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What Happens at the Round-Up?
One of the biggest rodeos and Wild West events in the country,
the Pendleton Round-up attracts tens of thousand of visitors
each year to cheer on the cowboys as they compete to become
Pendleton Round-Up champions. The four day festival takes
place in the second full week in September. Bull riding,
bareback riding, wild cow milking, and steer wresting
are just some of the competitive activities that cowboys attempt
to become a champion. You'll definitely gain respect for these
guys as you watch them being bucked off the back of a Brahman
bull. In fact, 'let her buck' is the slogan of the festival!
Its not just ranch-types who frequent the event, this is
the ultimate cowboys and Indians festival. Representatives
of the local plain Native American Indian tribes have been
coming for years and many tee pees are erected for the four
days.
The Happy Canyon Pageant, a play that tells the story
of the settlement of the west from the point of view of the
cowboys and also the Indians, has been performed here since
1916. The content of the play is at times controversial due
to whose viewpoint is considered to be historically accurate.
When any one of the actors is too old to play their part,
they step aside and the part is handed down to the next generation
of the family. |
