Starring Roy Rogers, the Sheriff’s Championship Rodeo took place at the Coliseum in front of a record- breaking crowd of 100,857. With a theme of “Gold Rush Days”, the Rodeo ran annually from 1945 until 1960, and was sponsored by the Sheriffs’ Relief Association of Los Angeles County.
Dale Evans, “Queen of the Westerns”, and Ann Sheridan, “Queen of the Rodeo”, shared the spotlight as they reigned over activities that afternoon. Featuring a parade of more than 1,000 western horsemen, the performers showcased a variety of western songs, as well as rope spinners and twirlers, clowns and comedy bull fighters showing off in a mock bull fight.
The festivities ended with the most spectacular show of all, a horse drill called “Golden Horse Quadrille”, which consisted of a very well-executed square dance on horseback by eight cowboys and cowgirls, and if that weren’t enough, Lt. Dick Evans commanded a motorcycle drill by the Los Angeles Police Department’s American Legion Police Post 381.