Postcard from the Past: The National Western Stock Show

The big agricultural event of the Intermountain Country will draw stockmen and farmers to Denver

With the National Western Stock Show (NWSS) coming up, we pause to reflect on early news items covering this event. The Dec. 29, 1911 issue of the Grand Encampment Herald reported:

The Seventh Annual NWSS, which will be held in Denver during the week of Jan. 15-20, promises to be the greatest of all the shows yet to be held there. 

This big annual event has grown to be the principal agricultural event of the year in the Intermountain Country. 

Every year, it has extended its influence and developed into a great national exhibition or exposition. The secret of the success of this show is the fact the prime object – education – has never for a moment been forgotten. 

While the entertainment part of the event is not over looked, even the entertainment has educational value, and the strictly circus features are eliminated.

The show consists of four great departments, each a show in itself. 

There is the stock show, which takes in the breeding and fat stock both in single entries, groups and carloads. Then there is the horse show, which provides entertainment and, at the same time, demonstrates the horse in all of its phases. 

The NWSS Western Poultry Show is one of the big features and is very popular, and the Feed and Forage Exhibit takes in a wide range of crops which can be grown in the West and are suitable for the production of livestock.

The commercial end of the show is found in carload exhibits, where farmers and stockmen exhibit the product of the ranch and range in competition. After the competitive test and awarding of ribbons, the stock is sold at a public sale, giving the further test of actual value in dollars and cents.

In addition, there are held sales of purebred cattle, horses, sheep, hogs and poultry, which provides farmers and stockmen an opportunity to secure choice breeding stock at fair prices.

As an entertainment, the big show is well worth a visit. As an educational medium and a strictly business proposition, no stockman or farmer in the West can afford to miss it. 

Last January, more than 25,000 Western stockmen and farmers visited the show. It is expected nearly 40,000 will attend the coming show and the railroads have made rates enabling all to attend.