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Special Achievement

Sanish Rodeo
2001 Special Achievement Inductee

The three-day Sanish Rodeo drew lots of contestants and big crowds. Held each July from 1947-1953, the rodeo was second in the state in prize money paid and second to none in the number of contestants.

  It was initiated by Sanish-area residents who met in the local fire hall in April 1947 including: Brooks Keogh, president; E.A. McLaughlin, secretary; Royal Logan, treasurer; Doug McGrady, arena manager; C.A. Pinkering, advertising manager; and directors Sidney Benn, Fred LaRocque, Harry Mendenhall, Earl Nice and Wendell Van Dyke.

  The site of the rodeo was southwest of the old Sanish Bridge or almost directly beneath the west portion of the current Four Bears Bridge. There was access to water, trees for camping and picnicking and space for parking.

  The Sanish Rodeo Association built corrals, chutes and a grandstand in time for the first rodeo, July 3-5, 1947. Events scheduled the first year included saddle contest, bareback riding, wild horse race, bulldogging, calf roping, relay races, wild cow milking, free-for-all horse race and Shetland Pony race. Area bands performed, and promoters brought in specialty acts.

  That first year $2,205 was offered in prizes; by the early 1950s, prize money totaled $3,600. Attendance also grew, with 10,292 in paid admissions over three days in 1949. That same year, an additional 1,263 tickets at $1 each sold for the popular bowery dances held each evening. Reflections from the July 4, 1950, rodeo report that “three hours before the afternoon program, there was a two-mile-long line of cars waiting to get through the gate.”

  The colorful pageantry of the Old West came alive at the Sanish Rodeo as hundreds of Indian families pitched tents and attended the event bedecked in their feather- and bead-covered native costumes. Indian dancers performed between rodeo events, and many top-notch rodeo riders were from the reservation.

  Though the rodeo was a grand social event, construction of Garrison Dam doomed its production. The last rodeo was held in 1953, with the ninth pier of the bridge having just been completed. An estimated 15,000 people attended the last Sanish rodeo.