by Parker Anderson

The mountain town of Jerome, today a quiet, tourist-oriented hamlet, was a wild and wooly mining camp in the late 19th century thru the 1920s. A vast array of respectable and not so respectable characters congregated there. Among them a barber named Richard Cross.

Very little is known of his background, except that he hailed from Illinois. Why he ended up in Jerome is also unknown. What is known is that, while he was there, he became infatuated and/or obsessed with a woman who did not return his love.

The woman in question is identified in surviving court papers as Effie Folds, but aside from that, nothing is known about her, expect that she was apparently involved romantically with Bryon Jones, a bartender at the St. Elmo Saloon in Jerome. This was too much for Cross.

On March 13, 1897, Richard Cross murdered Byron Jones in a fit of jealous rage. He waited most of the night for Jones to leave Effie’s room, and gunned him down in the doorway around 3 a. m. After his deed was done, he fled into the mountains.

Yavapai County Sheriff George C. Ruffner issued a reward proclamation for Cross, and instantly struck a trail in pursuit of the Jerome murderer. Cross managed to elude Ruffner, and made it to the south side of Prescott, where he had the misfortune of being overpowered by a miner who recognized the murderer’s description from a dispatch in the Courier. The miner was able to hold Cross until Deputy Johnny Munds could be summoned, and Cross was lodged in the Yavapai County Jail.

The slaying case of Byron Jones was mostly open and shut, and it seemed certain that Richard Cross would be on his way to the gallows, except for fate.

Yavapai County’s representative in the Territorial Legislature, John W. Norton, pushed a bill, apparently at the behest of special interests, which legally redefined the act of murder. Exactly why it was felt this was needed is unknown, but the passage of the Norton Act left open a gaping loophole.

The Norton Act was poorly worded, and as a result, it had the following effect: Any murderer arrested before the passage of the Act, but not yet convicted, could not be charged with murder! The most such killers could be charged with was manslaughter. Reportedly as many as sixty murderers benefited from the Norton Act in Arizona, including Richard Cross, and outrage over this legal gaffe was widespread throughout the Territory.

Murder charges had to be withdrawn against Richard Cross, and in accordance with the loophole in the Norton Act, he was charged with manslaughter, which carried a much lighter sentence. Deciding not to press his luck, Cross pleaded guilty to the lesser charge, and was sentenced to ten years in Yuma Territorial Prison, the maximum sentence for manslaughter.

A note of bitter irony to this story: By happenstance, Cross was in the Yavapai County Jail at the time when outlaws James Parker, Louis C. Miller, and Cornelia Sarata made their legendary jailbreak, in which Parker gunned down Deputy District Attorney Lee Norris. This incident happened only about a month after the passage of the Norton Act, so Parker did not benefit from its loophole, and he went to the gallows in June of 1898. Richard Cross had committed his murder of Byron Jones before the Act’s passage, saving him. Literally a few weeks meant the difference between life and death for the two murderers who were in jail together.

When Louis C. Miller was brought to trial, Richard Cross was called to testify about any advance knowledge he may have had of the jailbreak. On the stand, he claimed that Parker and Miller had offered to let him go with them, but that he had declined.

During his unusually brief stay at Yuma Territorial Prison, Cross became the prison barber, the warden apparently deciding to take advance of the killer’s knowledge of the tonsorial profession. In 1903, after serving 6 1/2 years of his sentence, Richard Cross became eligible to petition the Territorial Governor for a pardon, which he received. Contrary to the image of frontier justice, pardons and paroles were surprisingly easy to obtain during this period.

On Christmas Eve, 1903, Richard Cross walked out of Yuma prison a free man. He had served 6 years for a murder that was, if anything, far more premeditated than the one that Parker was hanged for. Today, the average person believes that legal technicalities that free criminals are a fairly recent phenomenon. A story like this shows that this is not the case.

After his release from Yuma Territorial Prison, Richard Cross moved to Los Angeles, where he reportedly married. He lived quietly for several years, but he resurfaced in 1907 when he was arrested for attempted murder in the shooting of his wife. He was sentenced to two years in the California State Prison in Folsom. His whereabouts after his release from that facility are unknown.

The story of Richard Cross will be highlighted in the production of "Murder Dismissed," written by Parker Anderson and directed by Gail Mangham, and will be performed by the Sharlot Hall Museum Blue Rose Theatre August 5th, 6th, 12th, and 13th, 2005, at 7:30 p.m. and August and 14th, 2005, at 2:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $8.00 at the Sharlot Hall Museum and at the door for $10.00.

(Parker Anderson is a playwright and actor with the Sharlot Hall Museum Blue Rose Theater.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(h104pf)
Reuse only by permission.

Richard Cross escaped the fate that Jim Parker met here on the gallows in 1898 because of a loophole in the law. "Murder Dismissed" at the Sharlot Hall Museum in August will tell Cross’s story.

by Bill Lynam

Pick a clear day, bring your walking stick and gloves, a Global Positioning System (GPS) instrument, if you’ve got one, but it’s not necessary, and head up the trail at Stricklin Park from the Butte Creek trail head. The start of the trail is on Sherwood Road, just one street west on Gurley Street past The Hassayampa Village turn off. The Cowboy’s Prayer awaits you at the top of the trail.

You cross Butte Creek by jumping over it or walking a plank across a breached dam. This puts you on a right-of-way trail through the Hassayampa properties and next to Butte Creek. The trail is well marked with brown vertical trail signs at every turn. In the first part of the journey you thread your way along an easy up-and-down trail between boulders and the edge of the Hassayampa golf course. It’s a gentle climb as you pick your way between the granite boulders, the cat’s claw, juniper and manzanita sprinkled along the trail. Your path is a stone’s throw and even closer at times to the elegant homes built into the rugged terrain.

Walking at an easy pace, you should reach the swing gate that demarcates Hassayampa Village from the Prescott National Forest. The barbed-wire fence points to the Cowboy’s Prayer down into Butte Creek. But don’t go that way; stay on the trail through the gate. Not far up the path you’ll start to see cairns or small rock piles that indicate places where you can divert from the trail and head down to the creek to find the Prayer.

Look for the rock piles and listen for the waterfalls. The Prayer is located above the waterfalls but below the relatively flat stream portion above the falls. Of course the season will dictate how much water is flowing and whether you can hear the falls.

The Prayer is located in the middle of Butte Creek and can be approached over the granite boulders that line the creek when there is not too much run off. A GPS might help you locate it. My hiking companion and GPS guru, Ken Reynolds, gave us a reading of: 34° 32.144′ N, and 112 31.053 W at an elevation of 5848 feet.

Chiseled lightly into the lichen-covered granite boulder in mid-stream are the words:

"I LET MY SADDLE FALL

MY WEARY HORSE I TEND

DEAR LORD I HEAR YOU CALL

FOR I’VE REACHED THE END".

This bit of verse would be considered graffiti in the city but in the National Forest it has taken on the reverence of a prayer. However, a prayer usually addresses God entreating or imploring for something. As Al Bates noted in April 2000 in his essay on the Prayer for Sharlot Hall, "it is more of a lament, that is, a crying out or complaint." Whatever the stanzas suggest, the Prayer/Lament is an interesting destination if you like hiking.

The author of the poem is unknown as is the vintage of its chiseling, though Mr. Bates suggests, "it was done a long time ago." From his research, he thought the "old timers in the area think they remember it going back to the 1930′s or 1940′s but can’t be certain."

Mr. Bates mentions one unlikely story he heard that says it has something to do with the silent film movie star, Tom Mix, who lived and made movies in Prescott. In researching an article on Tom Mix previously published here, I would suggest Tom was too busy writing screenplays for the movies he acted in (one-and two-reeler silent films), attending to his five serial marriages, orchestrating his posse of movie cowboys, locally hiring Indians and running a herd of cattle he kept on the Bar-Circle-A ranch (which is now the Yavapai Hills). I believe he was too busy making movies for the company he worked for, Selig Polychrome, from 1912 until 1917, instead of picking up a hammer and chisel and sitting in the middle of a cold stream.

Also, the prayer is unsigned. I know Tom would never have left his work nameless. This one is perhaps worthy of un-signing. Most cowboy poets I’m familiar with do a much finer job of metrics than this example.

Still, this is a great one-half day hike and if you find the prayer, you can come to your own conclusion. You get a nice bit of exercise going to and fro and you get to discover a local enigma.

The round trip on the Butte Creek Trail is about 2.5 miles and the elevation rise from the Sherwood Road take off point, which is at an elevation of 5540 feet, is only slightly over 300 feet to the Prayer.

(Bill Lynam is an archives volunteer at the Sharlot Hall Museum.)

No photograph available.

by Lorri Carlson

When considering the history of the Chinese in Prescott, I repeatedly ask "why?" Why would so many individuals leave their families, homes and the homeland of their ancestors? Why would they leave so much behind? Why would they take such risks and face such uncertainty? Indeed, the hope of finding gold in the Western United States during the second half of the 19th century lured Easterners and Europeans in addition to the Asian population. It is my intent to understand what circumstances pushed the emigrants to leave China.

The very specific pull factor, the lure of the gold rush and the promise of improved economic opportunity, certainly contributed to China’s 19th century emigration and influenced many emigrants in choosing "Gold Mountain" as their destination. However, news of gold served as only one of the factors resulting in Chinese immigration to the United States. It is one thing to dream of wealth, but it is quite another to actually board the ship. In an attempt to better understand "why," it is imperative to examine the factors that worked to push individuals toward actually leaving China. The Opium War, the conflict between the Hakka and Punti, the Taiping Rebellion, a series of natural disasters, and the development of passage systems affected the exodus of many Chinese.

Following China’s defeat in the Opium War of 1839-1842, a series of unequal treaties disintegrated China’s traditional rural economy. Cash crops and unequal foreign trade caused many peasants to lose access to the land. As indicated by the Chinese American Data Center, "History of Chinese Americans in the United States," increasing populations of peasants were concentrated on smaller parcels of land. The very small minority of wealthy landowners, from whom the peasants rented land, excluded the poor from any opportunity to improve their conditions. Other than death, the peasants were limited to the options of revolt or emigration. The economic hardships left no margin for the devastating consequences typical of natural disasters or war. Unfortunately, China was plagued with both during the mid to late 19th century.

Him Mark Lai describes the background on the Hakka/Punti Conflict quite well. According to Him Lai, the conflict between the Hakka, which means "guest people," and the Han Chinese or Punti, "people of the earth," occurred in an area historically known as Sze Yup. Sze Yup means "four counties" and refers specifically to Xinhui, Taishan, Kaiping, and Enping along the China Coast in the Province of Guangdong. The Sze Yup became the Wuyi region in 1732 when a 5th county was formed, Heshan. Beginning in the 17th century, the Hakka people settled in Heshan and the other counties of the Wuyi Yup, having migrated from the overpopulated areas of East and Han Rivers. The Punti came to rely upon the Hakka for greatly needed field labor. Tension escalated between the Hakka immigrants and the Punti population with physical violence erupting in the early 1850′s and eventually the long bloody conflict engulfed the entire county of Taishan. The Hakkas were forced into the southeast corner of Taishan, sold to the coolie trade, or fled to southern Guangdong and Hainan until the Punti finally prevailed with the realization of a truce in 1867. Even with the truce and the brutal enforcement of peace by a renewed central government, the Punti remained on the margin of survival. The devastating conditions for both the Hakka and Punti drove many to emigrate to South-East Asia, Australia and America.

Simultaneous to the Hakka/Punti conflict, opposition to the Manchu government and the establishment manifested itself in the Taiping Rebellion, 1851-1864. In reaction to widespread impoverishment and misery, Hong Xiuquan formulated an eclectic ideology based on the ideals of Pre-Confucian Utopianism and Protestant beliefs. Thousands of followers soon organized militarily and by 1851 Hong initiated an uprising in Guizhou, the start of the Taiping Rebellion. The revolt lasted for 14 years before being crushed by the Chinese army at a cost of over 30 million lives. Again, captives were forced into the coolie trade, which often meant they were forced into being emigrant laborers.

Geography and natural disasters also contributed to the mass emigration from the Wuyi Region of China during the second half of the 19th century. The hilly landscape included only limited arable land for agriculture. The Tan and West Rivers form a delta that has provided the richest land of the region. However, deltas and floods are almost inseparable and, in 19th century Wuyi, this was certainly the case. Between 1851 and 1908, the population of the area suffered from 14 serious floods, seven typhoons, four earthquakes, two severe droughts, four epidemics and five great famines.

Finally, impoverished emigrants in particular needed the means to be able to leave their dire circumstances. The Chinese American Data Center explains the development of the passage system. Poor laborers had two basic options. Chinese middlemen organized a system whereby they advanced the cost of passage to an emigrant who then agreed to work out his debt after arrival. Most emigrants to Southeast Asia, Australia, and North America utilized this system. The other method commonly used in Peru, Cuba, and Hawaii "required the emigrants to sign contracts agreeing to serve in a foreign land for a specified time in return for passage. These arrangements were handled at the treaty ports by Chinese recruiters working for Western entrepreneurs." This system often resulted in deception or coercion of laborers going abroad only to wind up living in slave like conditions. Labor contracting in China became known as "pig selling" and transpired through notorious practices.

By 1880, over 100,000 Chinese lived in the United States. It is estimated that 80 percent of all emigrants who went to the continental United States during the 19th century came from the county of Taishan. Clan-lineage gives us some clues as to where immigrants originally lived. Immigration to the United States is predominately from the north and central parts of Taishan and along the Tan River valley in Kaiping. Members of clans tended to settle in specific areas in North America. For example, the Huang clan is predominant in San Francisco and LA, the Chen in Seattle and New York, the Kuang in Sacramento, the Mei in Chicago, and the Yu in Detroit. Kaiping immigrants, such as the Deng clan, are numerous in Phoenix, the Guan in LA, and the Zhou in Mississippi. Many Chinese laundrymen in the US were Taishan immigrants or their descendants while the Kaiping people tended to own and operate grocery stores in Arizona and the Mississippi Delta region. The Xinhui clan names include Chen, Tan Lin, Zhao, Xue, Zhong, Tang, Jiang, and Lu. Fewer immigrants came from Enping and Heshan than these other areas of the Wuyi. Some prominent Enping names are Zheng, Tang, Feng, and Wu. These clans are largely found in San Francisco and New York. Therefore, Chinese immigrants in the Yavapai County area can potentially be identified with a specific place of origin and even family occupation just by knowing their surnames.

Saying someone is American or Chinese gives very little description. The immigrants from China were individuals who came from specific communities and brought with them their own stories. They were primarily looking for a way to escape death by starvation, rebellion or disease. Dreams of Gold Mountain surely provided the degree of hope necessary for survival, even though it meant leaving all that was familiar in exchange for all that was strange. These powerful push factors help to explain why so many emigrants would leave China and come to the United States, where social hostility attended every economic opportunity they hoped for.

(Lorri Carlson is the Director of Records Management for Yavapai County.)

by Mick Woodcock

On the last day of the year 1906, Frank G. Ellis, M. D. of Annapolis, Missouri, was the subject of a letter that would forever change his life. It was a form letter, much as any U. S. government form letter sent from the Office of Indian Affairs. The printing in the body of the letter was in an attractive script. The substance of the message was typed in the blank spaces at the ends of sentences. It would send the good doctor on a rail and wagon trip to one of the more remote areas of the Arizona Territory: the Colorado River Agency.

One can only guess why Frank Ellis had applied to the Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs for employment. Little is known of his life other than his appointment letter. "Sir: You are hereby appointed, under the conditions printed hereon, to the position of physician at the Colorado River Agency, Arizona, at a salary of $1000 per annum." There is a photograph in his collection of several men standing around a cadaver on a table, but there is no indication of the school of medicine or which man is Frank, if indeed any are.

One thousand dollars per year amounts to eighty-three dollars per month and some change. One might suspect that he could have earned more money staying in Missouri and practicing medicine on the general populace. He did get on the payroll as soon as he accepted the job. "Your salary will begin when you subscribe the oath of office and enter on duty. A blank form of oath is inclosed [sic] herewith, which you may subscribe before a notary public or other officer qualified to administer oaths, and forward to this Office."

It further stated, "Please telegraph the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at once whether or not you accept this appointment." Since this was the days when telephone service was in its infancy, the telegraph was the common means of contacting a person in another city if you were in a hurry. It went on, "Should you accept, you are directed to notify the Superintendent of the Colorado River Indian School at Parker, Ariz., when you will report for duty." Apparently this could be done by letter instead of telegram.

As with any government job, it had a probationary period. "This appointment, by virtue of the civil service law, is probationary until the expiration of six months from the date of your entrance on duty. If your services are satisfactory you will then receive a permanent appointment." His service must have been satisfactory since there are photographs in his collection that feature Native Americans from tribes on the Great Plains.

Directions were given as to the three ways Dr. Ellis could get to the Agency. "The route is as follows: Railroad station, Toprock, Ariz., on the Santa Fe Pacific Railway; thence by rowboat down the Colorado River; distance, 86 miles. Also, railroad station, Needles, Cal., 60 miles by wagon over good mountain road. Also, Salome, Ariz., on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, 55 miles by wagon over good road. All routes necessitate sleeping out one night en route." One has to wonder if the person typing the letter had even a vague notion of geography since the railroad station on the Colorado River was at Topock, not the misspelled, Toprock.

General directions on how to find Parker, Arizona was about all the Office of Indian Affairs gave. On the back of the letter, under the heading, "READ THESE CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCEPTING THIS APPOINTMENT", were two paragraphs that perhaps gave the good doctor pause. "Employees are required to bear their own expenses in reaching the agency; also to provide their own furniture, fuel, and subsistence. The Indian Office has no means of securing reduced rates of transportation for employees."

If that were not enough to give one pause, other conditions were listed. "Employees at Indian agencies must understand when they accept appointment that the work will be confining, with little opportunity for recreation or social pleasure, and must be willing to work night or day if an emergency arises. No person should offer himself for appointment in the Indian Service who is encumbered with the care of children or invalids, or who is in any way hampered in giving to the Government his full time and best service." While is does not come right out and state that married people should not apply, it gives the idea that being single would be a positive thing. It also hints that you would remain in that state since "…little opportunity for recreation or social pleasure…" existed.

This was probably just as well. Looking at the attitude of the government for housing indicates a patronizing state of mind. "The Government expects to provide quarters for its employees at Indian agencies, but their assignment must be considered a courtesy rather than a privilege." What these quarters were like can only be left to speculation.

What we do know is the following, taken from the Colorado River Indian Tribe’s web site. "The Colorado River Indian Tribe’s (CRIT) Reservation is located in western Arizona at Parker, 189 miles from Phoenix. The Reservation spans the Colorado River and has land in Arizona (La Paz County) and California (San Bernardino County). The Colorado River Indian Reservation was established March 3, 1865 for the ‘Indians of said river and its tributaries’. The Indigenous people were the agricultural Mohaves and the Chemehuevis. In 1945, a portion of the Reservation was reserved for colonization by Indians of other tribes, specifically the Hopis and Navajos."

Today, Parker, Arizona is just a few miles off of Interstate 10 and the Colorado River. Dr. Ellis could fly into Phoenix, rent a car, and drive to Parker in just a few hours. However, in 1907, his train travel to his choice of jumping off points would have taken several days. Did he choose the rowboat or the wagon ride? We will never know, but which ever it was, it was a two-day trip to Parker with a night out on the desert. Good thing he was not traveling in the summer.

(Mick Woodcock is the Curator of History at Sharlot Hall Museum.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb164f56i1). Reuse only by permission.

Dr. Frank Ellis, Colorado River Agency.

by Danny Freeman

The word rodeo in Spanish means to surround or round up. In reality there have been "rodeos" or round ups in America since the Spanish people brought cattle and horses to the New World in the 1500′s. Today, however, "rodeo" to Americans means organized events of cowboy contests. In most parts of the United States and Canada rodeo is pronounced with the accent on the first syllable but in Mexico, and sometimes in California, the accent can be found on the second syllable.

In the beginning and for several years the word "rodeo" was not used for these cowboy events. These events were called tournaments, fiestas, cowboy contests and stampedes. "Rodeo" for cowboy contests was not used in Prescott until 1924.

The first formalized rodeo was held in Prescott, Arizona Territory during the 4th of July celebration in l888 and has been going ever since. That first rodeo was called a "Cowboy Tournament". It was added to the 4th of July program to entice more people to come to town to enjoy the festivities and to spend money with the merchants. There was a planning committee of merchants and professional people to organize and stage the events including the cowboy contests. Admission was charged to help pay for prizes and other expenses. That first rodeo was a success; contestants and spectators were thrilled. With that kind of encouragement the contests continued.

In l888, cowboys came from ranches throughout the country. The cowboy contests of the celebration were bronco riding, steer roping and cow horse racing. In the bronco-riding contest, the contestants were required to bring their own horses and then before the event started the judge had the cowboys change horses. Local and well-known men were the judges. The l888, bronco riding resulted in a tie between Juan Leivas from the Date Creek Ranch southwest of Prescott and Charlie Meadows, a drifting cowboy from Gila County. The next year, l889, Juan Leivas came back and won the saddle bronco-riding contest. That first year Mose Bryan of Prescott won the cow horse race.

The first steer-roping contest in l888 was won by Juan Leivas. The steer received a 100-yard head start. Juan caught and tied him in one minute and 17 seconds. For winning the steer-roping and tying and first in bronco-riding, the committee awarded Juan Leivas an inscribed silver trophy as the Citizens Award for "Best Cowboy" of the Tournament. This beautiful trophy, now 112 years old, is displayed in Prescott’s Sharlot Hall Museum for all to see.

That first rodeo was held in Forbing Park in Miller Valley in the northwest part of Prescott. The contests were then held at different locations, including the City Park (now Ken Lindley Field) on East Gurley Street and at other places. Beginning in 1913 it was held at the present rodeo grounds located just west of Miller Valley Road, and has been there every year since.

But how do we know that our rodeo is the "World’s Oldest"? In determining which rodeo was the oldest in the country, members of Prescott Frontier Days Committee did a lot of research. Their research concluded that in order to have a formalized rodeo certain criteria must be met. These were:

1. a committee to plan and stage the rodeo;

2. invite cowboys to compete;

3. charge admission;

4. give prizes and trophies;

5. have the contests documented.

The first Cowboy Tournament in Prescott in l888 met all five points mentioned above. With this information the committee applied to the U.S. Patent Office to have "World’s Oldest Rodeo" registered. The application was approved. "World’s Oldest Rodeo" and Service Mark No.l,353,477 was issued on August 6, l985.

There have been protests over the years, though. In l985 the Trivial Pursuit parlor game people came out with this on one card: "What rough-and-tumble Western sport was first formalized in Prescott, Arizona? Answer: rodeo". This brought a protest and discussion from Pecos, Texas. Newspapers at Prescott and Pecos played with the idea for a while. Pecos claimed the town on the card should have read Pecos, not Prescott. Pecos claimed that they had an earlier contest, but even some Texans agree that that contest only happened once and was not repeated again until the late 1920s before becoming a yearly event. Pecos threatened to sue if the card was not changed to benefit Pecos and Prescott threatened to sue if the card were changed.

The Trivial Pursuit people were surprised by the controversy and promised to check it out and see what could be done. After checking around, Trivial Pursuit sent Pecos and Prescott a letter stating, in effect, that after reviewing the matter, the card is correct and will remain as written. This ruling by Trivial Pursuit pleased the people of Prescott because they knew all along the Prescott’s rodeo was the oldest in the country. No further word was ever received from Pecos.

Payson, Arizona, also claimed to have the oldest rodeo, beginning in 1884. But reliable sources pointed out that those early contests in Payson were some local cowboys competing in roping. They were not organized – the cowboys just came together and roped against each other. Probably something like present-day jackpot roping. In addition, Payson has no documentation saying when its rodeo really started.

Payson also claims to be the oldest "continuous" rodeo. That might be true, but again the proof is difficult to round up for either Prescott or Payson. For two years in the 1890s nothing is found in the Prescott papers about our rodeo, but all of the "old-timers" such as Sharlot Hall, Levi Jones and H.D. Aitken were quoted in the 1930s as saying that the show was held every year – beginning in 1888. We know from local papers and records that Prescott did not close down the rodeo because of war or depression. According to the local paper, the show was held during the Spanish American War (only a few days after our hometown hero "Bucky" O’Neill had been killed in Cuba!), World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

So, it all boils down to this: Prescott can prove when its rodeo started and the others have trouble coming up with any solid proof. They go on what was passed down by word of mouth, but we can document ours.

(Danny Freeman is author of ‘World’s Oldest Rodeo 100-Year History 1888-1988′)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(rod103pk)
Reuse only by permission.

In 1888, a cowboy contest was held in Prescott and it was the first. The World’s Oldest Rodeo may have recognized its place in history by the 1930s, but was not officially acknowledged, and registered as a Service Mark, until 1985.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po1845p)
Reuse only by permission.

Juan Leivas, the winner of "Best Cowboy" award at Prescott’s first rodeo in 1888.