Tri-State Rodeo

Fort Madison, Iowa • Inducted 2024

In 1948, Santa Fe Railroad telegrapher Robert Wilken, cowboy singer Gene Autry, and banker C.E. “Eddie” Richards needed something to replace the Labor Day parade and picnic. His father-in-law, Wilken, had an idea. He knew Autry’s livestock had to be rested during the long train ride from Texas to Madison Square Garden in New York City. Wilken was a big rodeo fan and knew Autry’s cattle and horse had been making an overnight stay in Fort Madison each of the ten prior years. The negotiations began, and by September of 1948, Fort Madison had its first rodeo.

Organizers realized that Ivanhoe Park, where the Santa Fe picnic had always been held, wouldn’t be big enough for the rodeo. Land was purchased then from the Feisen family, and the Iowa State Penitentiary became the heart of today’s Rodeo Park, now called C.E. “Eddie” Richards Arena. A contract with Autry’s company stipulated that a rodeo corporation had to be formed and that an area with a capacity of at least 10,000 seats had to be provided. Volunteers did both, resigning $100,000 and setting up a grandstand in the summer of that first year. The first rodeo was a sellout, surprising Autry’s business manager, who related that not even the Madison Square Garden event saw such advance ticket sales; Autry himself was the featured entertainer.

From the first year, a parade was part of the rode activities. Pre-rodeo events were introduced in 1949. The rodeo grew, improvements were made at Rodeo Park, and in 1959 a new event, women’s barrel racing was added. A fly-in breakfast at the municipal airport also began that year. Television cameras arrived in 1963 when ABC television filmed part of the parade and rodeo for the network’s “Wild World of Sports.” A rodeo queen contest was part of the first event, but it wasn’t until 1982 that the Miss Rodeo Iowa pageant was moved from Sidney to Fort Madison.

Since 2000 the Tri-State Rodeo has been named one of the nation’s top five large outdoor rodeos and continues to rank first among the Great Lakes Circuit. In 2001, the Tri-State Rodeo was ranked 43rd among the nation’s more than 700 sanctioned PRCA events. The Tri-State Rodeo continues to attract the nation’s top cowboys, with competition spread over four nights the first week in September.