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July 3-12 2015
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Chapter 01
1886 - 1913
The Exhibition and the Stampede have grown with the city of Calgary.
Chapter 02
1914 - 1945
Between the First and Second World Wars, the Calgary Stampede served as a training ground, a showcase for Western Canadian production and an escape from tumultuous world events.
Chapter 03
1946 - 2011
During the second half of the 20th century, the Calgary Stampede expanded and became the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.
Chapter 04
2011 - Present
The Stampede welcomed its second century with fanfare in 2012 and was devastated by a flood in 2013, but the show went on and it continues to celebrate the community as well as western heritage and culture.
Do you have a piece of Stampede History?
The Calgary Stampede Archives is a growing collection, please contact us if you have an item of Stampede history you wish to donate.
About the Calgary Stampede
Historical Committee
An economic downturn hit Calgary in the 1920s, and the Exhibition was losing money. They had invested in significant additions to Stampede Park in 1919, including a new, fireproof, Grandstand. However, postwar labour troubles and the high cost of building materials meant that improving the grounds was much more expensive than anticipated. These costs were compounded by a failed crop that fall. By 1920, Western Canada was in recession. To save the Exhibition, Ernie Richardson looked to offer better entertainment by incorporating the Stampede in it, so he hired Guy Weadick as an arena manager.
With Weadick’s encouragement, the entire city participated in celebrating the event. Merchants decorated their storefronts, everyone was encouraged to dress western and there was a daily 2-hour parade downtown featuring First Nations in full regalia. There was also a cowboys and old timers street dance (which, by 1928, took up an entire city block). Weadick also decided that he needed to come up a new and exciting event to mark the first year that the Stampede and Calgary Exhibition were joining forces in a single event. He came up with the chuckwagon races, which were inspired by his time on the range watching wagons compete to be the first unit to set up camp at each new stop along the trail.
The first Stampede breakfast was held in 1923, and became an annual tradition. Seen here, pancake breakfast in downtown Calgary, 1924.
Cowboys and city dwellers enjoying pancakes in downtown Calgary, 1924.
The 1923 Stampede Parade was a well-attended event.
Elephant rides were a popular entertainment in 1923. The Grandstand can be seen in the background.
Trying to attract more visitors to Victoria Park exhibition grounds, Ernie Richardson put on a winter carnival in 1921 and 1922. The Grandstand ski jump was supposed to be the highlight, but Calgary's wild winter weather limited its use.
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