The Mountain Thread | Estes Park Newsletter | July 2, 2026

What Happened in That Baseball Field on July 4, 1908?

Before it had a name, before it had a queen, before it had a parade theme or a professional stock contractor, the Rooftop Rodeo began with a man named Johnny Malmberg and some very bad horses.

The Estes Park Mountaineer ran a preview notice on June 25, 1908, advertising what it called a "genuine old fashioned Wild West exhibition" to be held at the Baseball Park, a quarter mile east of town. Bronco busting. Roping and branding. Steer riding. The notice promised "noted riders and horses" and mentioned that "some bad outlaw horses are being rounded up." The word "rodeo" was not in common American use yet. It would not catch on for another four years. They called it Frontier Day instead, borrowing the name from Cheyenne's famous celebration, which had been running since 1897.

The July 9 edition of The Mountaineer documented what happened next. The crowd was enormous. They came on horseback, on foot, in rigs, and in automobiles, the autos apparently numerous enough that the reporter compared the scene to a Sunday afternoon drive in Coney Island. The bronco busting was so good that the judges could not pick a winner. The Mountaineer recorded it plainly: "the horsemanship displayed in these contests could scarcely have been better, and in the face of the riding done by all contestants, the judges threw up their hands and refused to go on record as declaring any one man the winner."

There was also a clown. A man named A.G. Birch dressed in full costume, rode a burro wearing trousers of the national colors, and attempted to enter a wooden horse in the bronco busting contest. Almost no one recognized him. The Mountaineer noted that when word spread who he was, "there were repeated calls for his appearance, and he graciously responded."

How Did a Fourth of July Celebration Become a Real Rodeo?

The events in Estes Park grew and formalized in fits and starts over the next few decades, never quite settling into a single identity until the name gave it one.

By 1923, the Estes Park Trail was using the word "rodeo" for the first time in relation to local events, announcing a Wild West show at Stanley Field and noting that "Colorado Springs and other cities have been putting on rodeos for several years and Estes Park, not to be outdone, will break into the limelight this season." By 1924, the events had taken on a shape recognizable today: bareback riding, saddle bronc, bull riding, steer wrestling, tie-down roping.

The name "Rooftop Rodeo" didn't come until 1941, and it came from altitude, not architecture. Estes Park sits at 7,500 feet. The organizers billed it as the highest rodeo competition in America and chose the name to make that point. The first queen was selected that same year. Her name was Patty Moomaw, chosen by ballot from sixteen candidates at the Riverside Ballroom. Lana Turner had been named honorary queen by local cowboys earlier that spring when she visited for a Look magazine feature. Hollywood business kept her from attending. The parade went on without her.

What Makes This Year's Rodeo Different?

The name "Rooftop Rodeo" was adopted in 1941 for a very specific reason that had nothing to do with rooftops or architecture. What was the actual reason for the name, and how high above sea level does Estes Park sit?

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What Is Actually Happening in Estes Park This Weekend?

Plenty. The calendar didn't postpone.

The American Legion Post 119 is running an all-day celebration at 850 N. Saint Vrain Avenue, right across from Lake Estes, open from 9 a.m. through the evening. Breakfast burritos in the morning. A car show starting at 10 a.m. An American buffet lunch and dinner. Live music from the Sugar Mountain Band from 6 to 9 p.m.

The Big Bang Concert at the Estes Park Events Complex opens its gates at 5:30 p.m. This year's headliner is FACE Vocal Band, a Boulder-based all-vocal rock group that has been performing for over two decades without a single instrument. Five-part harmonies, a beatboxer, and a catalog that runs from classic rock to modern pop. Covered seating, food, local beer and spirits, free parking.

The Estes Park Village Band plays a free patriotic concert at Performance Park Amphitheater at 7 p.m. No tickets. Bring a chair.

The Free Peak to Peak Shuttle runs extended service through the holiday weekend.

Rocky Mountain National Park on July 4th weekend is one of the busiest stretches of the entire year. Timed entry permits are required. Plan accordingly and go early.

Rooftop Rodeo

Monday, July 6 through Saturday, July 11

Estes Park Events Complex, 1125 Rooftop Way

Parade: Monday, July 6, 10 a.m. at Performance Park

Tickets: rooftoprodeo.com

RMNP UPDATE

Trail Ridge Road is open to through travel. Timed entry reservations are required between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. for general park access, and between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. for the Bear Lake Road Corridor. July 4th weekend is one of the busiest stretches of the entire year in the park. Go before 9 a.m., or plan to return after 2 p.m. Both strategies work.

Old Fall River Road remains closed to vehicles for spring maintenance with no specific opening date announced yet, but plan around an extra wrinkle this week. The park is applying dust treatment to the road surface on July 2 and July 3, which means the road is fully closed to everyone, hikers, cyclists, and pedestrians included, for those two days. If the treatment goes as scheduled, the road should be clear for its traditional early-July opening to vehicles sometime after that. Verify current status at nps.gov/romo or call 970-586-1222 before heading up. The phone line is updated more reliably than the website.

Stage 2 Fire Restrictions are in effect throughout the Estes Valley and in Rocky Mountain National Park. No campfires, no charcoal or wood grills, no open flames of any kind. Afternoon thunderstorms are now the daily summer pattern above treeline. Start early and be off exposed ridgelines before early afternoon.

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DID YOU KNOW? 

The word "rodeo" was not in common American usage until 1912. The 1908 celebration in Estes Park was advertised as a "Frontier Day" and described in local press as a "Wild West Show" and a "Broncho Busting Contest." The first documented use of the word "rodeo" in connection with Estes Park events appeared in the Estes Park Trail in 1923, fifteen years after the tradition had already started.

Colorado entered the Union on August 1, 1876, three days before the country turned 100 years old. That timing is the entire reason it has been called the Centennial State ever since. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the statehood proclamation, making Colorado the 38th state.

Stage 2 Fire Restrictions in the Estes Valley prohibit all open flames including charcoal grills, wood fires, and campfires. Personal fireworks are illegal in Estes Park at all times regardless of whether fire restrictions are active, and have been for years.

The Rooftop Rodeo's first official queen, Patty Moomaw, was selected by paper ballot in 1941 from sixteen candidates at the Riverside Ballroom. Lana Turner was named honorary queen that same year after visiting Estes Park for a Look magazine feature. Studio commitments kept her in California. The rodeo went ahead anyway.

Buck's Joke Of The Day

The most celebrated performer at Estes Park's first rodeo in 1908 rode a burro and tried to enter a wooden horse in the bronco busting contest.

Nobody knew who he was until it was over.

(He got more curtain calls than the actual cowboys.)

😂

The name "Rooftop Rodeo" was adopted in 1941 because Estes Park sits at 7,500 feet above sea level, making it the highest altitude rodeo competition in America at the time. The organizers chose the name specifically to highlight that distinction. It had nothing to do with actual rooftops.

UNTIL NEXT WEEK

Moe came back by late afternoon. Said he'd been thinking about what he said that morning, about the fireworks and the smoke hanging over the lake.

I asked him if he'd changed his mind about the postponement.

He said no. Said he still thought it was the right call. Said he just wanted to make sure somebody wrote it down that missing something and knowing it's right can both be true at the same time.

I told him that was why we had a newsletter.

Trail Ridge Road is open. Old Fall River Road is closed, call ahead before you go. The rodeo starts Monday and the parade steps off at ten. The fireworks will come back when the valley is ready for them.

Stay smart, stay safe, and leave the mountains exactly as bright as you found them.

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.- Buck Timber The Mountain Thread themountainthread.com/signup

This account draws from the Rooftop Rodeo's official history, primary source reporting in the July 9, 1908 edition of The Mountaineer, Colorado Parks and Wildlife records, and the Estes Park News. The broad facts are solid. The 1908 crowd scenes are drawn directly from eyewitness newspaper accounts, not imagination.  - Buck

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