During the winter of 1896, two men – Charles McFarland, a Texas stockman, and Charles C. French, public relations director for the newly established Fort Worth Stock Yards Company – met on a sidewalk in the Fort Worth Stockyards and agreed that a stock show would do a great deal to stimulate the livestock industry and to draw attention to Fort Worth’s place in it. It wasn’t long after that, on the banks of Marine Creek, the very first Fort Worth Stock Show was held.
For more than 35 years, no matter what the name, the Texas Fat Stock Show, National Feeders and Breeders Show and Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show called the Historic Fort Worth Stockyards home. It was a dynamic time in Fort Worth’s history – the cattle business was booming, the Armour and Swift plants were in full swing and the annual stock show and rodeo was attracting patrons from near and far to the City of Fort Worth. During those 35 years of stock show and rodeo history, a list of industry firsts were recorded including the first indoor rodeo, first side release bucking chutes, first live broadcast of a Rodeo on television and radio and many more.
In 1944, the Show moved to Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth’s Cultural District and is now widely known as the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show or Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. In 2015, the Show featured more than 28,000 head of livestock, over 1,200 professional rodeo athletes competing for more than $600,000 in total purse, hosted over 1.2 million visitors and had an estimated economic impact of over 100 million dollars on the City of Fort Worth during the 23 day event.
