I wanted to share with you a very special event in Tucson AZ history....... La Fiesta de los Vaqueros (Celebration of the Cowboys) Rodeo Parade ! <img width="504" src="http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb275/Micheleben5/rodeo08.jpg" alt="rodeo08.jpg" height="360" /> The Tucson Rodeo Parade February 1925--2008 THE WORLDS LONGEST NON-MOTORIZED PARADE HIGHLIGHTS TUCSONS LA FIESTA DE LOS VAQUEROS Excerpt from a reporters 1925 account of the first Tucson Rodeo Parade: It was Saturday, February 21, 1925 and in Tucson, Arizona, excitement was everywhere. This community of 34 thousand souls was getting ready for a thing called La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, the Celebration of the Cowboys. Thousands of visitors had arrived for the festivities and rooms were as scarce as snowdrifts. Cowpokes drifted in to pay their entrance fees, parade contestants turned up to register and long lines of prospective spectators waited to buy tickets for the western show. The sun had just begun to peek through gray skies raising the mercury to a comfortable 68 degrees. An eager crowd lined the route and 300 persons waited to fall into procession. Gear was checked, horses calmed, hats adjusted, drumheads tightened. The signal was given promptly at 10:30 and the La Fiesta de los Vaqueros parade moved out onto Congress Street and headed east. Each February since 1925, Tucsonans saddle their horses, hitch up their buggies and shine their cowboy boots for the Celebration of the Cowboys. Feb. 16-24, 2008 marks the 83rd Annual La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, a community event highlighted by the Tucson Rodeo Parade on Thursday, Feb. 21. Locals, however, did not greet the first rodeo and parade, with enthusiasm. Many of the citizens flatly stated the staging of a rodeo and parade as too pretentious. Many were heard to exclaim, There is absolutely no reason to have a rodeo let alone a parade. After all, most of the streets were dirt, no stop signs existed, the radio and phonograph were popular, no one had natural gas for heating, the schools were strict, church socials and musicals were in vogueyes, it was a quiet and peaceful life. Who needed a rodeo and parade? The entire city is surrounded by a rodeo everyday at all the ranches and private schools. Even though some businessmen though the rodeo and parade were a waste of time; even though some of the city fathers refused to back the rodeo and parade, both were a huge success. The Tucson Rodeo Parade is the communitys most beloved tradition, and remains Tucsons finest display of the Old West. Area schools are closed on Parade Day each year, and many local businesses close in order to participate in the parade with an entry. Over 200 floats are entered each year. The Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee, a 36-member volunteer board, plans and executes the parade, with the cooperation of the City of Tucson.Each year, more than 200,000 people enjoy the western-themed floats and buggies, historic horse-drawn coaches, festive Mexican folk dancers, marching bands and outfitted riders. Headline in the Arizona Daily Star in 1925 reads: Cowboys are asked not to shoot up the town Tucson in 1925 was a frontier town: The first Tucson Rodeo was held in the middle of Prohibition. With so many visitors expected, decisions were made to clean up the town. Arizona State Prohibition Director Frank Pool led a force of federal officials to town two weeks prior to the rodeo. The Arizona Daily Star reported that 25 stills were captured and an estimated 300 gallons of moonshine destroyed. T-bone steaks sold for .27 a pound. A Stetson hat cost $8. Prizes at the 1925 Rodeo Parade included a 750-lb. block of ice, 100 lbs. of potatoes and a Big Cactusî ham.And this is the Rodeo Parade now !!<img width="211" src="http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb275/Micheleben5/paradebanner.gif" alt="paradebanner.gif" height="100" /> <img width="260" src="http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb275/Micheleben5/13961_f260.jpg" alt="13961_f260.jpg" height="195" /> <img width="260" src="http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb275/Micheleben5/13970_f260.jpg" alt="13970_f260.jpg" height="347" /><img width="296" src="http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb275/Micheleben5/sanger03.jpg" alt="sanger03.jpg" height="188" /><img width="360" src="http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb275/Micheleben5/sanger05.jpg" alt="sanger05.jpg" height="288" />Our Mayor Bob Walkup and beautiful downtown Tucson with the Catalina Mountains in the background !<img width="212" src="http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb275/Micheleben5/tucsontown.jpg" alt="tucsontown.jpg" height="100" /> <img width="396" src="http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb275/Micheleben5/sanger04.jpg" alt="sanger04.jpg" height="288" /> -- Edited by Micheleben5 at 18:49, 2008-02-21
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