1928: The First P.K. Ranch Rodeo

"Just a bit of warning," a Sheridan Post-Enterprise writer advised, "if you want to reach the PK in time for the rodeo, start early. There's going to be a crowd." A crowd indeed. 17,000 eager spectators showed up for the first ever PK Ranch rodeo 90 years ago this month. A remarkable feat indeed, since the PK Rodeo happened the same day as the 1928 Cheyenne Frontier Days' finale.

The PK Ranch, homesteaded between 1889 to 1913 by the Patrick family, found its way into the hands of P. J. Morgan of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1925. P.J. bought the land for $200,000, or $3.6 million in 2018 dollars, that May.

While P.J. preferred to stick to the sidelines, his wife, Mary (neé Butts), and son, Jaxon Morgan, managed the ranch for 20 odd years.

P.J. and Mary Morgan. Pictures from Ancestry.com.
Click to enlarge.

On July 28, 1928, the Morgans put on the P.K. Ranch Rodeo, the first such "spectacle in the way of a rodeo that has been seen in many years." And they didn't charge a dime. As PK ranch foreman Harry Fulmer explained, the rodeo was "open to the world." The Morgans wanted to both advertise the region and restore some of that old Wild West vigor to Sheridan.

The 1929 PK Rodeo, from the Byron Photo Collection.
Click to enlarge.

Spectators from 28 states and cowboys, mostly from northern Wyoming and southern Montana, began to assemble at 8:30am in the cool morning weather. The festivities ran until well into the afternoon under partly cloudy skies and a pleasantly balmy high of 85.

Undated. From the Cooksley Collection.

Click to enlarge.

The throng cheered cowboys as they competed in bucking, calf roping, steer roping, bulldogging, wild cow milking, and the climax, a wild horse race. Judging events were Fred Hesse of Buffalo, "Boy" Cobble of Forsyth, MT, and John Wentz of Basin.

From the July 24, 1928 edition of the
Sheridan Post-Enterprise. Click to enlarge.

Prizes included $1000 cash for third, a silver mounted saddle for second, and grand prize was a Hupmobile Roadster, pictured below.

From the July 27, 1928 edition of the
Sheridan Post-Enterprise. Click to enlarge

In addition to setting record attendance--almost twice the population of Sheridan showed up in 3,274 autos--the rodeo went off with just a few close scrapes, with everyone returning home in one piece. As far as winners, Curly Wetzel of Wolf and Burton Brewster of Birney, MT won third and second prize, respectively. Who took home the cherry Hupmobile Roadster? A Wyoming boy, thankfully: Cheyenne's Billy Kingman.