Throughout the fair, the Cummins Wild West Show held performances on the Pike.  Admission was charged to see the cowboys, cowgirls, Indians and horses. 

On November 12, a Wild West show was held on the fairgrounds in the large Livestock Forum.  This was NOT Cummins' show. It was a free event and it was held on a Saturday afternoon at 1.  It was scheduled to coincide with the final day of the Range Cattle show.  The Livestock Forum was was specially prepared for the big performance.  Up to that time, the forum had been used for cattle and horse shows but because wild range cattle and broncos would be in the forum, the gates had been made higher and more secure.  It was also noted that the seats around the forum were safe for spectators because the 6 foot tall walls would keep the wild steer on the ground floor.  The steers that were to be roped had been brought in specially from  Texas and Indian Territory.  The horses that were to be used in bronco busting had been brought in from Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma and Indian Territory. 

Among the attractions at the Wild West Show were

• The Gabriel Brothers, known the world over as daring riders and expert lasso artists
• Miss Lucille Mulhall, champion woman rider and rope of the world
• Jackson Brothers of Chadron, Nebraska
• Charley Thompson of Texas
• Miss Mabel Good of Texas
• Sam Scoville of Cheyenne, Wyoming
• J. P. Snell of Hamilton, Texas
• Will Rogers of Claremore, Oklahoma (although the paper called him William Rogers of Clearmont, Oklahoma)
• Lew Young of Texas

The performance consisted of several "acts":

• A quadrille of eight horsemen in a chase for a bride
• A tournament in which the most excellent horsemen would compete
• A quarter of a mile race
• Exhibition of how the pony express before the advent of the railroad carried the mail to the west
• Trick Riding by Charley Thompson, George Alser, Slim Higley of Wyoming, John France of Hidalgo, I. T.
• Knox Simmons of the Indian Territory
• Charley Mulhall of Oklahoma was in some of the acts
• Miss Lucille Mulhall gave exhibitions of riding and would exhibit her famous high school horse, "Governor"
• The Gabriel Brothers appeared in acts that had made them popular in Wild West shows
• Tricks in roping steers
• Bronco Busting
• Bolo Throwing

References: St. Louis Globe Democrat, November 10 and 12, 1904.

This page is designed and maintained by Lyndon Irwin. 

Go back