prescott rodeo

july 4, 1888, became the birthday of professional rodeo when a group of prescott, arizona, merchants and professional businessmen organized the first formalized "cowboy tournament" and offered cash prizes. a cowboy named juan leivas walked off with rodeo's first professional title and was documented in the subsequent edition of the arizona journal-miner. these "cowboy contests" continued and were planned, promoted and carried out by a committee of local merchants. from then on, rodeo has grown into a multimillion dollar enterprise with more than 700 professional rodeos in 50 states.