2025 the last year in Stadium Arena at National Western Stock Show
The 2025 National Western Stock Show will mark the last year of Stadium Arena and livestock shows on “The Hill.” Dating back to 1909, Stadium Arena replaced a huge tent and was home to the shows and sales that sought to fulfill the mission of the show, to improve the quality of livestock in the West. There is history on The Hill, from the type and kind of cattle named champions, to the steam pipes among the seats that once heated the building. In 1917, secretary and general manager Fred P. Johnson reminded producers of the original purpose of the show: to improve the breeding and feeding of livestock.
“Our exhibition has been built upon education and helpfulness for the stock farmer. No one can doubt that it has fulfilled its mission. It has been to the value of our livestock and has resulted in millions more going into the pockets of breeders in the Rocky Mountain states. It has provided material assistance in building a real livestock market at Denver, and has been the source of much profit to business and commercial circles in the City of Denver… An exhibition of this kind cannot stand still; it must either go ahead and increase in popularity and influence, or back up and curtail exhibits until it dies a natural death.”
After the final champion slaps are delivered on the green carpet later in January, the NWSS will move forward and into a new era and into the Yards, where it all began.
Shortly after Christmas in 1905, crews began building 150 stalls and a number of small pens to house the livestock in what was finally coming to fruition as the Western Stock Show. The Floto Shows Company agreed to loan the group their largest big top tent where a livestock show would be hosted near the newly constructed Exchange Building. The Colorado Cattle and Horse Growers Association wanted an annual cattle exposition as part of their convention, so with the support of the Denver Chamber of Commerce, business leaders, the Denver daily newspapers, and the Denver Daily Record Stockman, the big top hosted the Western Stock Show on Jan. 29, 1906.
In his Ten Days Every January, Willard Simms said the majority of entries in the inaugural show were carloads of feeder steers. T.B. Hord, who was tasked with sorting the classes, awarded the feeder championship to a load of 2-year-olds shown by Andrew Norell of Walden, Colo. The champion breeding heifers were exhibited by Forbes & Company of Greenland, Colo. Lockhardt Livestock Company of Rocky Ford came out on top of the carloads of fat steers or heifers and H.W. Moore of Brush won the 2-year-old class.
The champion carload of hogs — chosen from the class weighing over 300 pounds — was exhibited by M.C. Briggs of Wray, Colo. J.B. Cozzens of Lucerne won the top honors for his carload of fat wethers.
T.F. DeWitt of Colorado Springs, Colo., swept the Hereford bull and female in the breeding classes, judged by Overton Harris. Nebraska’s G.W. Lindsey exhibited the champion Galloway bull and female, judged by Charles Gray who also judged the Aberdeen Angus division, won by Colorado A & M. A & M also exhibited the champion Shorthorn bull; the champion Shorthorn female was exhibited by A.M. McClanahan and that division was judged by N.H. Gentry.
Thomas Cross judged the individual fat cattle, selecting a 2-year-old red Shorthorn shown by Colorado A & M. The champion steer sold to Denver butcher J.D. Miller for 33 cents per pound. The champion carload of fat steers was purchased by United Packing Company for 10 cents per pound. Until the 1970s, fat cattle were shown by breed and age and the grand champion was selected from the breed champions.
That week, good to choice grading feeder steers on the Denver market were fetching $3.60 to $4.25 per hundreweight. Andy Norell sold his champion feeder pen to Peter Hopley of Atlantic, Iowa, for $5.95 per hundredweight.
STUDENT PARTICIPATION AND MEMBERSHIPS
Students from Colorado A & M in Fort Collins arrived by train and spent the day, as reported in the Record Stockman, “practicing judging and practical-look studying of the animals.” The Stockman reported on the huge crowd, including how “broad white sombreros crown the heads of the men from the staked plains of Texas, and the natty derby the craniums of Omaha, Chicago and Kansas City commission men, while one or two of the eastern beef barons appeared with a silk hat.”
While still at the show, a group organized and lifetime memberships were offered. The first to purchase a lifetime membership — an annual was offered, though only lifetimes were purchased — was C.R. Robinson. That week, the National Livestock and American Stock Growers Associations met in Denver and consolidated as the American National Livestock Association. Forest Service Chief Gifford Pinchot was on hand from Washington D.C., to address the producer group and he also purchased a lifetime membership prior to departing. Others at the top of the roll were Dean Carlyle, J.D. Husted, Knollin Sheep Commission Company, H.W. Moore, Means Brothers of Saguache, S.D., McDaniel of Colorado Springs, Murdo Mackenzie of Trinidad, and Lou D. Sweet.
The Western Stock Show Association was incorporated “to hold exhibitions of livestock, and of the products thereof, and of products and appliances necessary or useful in the breeding, feeding, care, and fattening and improving of livestock… to promote and encourage the improvement and better breeding of livestock and the feeding and care thereof.” A week later, the second show was scheduled for Jan. 24-29, 1907.
The committee welcomed livestock raised in “short grass country,” which reached east to the 99th meridian or approximately to North Platte, Neb., and Garden City, Kan. Committee members had their eyes on a weed-covered hill southeast of the Exchange Building that was owned by the Denver Union Stock Yard Company and they had asked the Stockyard Company “for a pavilion to seat about 10,000 people, with a judging ring about 90 by 180 feet.”
Eventually horse-drawn scrapers graded a portion of the hill to build a two-story, brick horse barn that was intended for use as a horse market most of the year and as horse stalls during the show. The pavilion the Denver Record Stockman had touted as a $100,000 project wasn’t coming to fruition.
Ahead of the 1907 show, a grass-fed cattle division was created, which tempted Texas producers to come to Denver. The famous carload bull division was also created with the promise of a $50 premium for first place for purebred or registered animals. Championship cups were advertised as coveted prizes: a $250 cup for the champion carload of fat steers, a $75 cup for the best yearling steers fed in Colorado, and a $100 cup for the champion load of feeder cattle and another for the champion carload of lambs.
THE MONSTER TENT
Gleaming cups and hefty premiums aside, the real news was the “monster” tent that was erected shortly after the new year on the weedy hill, overlooking the Yards. The tent was made by Shafer Tent and Awning Company in Denver and, at 150 by 175 feet, it was the largest sewn together by a Denver company. The tent required, according to Simms, 2½ miles of rope, 1,400 yards of ducking, and 114 poles. The sections were hauled in the snow from downtown using six horse-drawn wagons. Inside, a show ring was built that was large enough for four-horse hitches with seating for thousands.
Just days after the tent was complete, winter winds battered the hill and left the tent “in a heap.” Repairs were completed the day before the show opened. The number of exhibitors ready to show “on the hill” were four times the number of the original show.
The fights for top honors began with a 10-round boxing match featuring Frank Miller and H.L. Barnes, and carried into the ring with Roundup crowned as the champion steer. The steer was exhibited by Western Breeding Farm of Colorado Springs and fetched 31 cents per pound — the Denver market was topped by a price of 5 cents per pound — to the General Market Company. Roundup dressed at 69.4% chilled weight.
Champion feeder steers were exhibited by Jones Cattle Company of Longmont. The previous year’s champion, Andrew Norell told the Daily Record Stockman he was “willing to let the other fellows have a chance this year.”
Construction on a structure atop the hill overlooking the yards began in May 1908. The National Amphitheater opened on Jan. 18, 1909, and it was an enormous structure that cost a reported $200,000 by the Denver Union Stock Yard Company. The Daily Record Stockman was on hand to photograph the building and to detail it’s steam heating system, flaming arc lamps lighting, and enormous skylights and windows. With the steel and bricks in place, the Western National Stock Show became a permanent event.
In the coming years, attendance increased, foot and mouth disease cancelled the 10th show, and the need for additional buildings continued.
In 1918, despite wartime troubles, a record for livestock entries was set at the show. It was also that year that the Brown Palace Hotel first purchased the Grand Champion Steer. That year, the Brown Palace paid a record $5 per pound for the champion, a 2-year-old Hereford shown by G.C. Baker of Littleton. To support the war effort, a carload of heifers were sold by the Denver Livestock Exchange to benefit the Red Cross. The pen was sold and resold, ultimately raising $14,700. In 1919, nicknamed the Victory Stock Show, ranchers from across the state donated heifers to sell to benefit Red Cross and this time, raised $43,583. The show weathered market downturns and weather challenges through the following years, adding a rodeo to the events at the National Amphitheater.
In 1941, Simms said the cattle winning in the showring were beginning to look fancy. It was in 1941 that 12-year-old Kenny Monfort won Grand Champion steer honors with a 1,080-pound Hereford steer purchased out of the 1940 National Western grand champion carload exhibited by T O Ranch in Raton, N.M. The champion steer was purchased for $1 per pound by Melnick Market in Denver.
In 1945, 600 junior steer exhibitors showed their steers in the National Amphitheater. That year, a pair of Hereford bulls made history when they were sold for $50,000 each. The first record selling bull was Thornton Hereford Ranch’s TT Triumphant 29th by WHR Triumphant Domino 45th purchased by Richard Riggs, Foxhall Farms, in Catonsville, Md. The second bull was bred by Toponas, Colo., ranchers DeBerard and Reagor and was 2-year-old TT Regent by Real Domino 4 Square. He sold for $50,000 to E.F. Fisher and Allan Rush of Hi Point Farms in Romeo, Mich.
If the Thornton name wasn’t a well known one in Hereford circles before, after the two high dollar bulls were stalled in the Brown Palace Hotel lobby, it was after the tradition was born. The hotel, due to some “indiscretions” involved with the two initial bull guests, insisted that future bovine guests be steers. The tradition of displaying the champion steer in the lobby of the grand hotel remains alive today.
THE SEVENTIES
In the early 1970s, there was a major push for a crossbred steer division, Interstate 70 construction was completed, and new rules requiring steers be mouthed for maximum age, weighed, and broken into classes by weight. It was also the first year carcass data was gathered on the top five steers with results sent to exhibitors, judges, packers and breed associations. The National Amphitheater was known at this point as Stadium Arena.
In 1972, no livestock story dominated headlines more than Big Mac. Simms wrote about his frustration when the steer entered and shown as a black Angus was crowned Grand Champion and later dethroned once it was proven “to Simms’ satisfaction” that there were three rule violations on his entry.
Two young men filed a protest on Jan. 15 prior to the grand champion selection, alleging that the big black steer entered by Rex Miller from Alta, Iowa, was a Charolais cross raised by Skyline Ranch in Kremmling, Colo., which did match his brand. The two claimed the steer chosen as champion Angus had been shown at the American Royal in Kansas City and then dyed black and shown in Denver at the Angus steer class.
An investigative committee was formed and they were unable to locate an ear tattoo proving the steer was shown at the American Royal and the exhibitor had a bill of sale as evidence that the steer was purchased from Robert Miller in Aurelia, Iowa, and was sired by Angus bull Keyban Bardoliermere 423. Dying hair wasn’t against the rules so the steer was allowed to continue and was named Grand Champion.
On January 19, the champion steer hit the auction ring and was purchased by a group of McDonald’s franchise owners for a record $11.40 per pound and the steer was dubbed Big Mac.
Bill Myers, a journalist for the Denver Post got wind of the controversy, which was making its whispered rounds through the barn. Blood was drawn from Big Mac to be tested against the blood type on record for the Angus bull that was on record as the sire. Blood was also drawn from a cow at Skylark Ranch in Kremmling that was allegedly the dam of the steer. G. Earl Brown, the state brand commissioner, was flown to Alta, Iowa, to check brands on the bull the family claimed sired the steer. The blood tests showed that an Angus sire wasn’t present. There were 100-page transcripts of hearings and a complicated investigation, including positive identification of the steer from the exhibitor who showed him at Kansas City. Ultimately, the grand champion honor was revoked and the McDonald’s franchise group sued for their $14,250, which had been held in escrow. The then-white steer was sold as an estray by the State Board of Stock Inspection.
The huge arena and the traditional green carpet has since hosted some 40 years of champions selected in Stadium Arena. From the show ring, exhibitors can look up and see where a wall once separated the show ring from an auction ring. If they look to the stands, they will see exhibitors from years gone by who return to the 1909 building each January to watch the champions crowned in Denver.
