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Of course, the primary purpose of the building is as a home for exhibits interpreting the Sidney Rodeo, but a number of related purposes were identified during the site visit important to the structural mission. The Rodeo Museum will also serve as a meeting space for the Rodeo Committee and its functions, a ticket sales office will be headquartered in the Lobby; a gift shop will offer Rodeo and related souvenirs and gifts. In addition, it is suggested that performances and special events could be held at the facility, and that one upstairs space could be adapted to serve an additional purpose as overnight lodging for a special rodeo guest.

The Sidney Rodeo is not so much the result of technology or science, where there would be a collected group of specimens or devices, nor is it deep in a large variety of objects; its value is as a cultural tradition in Iowa and the nation’s folk-life. It has existed these eighty five years as an entertainment based on the traditions of the American Cowboy. Rodeo events are based on the practical skills developed while handling livestock on the open range of the 19th century. It evolved out of the 19th century entertainment form of the Wild West Show, where lifeways of an earlier time in the West were exhibited and enacted with exciting realism to the public. There was excitement, drama, costume, skill, suspense, and cultural history, but since the Wild West Show was entertainment, it id not always have to be precisely true-to-life or historically accurate. The Wild West Shows proved that this principally outdoor and equestrian form of entertainment had popular appeal, and when it began to die out, the professional rodeo replaced it. What can this tell us about the most important aspects to preserve and interpret in a museum setting? Beyond its own interpretation of the Cowboy, the principle asset of the Rodeo is action: action preserved in images, film, photographs and the like, of that action taking place before the crowds. This museum does have artifacts associated with its history: saddles, tack, belt buckles, clothing, tools and a few other things, but it is principally the event itself, preserved in images (still and moving) that is the primary collection.

The Sidney Rodeo is a unique endeavor in Rodeo entertainment, having been managed and run successfully by the Williams-Jobe-Gibson Post #128 of the American Legion since its inception in 1923. Now in its 85th year of production, the Rodeo has only skipped 3 seasons since the beginning, those of the World War Two era of 1942-45. It was successor to the annual Old Soldiers Reunion begun in 1889. The Reunion had always featured speakers, political “grandstanding”, a ball game, carnival rides and perhaps a balloon ascent, but by 1923 was about to be discontinued. Then, when considering how to renew the event, Henry and Earl Tackett- recent arrivals from Wyoming, stepped forward to sponsor a Rodeo event. The town of Sidney had a spacious park; roping off the ball diamond and bringing in ornery stock from surrounding farms gave the Tackett brothers the arena and stock for a show, and they collected fifty dollars for providing four days of lively free entertainment.¹

Since those early days the Rodeo has evolved into a successful national Rodeo event, still managed by the American Legion Rodeo Committee, and endorsed as an officially sanctioned PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys of America) and WPRA (Women’s Professional Rodeo Association) event. It is Iowa’s Championship Rodeo, declared an official Sesquicentennial event in 1996, selected as the 1997 PRCA National Finals, Small Outdoor Rodeo of the Year. The Sidney Rodeo Grounds are a permanent installation, featuring grandstands, box seats, VIP accommodations, rodeo first-aid hospital, electronic scoreboard and replay screen, as well as generous parking and sites for vendors. It has come a long way since the days of a roped-off ball field surrounded by Tin Lizzies.²

1. 50 Years of Rodeo- A Centennial History of the Sidney Rodeo,
  pub. 1973, Post 128 American Legion.
2. Sidney, Iowa Rodeo 2007 Souvenir Program.

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