Evansville Photographer Showcases Big Rodeo Energy at the Vanderburgh 4-H Fair

How Yellowstone Reignited America’s Love for the Cowboy Lifestyle

Growing up, my dad and his brother lived the cowboy lifestyle. They grew up in Arizona and both of them had that classic cowboy look. Hat, belt buckle, boots, jeans, and a collared shirt. My uncle was a little more "cowboy" than my dad. He bred, trained, and showed some amazing horses and was even a professional rodeo clown. I don't ever remember my dad even feeding our horses, but he sure had the look.

From Alanis to Ariat: Cowboy Culture Comes Full Circle

I was a teenager in the 90s, and though I listened to some country music, I was more of an Alanis Morissette kinda gal. And cowboy just wasn't cool. But fast forward to 2018 when a little show called Yellowstone premiered and put the cowboy lifestyle front and center. All of a sudden, everyone wanted to get their kids in horseback riding lessons, started wearing Ariat boots, and rodeos popped up everywhere. Rodeos never really went away, but after the popularity of the show, the eventing lifestyle emerged.

People love watching the danger and excitement of bull and bronc riding, and the speed of the barrel racers. Heck, we just bought a new horse for my daughter who has a need for speed, and her old farm horse just isn't an athlete. And we are really enjoying the lifestyle.

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Where Rodeos Really Began

According to an article by the Smithsonian, rodeos got their start in the 1800s. Mexican ranch hands, known as vaqueros, would spend time between cattle drives, roundups, and ranching gigs showcasing their roping and riding skills and competing against each other. Soon these informal get-togethers started drawing crowds who were entranced by the danger and the raw skill the vaqueros would display.

Vaqueros perfected the roping and riding skills we see in today’s competitions. They also innovated rodeo fashion: leather boots, chaps, big hats, and the rest. And it was in Mexico that the sport got its name, derived from the Spanish verb rodear, to encircle or round up.

Not long after the U.S. annexed Texas in 1845 and claimed a large chunk of Mexico along with it, the vaqueros, along with their innovative rodeo fashion and the rodeo eventing were absorbed into the U.S. cowboy culture. Soon, rodeo became big business and organizers added rules and safety measures. The most famous was William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody's Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, which opened on May 19, 1883, in Omaha, Nebraska. The Wild West show was a family-friendly exhibition that employed hundreds of performers and drew three million attendees outside Chicago during the World’s Columbian Exposition. But by the second decade of the 1900s, with the start of WWI and rise of motion pictures, the Wild West show became outdated. With the shift in entertainment choices and horses being confiscated for war efforts, Cody’s show went bankrupt in July 1913.

The Cowboy Comeback

But you know what they say, whatever is old will be new again. We saw a renewal in cowboy culture in the 1950s and 1960s with TV shows like Gunsmoke and Bonanza, and then again with Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone. Now, fans can't get enough.

Rodeo Night at the Vanderburgh County 4-H Fair

At the Vanderburgh County 4-H Fair each year, the rodeo night is a huge attraction. Local rodeo 3 BAR J RODEO, which hosts multiple rodeo events at fairs and events across the area, was out Tuesday night. And local realtor and sports photographer Dan Felstead was on the field getting some amazing shots. He loves the thrill of the rodeo, and if you didn't get to make it out, these shots will make you feel like you were right there and part of the action.