Table Of ContentIcon, Brand, Myth:
THE CALGARY
STAMPEDE
Icon, Brand, Myth:
THE CALGARY
STAMPEDE
edited by Max Foran
The West Unbound:
Social and Cultural Studies series
©2008 AU Press
Published by AU Press, Athabasca University
1200, 10011 – 109 Street
Edmonton, AB T5J 3S8
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing
in Publication
Icon, brand, myth : the Calgary Exhibition and
Stampede / edited by Max Foran.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued also in electronic format.
ISBN 978-1-897425-03-9 (bound)
ISBN 978-1-897425-05-3 (pbk.)
1. Calgary Stampede–History.
2. Calgary Stampede–Social aspects.
3. Calgary (Alta.)–History.
4. Calgary (Alta.)–Social conditions.
I. Foran, Max
GV1834.56.C22C3 2008 791.8’409712338 C2008-902106-1
This book is part of the The West Unbound:
Social and Cultural Studies series
ISSN 1915-8181 (print)
ISSN 1915-819X (electronic)
Printed and bound in Canada by AGMV Marquis
Cover and book design by Alex Chan, Studio Reface
All photographs and illustrations courtesy Calgary Stampede,
except for the following: Fiona Angus: p. 128; Max Foran:
p. 159, 160; Glenbow Archives: p. 8: NA-628-1; p. 21:
NA-81-1; p. 61: NA-446-111; p. 73: PA-1326-9; p. 89:
NA-5627-33; p. 101: NA-1722-2; p. 147: NA-2864-29706;
p. 274: NA-2376-1; p. 315: fig. 2; Stéphane Guevremont:
all photographs on pp. 266–267; Library of Congress: p. 175:
LC-USZ62-78721.
This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons
License, see www.creativecommons.org. The text may be
reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided that
credit is given to the original author(s).
Please contact AU Press, Athabasca University at
[email protected] for permission beyond the usage
outlined in the Creative Commons license.
To my longtime friend, Doug Chapman
– Max Foran
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction ix
Chapter 1 The Stampede in Historical Context 1
Max Foran
Chapter 2 Making Tradition: The Calgary Stampede, 1912–1939 21
Donald G. Wetherell
Chapter 3 The Indians and the Stampede 47
Hugh A. Dempsey
Chapter 4 Calgary’s Parading Culture Before 1912 73
Lorry W. Felske
Chapter 5 Midway to Respectability: Carnivals at the 111
Calgary Stampede
Fiona Angus
Chapter 6 More Than Partners: The Calgary Stampede 147
and the City of Calgary
Max Foran
Chapter 7 Riding Broncs and Taming Contradictions: 175
Reflections on the Uses of the Cowboy in the
Calgary Stampede
Tamara Palmer Seiler
Chapter 8 A Spurring Soul: A Tenderfoot’s Guide to the 203
Calgary Stampede Rodeo
Glen Mikkelsen
Chapter 9 The Half a Mile of Heaven’s Gate 235
Aritha van Herk
Chapter 10 “Cowtown It Ain’t”: The Stampede and Calgary’s 251
Public Monuments
Frits Pannekoek
VI
Chapter 11 “A Wonderful Picture”: Western Art and the 271
Calgary Stampede
Brian Rusted
Chapter 12 The Social Construction of the Canadian Cowboy: 293
Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Posters, 1952–1972
Robert M. Seiler and Tamara Palmer Seiler
Chapter 13 Renewing the Stampede for the 21st Century: 325
A Conversation with Vern Kimball, Calgary Stampede
Chief Executive Officer
Bibliography 335
Contributors 348
Index 351
VII
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the contributors to this volume, the genesis of which
dates back to 2004 and the Faculty of Communication and Culture’s inaugu-
ral course on the culture of the Stampede. Their time, effort, and co-operation
are greatly appreciated. I would also like to acknowledge the support and co-
operation of the Calgary Stampede and especially its generosity in supplying
most of the visuals that appear in the book. Here a special thanks goes to
Tracey Read, manager, Government Relations and Community Partnership,
who helped me so much in so many ways.
Max Foran
University of Calgary
November 2007
VIII
Introduction
The idea for this book came as a result of the inaugural course on the Calgary
Exhibition and Stampede (Calgary Stampede as of spring 2007) offered by
the Faculty of Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary in the
summer of 2004. This innovative course was based on guest lectures, many
of which were delivered by members of the above faculty. At a get-together
following the course there was general agreement among participants that the
various lectures might serve a wider purpose if they were transformed into
articles and made available to a larger audience. All of the contributors to this
book either lectured or were the subjects of reference in the three Stampede
courses offered in the summers of 2004, 2005, and 2006.
The course itself grew out of a growing awareness that the Stampede
has evolved into a cultural phenomenon. Similar events are held annually
throughout North America. Midways, rodeos, parades, performances, and
agricultural and other exhibits are all part of an annual fairground tradition
in countless cities and towns, yet none evokes reactions as does the Calgary
Stampede. Growing up as a boy in Sydney, Australia, I visited the Royal Eas-
ter Show every year and was drawn in wonderment to scenes and events very
similar to those I was to encounter later in another country and another city.
Yet when I donned western garb to attend my first Stampede in 1964, feeling
strange and out of place, I had already been imbued with the notion that I
was now part of something special, a festive tradition unique to Calgary. In a
way, my impression was valid. Unlike the Royal Easter Show, the Stampede
was not simply attended; it was experienced. I learned my first and probably
most important lesson about the Stampede that day: it had more to do with
the act of participation than with offered opportunities. Paradoxically, it has
been this capacity to embody a significance that transcends the sum of its
various components that explains in part why the Stampede is held in such
high and low regard.
The Calgary Stampede can claim many legitimacies. It hosts the premier
event in a popular professional sport. In addition to being of significant eco-
nomic worth to the city, the Stampede is based on a valid historic tradition
that dates to the late nineteenth century and provides in many ways an inter-
pretive window into the historical development of the prairie and foothills
West. The Stampede has supported agriculture and the livestock industry
for almost a century while promoting sports and western art and showcasing
other events of cultural and social importance. Its capacity to solicit and orga-
nize phenomenal volunteer support is the envy of organizations worldwide.
IX
X INTRODUCTION
And like it or not, the Calgary Stampede has become a world-class festival
that spills out into the streets and carries its own messages within a spectrum
of ritual, performance, celebration, and spectacle.
Yet as successful as the Stampede has been in attracting visitors and perpet-
uating its own popularity, it has also garnered considerable antipathy. Some
criticize the Stampede for adhering to middle-class white Anglo-Saxon male
values. Others view the Stampede as a money-making machine run by elites
that exploits heritage in the interests of profit. A growing number protest the
exploitation of animals. Some see the Stampede as little more than a giant
hoax whereby illusions are cultivated, dressed up, packaged, and sold without
shame. Still others wince at the folly of trying to embed a hokey, hackneyed
event into the psyche and image of a dynamic city seeking global status.
Crucial in these allegiances and antipathies is the place of myth in the col-
lective consciousness. Those who see the Stampede as a event during which fun
and nostalgia mix freely do not recognize or care about myth. Similarly, those
who appreciate myth, who see it as an agent for collective identification, a focus
for the localization of universal values, or an entry point for personal interpre-
tations, also have no difficulty accepting and participating in the Stampede
cornucopia. Oppositely, it is the regenerating and exploitative capacity of this
myth that draws the intense and largely recent criticism of the Stampede. Many
cringe at its distortion of history, whereby fantasy is superimposed on fact with
layers of glitz, bombast, and commercial hype. These critics see the Stampede
as a giant hoax and an anachronism in an urban environment.
The following articles do not attempt to idealize or destroy this myth, nor
is their intention to laud or denigrate the Stampede, although they do contain
elements of all the above. With some overlapping, unavoidable in a collection
of this type, the articles try to provide some perspectives of the enigma that
is the Calgary Stampede. Collectively they attempt to answer several ques-
tions: What is the reality behind its origins and various components? What
messages does the Stampede try to deliver? How did the Stampede go about
cultivating its traditions? Where does the City of Calgary fit in? What can the
Stampede tell us about First Nations and their treatment? Is the Stampede
about more than rodeo, the midway, and artificiality? How can the rodeo and
chuckwagon races be explained to urban and international audiences? Who
is the cowboy? What are the Stampede organizers’ visions for the future?
The articles are wide-ranging in length, subject, tone, approach, and inter-
pretation. Some focus on the Stampede and discuss it in a specific context.
Others use the Stampede to explore pertinent themes. Together they furnish a
heightened understanding and provide a useful forum for further discourse.
