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The first National Western Stock Show opened on Jan. 29, 1906, under a borrowed circus tent in the Denver Union Stock Yards Co. with 336 head of prize cattle at the six-day show.
Rodeo joined the fun in 1931. About 100 cowboys competed for $35 prizes.
By the centennial show in 2006, more than 700 cowboys and cowgirls vied for a purse of $500,000, the fifth-richest regular- season prize in professional rodeo.
The 100th anniversary drew a record crowd of 726,972 spectators for the 16-day show. Last year marked the 12th in a row in which crowds exceeded 600,000.
