounds; Event:Performance; Identity:Clown; PLS:Rodeo; People: Chuck Henson 75th Annual Tucson Rodeo FEBRUARY 18, 2005 B5 Joshua Trujillo / Arizona Daily Star 2000 - Henson, like many cowboys before him, included guitar strumming among his many talents. Joshua Trujillo

Raisin' some dust

Raisin' some dust
Citizen Photo Feb. 24, 1971 Mr. and Mrs. Otto R. Eicher (in noose) were welcomed to Tucson's Fiesta de los Vaqueros in traditional western style today, as the city's Vigilantes and Barbara Bell, a rodeo princess, told them to reach for the sky on Interstate 10-and stick around for five days, courtesy of the City of Tucson and Tucson Jaycees. The Eichers, from Sandusky, Ohio, were selected at random. TUCSON CITIZEN

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
While appearing at the Tucson Rodeo in February 1957, Rex Allen, star of television's "Frontier Doctor" series, examined an 8-week-old cougar cub from the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. Dorothy Jones, Allen's teacher when he was a boy in Willcox, watched with some of her students from Davis School. JACK SHEAFFER

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Size didn't matter, as Budd Ramsey and his bulldog team won a prize for the most unusual entry in the 1950 Rodeo Parade. This photo was taken at Scott Ave. and E. 12th St. Courtesy Budd Ramsey

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
It looked like army day in this section of rodeo arena boxes as Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of World War expeditionary forces, and friends watched cowboy show. "X" at lower left indicates the place where a crazed bucking bronco later plunged its head through the fence. HANDOUT

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
A photo from the Tucson Rodeo, date unknown. Courtesy of the Arizona Historical Society

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Rodeo Parade on Congress St. Arizona Historical Society

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
A photo from the Tucson Rodeo, circa 1938, from the Henry and Albert Buehman collection. Courtesy of the Arizona Historical Society.

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Photo of the Davis Monthan Air Force Base Wives at the 1950 Tucson Rodeo Parade. ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
This is a 1940s aerial photo of the Tucson Rodeo and Pima County Fairgrounds on South Sixth Ave., (left) and East Irvington Rd. Photo is looking north with the Veterans Hospital (top middle) in the distance. Arizona Historical Society

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
The rodeo queen, Joan Moore, appeared at the 1958 opening of the new Woolworth's in downtown Tucson (at Pennington and Congress.) With the rodeo queen is Roy Miller, left, president of the Tucson Retail Trade Bureau, and Jack Bingham, right, the store's manager. JACK SHEAFFER

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Rodeo parade spectators fill the streets at Stone and Alameda in 1951. Photo by Reginald Russell, Tucson Citizen archives ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Tucson Citizen newsboys distribute newspapers at the 1951 rodeo parade. Photo by Reginald Russell, Tucson Citizen archives ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
The 1972 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros rodeo. Photo by Ross Humphries/Tucson Citizen 1972 ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Hopalong Cassidy holds one-year-old Jim Varon during the 1951 Tucson Rodeo Parade. Photo by Reginald Russell, Tucson Citizen archives ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Tucson Rodeo Parade heading north on Stone Avenue from Pennington St in 1949. The historic Pioneer Hotel is at upper right. Photo by Reginald Russell from Tucson Citizen files. ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Competitors for the bushiest beard of the 1971 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros. The Grand Prize winner was Joe Lowry, at right. Photo by Gary Gaynor/Tucson Citizen 1971 ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Tucson Rodeo Parade heads down South Stone Avenue in 1956. Ray Manley Photography ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Tucson Rodeo Parade winding through downtown Tucson in 1956. Street a bottom is Pennington. At left is 6th Ave, just north of the railroad tracks. Ray Manley photography. ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson rodeo history

Tucson rodeo history
Dick Pttman hangs on during bronc riding at the Tucson Rodeo in 1971. Photo by Manuel Miera/Tucson Citizen 1971 ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Related to this collection

Bonnie Henry: Raisin' some dust

Bonnie Henry: Raisin' some dust

Baseball teams and golf tournaments may come and go, but the rodeo and its attendant hoopla still ride tall in the saddle here in Tucson.

Greg Hansen: Parsons still gets a kick from rodeo, even after four decades

Greg Hansen: Parsons still gets a kick from rodeo, even after four decades

In a rodeo that has 689 contestants, 19 of them named Cody and others named Whip, Straws and Stormy, it's easy to overlook a guy on a horse we…

Feels so wrong: Longest no-motor parade not ours

Feels so wrong: Longest no-motor parade not ours

Herb Wagner, spokesman for the 85th annual La Fiesta de los Vaqueros parade, said the parade accompanying the Sri Lanka festival Esala Perahera - held annually in July or August - is the world's largest and longest-running non-mechanized procession. Thus, Tucson's rodeo parade, which for years billed itself as the world's largest, non-motorized procession may be just the largest in the United States.

Wannabe riders say this beauty is a beast

Wannabe riders say this beauty is a beast

The biggest star in La Fiesta de los Vaqueros is a stunning blonde - with four hooves, horns and a snot problem. Little Lightning has drawn 26 riders since 2008. Twenty-six times, the bull has bucked them off.

Little Lightning strikes out another rider

Little Lightning strikes out another rider

Ardie Maier entered Sunday's La Fiesta de los Vaqueros final as the nation's hottest bull rider. In 5.8 brutal and muddy seconds he was rendered a statistic.

Photos: 2012 Tucson Rodeo Parade

Photos: 2012 Tucson Rodeo Parade

The world's longest non-motorized parade, part of La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, marched past thousands of spectators on Park Avenue and Irvington Road.

La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros: Bail taking it easy: 'only' saddle broncs

La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros: Bail taking it easy: 'only' saddle broncs

Jesse Bail couldn't think of a good way to describe himself at the 87th Annual Fiesta de los Vaqueros. But judging from his 80-point performance in the saddle bronc riding competition Friday that put him in a tie for fourth overall, he's a pretty good cowboy.

Photos: Tucson Rodeo Parade

Photos: Tucson Rodeo Parade

Thousands lined the streets near the Tucson Rodeo Grounds to watch the 118 entries and dozens of horses in the 2013 Tucson Rodeo Parade.

Photos: Tucson Rodeo Parade

Photos: Tucson Rodeo Parade

Thousands lined the streets near the Tucson Rodeo Grounds to watch the 118 entries and dozens of horses in the 2013 Tucson Rodeo Parade.

'It's Rodeo Time in Old Tucson'

By Kenny Smith and the Westerners (Pete Peterson)

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