George Guy Weadick (February 23, 1885 – December 13, 1953) was an American cowboy, performer and promoter. Today, he is best known as the founder of the

Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and featu ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada. He was married to famed cowgirl, Florence LaDue. Weadick was the first to be inducted in the Builder category in the

Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame The Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame (CPRHF) was founded in 1979 to honour and distinguish outstanding contestants, builders, and animals in the Canadian rodeo arena. Inductees are qualified by the Canadian Rodeo Historical Association. The C ...

Calgary Stampede

In 1912, Weadick travelled to Calgary, where he met with H.C. McMullen, a

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

for the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

. The two of them put together a program for a

frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts ...

show. They envisioned a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaqu ...

championship along with a tribute to the Old West. Weadick gained financing from the Big Four: George Lane, owner of the Bar U Ranch; two other wealthy ranchers, Patrick Burns and A. E. Cross; and A. J. McLean, provincial secretary. He staged the first Calgary Stampede September 2–7, 1912, when ranchers and farmers had finished the harvesting and would be free to attend. Weadick arranged for 200 head of Mexican steers, 200 bucking steers, and wild horses to be brought in from the ranches around Calgary. In order to entice top quality competitors, $20,000 in championship money and world championship titles were offered. The prize money was about four times the closest competition, causing riders from across North America to arrive in the 1912 Stampede. In 1919, Weadick and Calgary Industrial Exhibition manager, E. L. Richardson, agreed to combine the rodeo events with the Calgary Industrial Exhibition and, in 1923, Weadick and Richardson co-founded the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede as an annual event. In 1912, Indigenous peoples were not allowed to celebrate their cultures on their own reserves because of Indian Act laws and regulations. The Stampede was one of the only places they were welcomed to participate and celebrate their traditions publicly because of a special agreement Guy Weadick and the Calgary Stampede made with the government. Indian Village is organized by volunteers on the Stampede's Indian Events committee, Stampede employees and the tipi families who camp at the Village during the Stampede. There is constant consultation about the name of the Village and if it should be changed. The tipi owners have indicated that Indian Village is a place and a name with great historical significance and honours the role of Guy Weadick and the relationship with the Stampede throughout the 20th century.

Later years

Following on the success of the

, Guy Weadick continued promoting his own personal Old West shows (outside Calgary). He continued running the Stampede for 20 years after its initial creation. His next appearance at the Stampede was to appear in the parade in 1952. He died on December 13, 1953. The Calgary Stampede Guy Weadick Award, created in 1969, was named after him. He was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in the Builder category on July 12, 1982. He was inducted into the

Rodeo Hall of Fame The Rodeo Hall of Fame was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1955. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of cowboys and cowgirls from around the world. The ha ...

of the

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Am ...

in 1976.

References

External links

Alberta Settlement: Guy WeadickFactsCanada.caThe Canadian Encyclopedia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weadick, Guy 1885 births 1953 deaths American expatriates in Canada Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame inductees Rodeo promoters and managers Vaudeville performers