The Houston Rodeo Celebrates a Manufactured Past

After a two-year hiatus, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo came back in full force at the end of February, and just ended its run yesterday. It was a milestone year for RodeoHouston, already the biggest rodeo and livestock exhibition in the world, as they celebrated their 90th anniversary. But does the rodeo really reflect Houston's roots?

In 1932, the Houston Rodeo (known then as The Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock Exposition), was born. Ever since then, it has styled itself in the Old West tradition: Jeans, boots, spurs – all of it a tip of the ol’ cowboy hat to a history that never was. Today, Pulitzer finalist and City Cast Houston Contributor Evan Mintz sits with Producers Ferrill Gibbs and Dina Kesbeh to retrace the history of the rodeo and Houston's origins as a port city, revealing what parts of the rodeo's current incarnation are plainly manufactured, and why.

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