California Rodeo at Salinas 1935

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'19th annual California Rodeo at Salinas.'

Originally a public domain film from the Library of Congress Prelinger Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Rodeo_Salinas

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Salinas is a major stop on the professional rodeo circuit. The Salinas rodeo (pronounced the Spanish way: "roDAYo") began in 1911 as a Wild West Show on the site of the old race track ground, now the Salinas Sports Complex. The rodeo was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2008...

History...

1872-1935

The Sausal Park Race Track was the predecessor of the California Rodeo. In 1872, a racetrack, grandstand, bar, and restaurant were constructed by the Monterey County Agricultural Association on 69.4 acres (281,000 m2) in Salinas. The land was donated to the city by Eugene Sherwood and Richard Hellman of San Francisco, on the condition that a fair and race would be held at least once every two years... By 1909, the popularity of the races had decreased dramatically, and the future of the property was in question, due to the condition put on it by its former owners when it was given to the city — that a race had to be held once every two years.

The solution for the city came from a group of cattlemen whose informal club went by the name of the "Salinas Coyotes." (The main activity of the club was a bull's-head BBQ with generous amounts of bourbon whiskey!) Iver "Red" Cornett thought that having bucking horses in between the races would draw more interest from the public. The first show was held in 1910 at a baseball park on West Market Street. The show was very successful and the next year was moved to the racetrack at Sherwood Park.

On August 1, 1911, the first Rodeo was held at the racetrack grounds. It was advertised as a Wild West Show. Because it ran for a week, Iver "Red" Cornett wanted to call it "Big Week." Frank Griffen wanted to call it "The California Rodeo." Both names are still used today...

The first horse parade down Main Street was held in 1911. It was led by James R. Hebbron, who led every parade after that until 1926—the year he turned 97. The parade consisted of a 16-part band and about 100 horses ridden by nearby ranchers...

The rodeo in 1912 was even more successful than the one the year before. This was the first time that cowgirls were included...

The trotting races where zoned out by 1913 and the eleven leaders of the show started trying to make the show a permanent feature. Franck Griffen became the President and Rodeo Boss, which he held until 1934. The program was extended to include over 20 events...

In 1914, the show was incorporated under the name "California Rodeo."...

The first "Queen of the Rodeo" contest was in 1926. It was won by Miss Bernice Donahue. By 1929, the contest had evolved into the "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" contest. This was won by Miss Lilian Kirschner of Santa Clara County. Also in this time, Abe Lefcowitz, a former clown in the rodeo, became the official announcer. He became known as Abe Lefton, and was the announcer from 1928 until 1950. His comical thoughts about dignitaries, politics, and the sport were loved by the fans. By 1929, the local cowboys were becoming outnumbered by out of town professionals...

Since 1935

In 1935, the grandstands were enlarged to hold 14,000 people. Brahman Bulls were used for the first time in 1939 in the bull riding contest... In 1996, the grandstands were demolished and were replaced by new ones after the July rodeo. It was replaced by an 8.5 million dollar multi-use sports facility.