Forever West

This week is Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It's the largest outdoor rodeo in the world.

Cheyenne is the birthplace of the rodeo. It started when one cowboy challenged another to see who was better at common cowboy tasks. It didn't take long before the event was formalized, and the first organized rodeo event took place in Cheyenne in 1872. Cheyenne is also less than two hours from home so I took the day off and headed north.

I grew up going to the rodeo. My family went to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo with some regularity, and I continued going throughout my early college years. I have to say that I enjoyed the one in Cheyenne much more. It was big, but it was still a whole lot smaller than Houston. I also like being under the western sky much more than being inside the Astrodome, as it was called back in the day.

Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD) also had a chuckwagon cookoff which I really enjoyed. The cooks were in period costume and all their equipment - from the wagon to the fire pit - looked authentic. Wyatt Earp and other historical characters were seen walking around and there were quite a lot of western-themed crafts and other things for sale. There's also an Indian village with story tellers, dances and, of course, crafts. There's a history museum, a very nice western art exhibit, and big name performers. I also took a behind-the-scenes tour of the chutes which was pretty cool.

Then, of course, there's the main event: the rodeo itself. It was awesome. CFD has a huge pot and stricter rules, so it's one of the tougher and more sought after rodeo events in terms of attracting professional rodeo cowboys. There were some big names competing and there was never a dull moment. A couple of cowboys were injured in the bull/bronc riding competitions. Also there were two particularly ornery, massive bulls that absolutely refused to go back into the pens when their 8 seconds was up, and they each had to be roped by as many as five cowboys at the same time and literally dragged out of the arena. It was pretty awesome to see. And then there was a horse that had to be taken out of the arena by "animal ambulance" after it collapsed. There was also a wild horse race, which I had never seen before, that was wildly entertaining.

I did a lot of people watching and just sort of immersed myself in the culture. I struck up some conversations with some cowboys, some Cheyenne residents, and various people throughout the day. One thing I didn't expect was how the experience reminded me - fondly - of my early college years attending Texas A&M in College Station. In those days I had my heart set on getting into veterinary school. I spent my days in class and my nights getting drunk and having wild nights at Northgate. I didn't drink today at all, but much of the crowd reminded me of those days.

I left a couple hours before sunset, after the events had ended but the nightlife was just starting up. There was a huge tent set up with live music, a lot of cowboys standing around drinking, and a few couples already tearing up the dance floor. At that moment I wished I had been there with a group of my old party buddies. It was the strangest thing. I had this powerful but brief urge to drink, get loud, and shut the place down. Instead I got in my truck, put on some soft cowboy music, and took in the sunset over the Rockies. And I dreamed.