In the mid-1930's, Prescott's rodeo moved into the existing site with the help of federally funded projects. By this time the "World's Oldest Rodeo®" was attracting thousands of Arizonans from around the state. In the early 1940s a group of local merchants and professionals, called the 20-30 Club, decided to lend a hand to help produce Prescott's rodeo. World War II took many men and contestants from the rodeo ranks during this period, but with the help of these local volunteers the rodeo remained.

Rodeo continually grew as a spectator and contestant sport. Purses grew to contend with rodeos in the West that sprung up to compete with Prescott's rodeo. Prize money during this period sometimes exceeded $20,000, an astronomical sum in those days. Rodeo has grown into a multimillion-dollar enterprise in 50 states since that time; in 2002, prize money at PRCA rodeos exceeded $30 million.

In 1979, Prescott Frontier Days, Inc. was formed. This non-profit organization exists today and is the backbone of Prescott's rodeo. Comprised of over 150 hard-working volunteers, they are dedicated to the preservation of Prescott Frontier Days, Inc. & the World's Oldest Rodeo®.

July 11, 1888: Arizona Journal-Miner:
The four days' celebration closed yesterday afternoon with a half-mile running race, and a cowboy tournament at the Driving Park. The attendance was greater than ever before assembled at one time in the park since it was first started.

June, 1934: Arizona Highways:
Forty-seven years ago in 1888, the first cowboy contest ever held in America was staged in the pines of Prescott. Today, in the same setting, plans are being completed for the holding of the famous event, which will mark the Prescott Rodeo as the oldest in America by actual record. These contests commemorate the spirit of the frontiersman of the west, and the name of Arizona being synonymous with the West, its romance and beauty, it is in Prescott that a week of fables may be found.

World's Oldest Rodeo by Danny Freeman, 1988. Foreword by Barry Goldwater:
As a small boy, teenager and grown man I have enjoyed many exciting moments at the Prescott Rodeo…If the truth were known, to be a cowboy' was one of my secret wishes when I was growing up and spending my summers in Prescott, a center for cowboys and cattlemen. The old-time cowboy creed was one that most could envy: work hard and play hard; shoot straight and be truthful; respect women and womanhood in any and all occasions.

For additional information on Prescott Frontier Days & World's Oldest Rodeo®, visit www.worldsoldestrodeo.com.

Source: Origins Of The first American Cowboys By Donald Gilbert Y Chavez