History

The event is one of the world’s oldest rodeo as it celebrates its 145th anniversary in 2024.

The Mandan Rodeo is legendary, beginning as a 4th of July event in 1879 with a baseball game and pony races. The first documented bronc riding competition was set in 1882.

In 1895, the Morton County Fair Association was established, and money was dedicated to building a fence and oval race track in south Mandan.

Stephen P. Weekes was instrumental in the event’s development as vice-president of the State Fair Association and a prominent horse rancher from Flasher. His sons, Steve and Charlie, and his son-in-law, Max Theil, created the Heart River Roundup. “Badlands Bill” McCarty joined the effort to create the Mandan Roundup in 1923.

In 1938-39, the rodeo grounds were rebuilt in south Mandan. During the 1940s, the Mandan Rodeo Association, headed by Frank Wetzstein, organized a high-class production where top cowboys like Toots Mansfield, Gene Ross and Casey Tibbs competed featuring performances by celebrities Gene Autry and Rex Allen.

The Mandan Rodeo became famous as part of the “big loop” that included the Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Calgary Stampede allowing cowboys to go from rodeo to rodeo winning money in what’s referred to as “Cowboy Christmas” around the Fourth of July.

In 1951, an estimated 11,000 people attended the Mandan Rodeo on July 4.

The Mandan American Legion took over the rodeo in 1954. Stock was provided by Buetler-Morgan of Elk City, Oklahoma, and the prize money was increased to $4,500. After two years, the Legion turned the event over to the Mandan Jaycees.

The rodeo became a Rodeo Cowboys Association (now the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) sanctioned event until 1969. Stock producers included Buetler-Morgan, Harry Vold and Mike Cervi, and contestants came from all over the country. In 1969, the Jaycees decided to sanction the event with the North Dakota Rodeo Association. 

The 1970s, stock was provided by Figure Four Rodeo Company of Watford City and Mandan’s Joe Berger, George Bruington and Jim Mosbrucker. Prize money by 1980 was more than $20,000.

By the mid-1980s, an aging grandstand needed repair. In 1989, the Mandan Rodeo was the highlight of North Dakota’s centennial festivities. It also marked the last performance at the old rodeo grounds. 

Special events like chuckwagon races, American freestyle bullfighting, and even a stand-alone Xtreme Bulls bull riding event have been part of Mandan Rodeo Days.

The Mandan Rodeo continues to touch the lives and hearts of many over the Fourth of July as it transitions to a new permanent home.

In 2023, Mandan Rodeo Days welcomed in a new permanent home, the multi-million dollar Dale Pahlke Arena at Dakota Community Bank & Trust Rodeo Grounds right next to the race track.

The rodeo is coordinated by the Mandan Rodeo Committee. It is sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA). It attracts more than 500 cowboys and cowgirls to compete for a purse of over $160,000. This includes $70,000 in added prize money made possible with the generous support of local sponsors. 

Photos courtesy North Dakota Historical Society.