By Parker Anderson

In 1888 the small town of Prescott was planning a four-day July 4^th celebration and was looking for something to bring visitors to town and keep them there for the duration.  Ultimately, they decided on a “cowboy tournament” which would consist of bronc-riding and cattle-roping contests. This was Prescott’s first rodeo, which has been held over the Fourth of July every year since. Itis the world’s oldest rodeo. That fateful year of 1888, the “tournament” was held around where Forbing Park is today.

An excerpt of coverage from the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner newspaper of July 11, 1888, stated: “The next and most exciting of all, was Juan Libas [sic]. His steer turned toward the herd, at break-neck speed. Libas made a beautiful throw with his rope, bringing the steer to earth so suddenly that it pulled his horse over, also throwing him to the ground, but quick as a flash of lightning he was up and again in the saddle, amid the loud and prolonged cheers of the audience, and was scored a record of 1:17 ½.”

The spectacular young cowboy’s name was actually Juan Leivas, who, it is believed, grew up in the Big Sandy Valley in Mohave County. He has family members buried in the old cemetery at Signal, today a ghost town. Leivas won a prize saddle for his showing in the steer-roping contest.

Next, Juan Leivas entered the bronc-riding contest. The only other entry was Charlie Meadows.  Riding a big bay horse, Leivas managed to stay on the wild-bucking horse until it settled down. Meadows scored impressively too, and the judges declared a tie, dividing the $50 purse between Leivas and Meadows.

According to rodeo historians, tournament officials spent $65.64 on a trophy to award to the most impressive cowboy in the whole event. It was given to Juan Leivas and was an engraved, sterling-silver trophy in the shape of a shield.

Juan Leivas left Prescott after that and reportedly went to Tucson. His death is not thoroughly documented, but in 1981, Leivas’ great-nephew Mickey Contreras told rodeo historian Danny Freeman that Leivas was killed in a riding accident only a few years after leaving Prescott. He is buried in an unmarked grave at the San Xavier del Bac Mission.

Flash-forward to 1918, when World War I was raging. At a scrap-metal drive for the war effort at the Bashford-Burmister Store, employee H.D. Aitken found Juan Leivas’ silver trophy in the metal pile. He recognized it, as he had arranged for it to be made back in 1888. Aitken and rodeo man Shorty Davis took it and presented it to the Prescott Frontier Days Association on July 4, 1919. Grace Sparkes was secretary of the association at this time, and she hung it in their office.

In 1945 the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors abolished Grace Sparkes’ job, and she apparently took the trophy with her when she left. In 1985 it was announced that she was being inducted into the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame.  Upon hearing this news, her nephew, Will Sparkes, contacted Prescott officials and said that he had the Juan Leivas’ trophy. He found it in his aunt’s belongings after she died 22 years earlier.  Will Sparkes asked that it be donated to Sharlot Hall Museum, and at a press event on April 1, 1986, the long-lost Juan Leivas trophy was presented to Sharlot Hall Museum Executive Director Ken Kimsey.  A duplicate of the award was manufactured at this time, and presented to the Professional Cowboys Rodeo Association in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

Today, the 1888 special trophy awarded to Juan Leivas is on display in the Sharlot Hall Building (or, the “rock building”) on the museum grounds.

“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.archives.sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles/1. The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org Please contact SHM Research Center reference desk at 928-277-2003, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.