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Introduction <br />Kittitas County Fair Native Americans,cowboys,and ranch hands of both sexes to <br />compete and to demonstrate their mastery of essential livestock <br />From the first organized Kittitas County Fair in 1885 to the modern management skills. <br />five-day event held each Labor Day weekend,the fair has always <br />been about agriculture.From its inception by local farmers and This event evolved over time into an annual street fair with <br />ranchers the fair has showcased the best that Kittitas County has to exhibition rodeo events.A 1923 infusion of $10,000 from the state <br />offer.With the building of the rodeo arena and the first permanent enabled organizers to conduct Washington's first official rodeo. <br />buildings on the fairgrounds in 1923,the beginnings of the Many of the rodeo's original competitors had participated in bi- <br />permanent location for the weekly "Sunday Rodeos"west of Ellensburg near the town of Thorp. <br />combined County Fair and These loosely organized competitions drew as many as 300 <br />i.··..c I Rodeo took hold.Now,each spectators.It was this interest as well as income potential and a <br />year,as in 1923,desire to honor the already-waning romantic notion of the Old West <br />agricultural exhibits and that prompted local townspeople to sponsor the event.Kittitas County Fair,competitions,a four-day <br />.rodeo and a gathering of <br />,.Yakama Indians takes place. <br />The Fairgrounds Historic <br />District is listed on both the Washington State and National <br />Registers of Historic Places and includes some structures built over <br />75 years ago.A permanent Heritage Center is now housed on the <br />Fairgrounds,showcasing all the different groups that made Kittitas . <br />County the place it is today. <br />Ellensburg Rodeo - <br />. <br />Yakama Nation tribal people gathered for hundreds of years on the <br />Kittitas plains,and this gathering was a forerunner of the -··------ <br />Ellensburg rodeo.The Ellensburg rodeo had its modern origins in a <br />local 1885 reunion of veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic.¯·¯ <br />Ellensburg held its first rodeo on September 13,1923 when <br />Ellensburg townspeople gathered to participate in a Western rodeo, <br />The event became an annual celebration of both the town and A.M--,4 <br />Western culture. <br />Rodeos combine community celebration with the opportunity for