President Coolidge at the RoundupRise Studio, Rapid City, S. D.
Probably a Scotch visitor would not exactly appreciate the reception. The Roundup is a gala affair. The people come there to spend money. Those running the various amusements and refreshment stands seem to understand this perfectly and render all possible assistance. In the West the celebrations are not marked with the conservatism of the East.
We enjoy the day after we get our bearings. We have lunch after a couple of hours of “seeing Belle” and then go out to the Roundup. The road is packed; we have started none too soon. True to the training of school teachers, we try to conserve on costs as much as possible. We have paid a dollar apiece for general admission and now we decide a fifty cent seat will be nearly as good as one for a dollar or more.
An Exciting Ride
Bill Pawley on a high one.
Cody Stampede, 1921
We get excellent bleacher seats, but somehow they get surprisingly hard during the three hours and over that we sit there. The sun is uncomfortably hot and the folks climbing up and down are none too careful at whose expenses they get the dust brushed from their shoes. We can not see the events very plainly in some cases, but we are not cheated out of very much of the performance at that.
The clown car opens the day. Of course it is a Ford. But the clown has done his duty and the affair brings forth more than forced smiles. The Rapid City Bugle Corps, the Cavalry Band (mounted) from Fort Meade, and the C. & N. W. Band from Chicago are outstanding attractions.
The cow pony race comes next, then roping and the cowboy relay. Those cowboys can certainly change saddles from one pony to another in a hurry and also ride. Following this comes exhibitions in horseback hurdling by cavalrymen. Then comes a contest of cowboys riding steers. The man who stays with his steer longest wins. Some of those fellows get pretty hard spills. The broncho riding contest is just as lively. The horses try hard enough to unseat their riders and many of them succeed. The clown, in enormous red “Shaps,” rides a bucking steer upon which he is mounted backward.
Steer riding