To Market: The Story

Denver’s first stock show opened on January 25, 1898, in a borrowed circus tent by the railroad tracks in Denver’s meatpacking district. Originally intended to display livestock from local ranches and to educate ranchers about new and innovative technology in the agriculture industry, it drew people from all over the country when it was officially organized in 1906 as the National Western Stock Show. The event attracted participants from surrounding and eastern states who came by railroad and brought their stock by freight to show and sell. In fact, railroads proved instrumental to the stock show’s success transporting stock, competitors and even audiences.