The Laramie Jubilee Days was first celebrated on July 10-11, 1940 for the golden anniversary of Wyoming’s statehood in 1890.
The inaugural “Equality Jubilee Days”, as it as known for the first year, celebrated the state’s birthday with horse races, a parade, fiddler’s contest, a buffalo barbecue, street dances and a court reenactment of the first woman juror—which was originally held in Laramie in 1870.
Laramie’s annual event looked quite different in its early years. Initially, event organizers were not sure if the Jubilee was meant to be annual at all. But on July 12th, 1940 the Laramie Republican and Boomerang reported that downtown streets and businesses were packed, and the free barbecue served over 6,600 visitors. The paper also ran the following headline, “Equality Jubilee Pronounced Huge Success; Lets Have One Every Year, Laramieites Urge.”
So from then on, the Jubilee was to be annual.
Amy Lawrence, 1942’s Miss Laramie Jubilee, recalled that in her year as royalty “a chain had to be put across the doorway into the Plaza (hotel) to keep out the horses and their riders.” While the celebration waned in interest during World War II, the Jubilee Days eventually extended over several days and incorporated more events.
One of the modern staples of the celebration, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) rodeo, did not start until 1978. Horse racing, trick riders were fan favorites. The “Laramie Plains Steer Roping Competition” started in 1947, with well-known Wyoming rancher King Merritt furnishing the steers. The 1950s saw the rise in interest in the horse show and steer roping events. In 1951, 11,000 fans are recorded in attendance for the horse show.
Laramie Jubilee Days has featured several different events and activities over the years. In 1983, citizens reenacted the famous stock detective Tom Horn’s trail, nearly a century since the actual trial occurred in Cheyenne.
In 1984, a free historic walking tour featured actors portraying politicians and celebrities who frequented the Laramie area. A pamphlet for the tour includes descriptions of visits from Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Stevens, Mary O’Hara and Theodore Roosevelt. In recent years, a historical downtown walking and biking tours have been offered to the community.
The Jubilee days have always offered the community and visitors a unique chance to experience Wyoming’s history and culture.
Burmma Hardy, senior library assistant at UW, and longtime Laramie resident, said that she has had friends from Germany, Sudan, France and Brazil visit over Jubilee days. “[Visitors] love the street dance and festivities, because its different than what they see in their home countries”, Hardy noted.
For the future, perhaps we can continue the Laramie Republican and Boomerang’s sentiment over Laramie’s inaugural Jubilee Days in 1940, “Laramie went ‘high, wide and handsome.”
