Participating in the Mucking Contest Photo courtesy Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce
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Gold Rush Days
This annual three-day festival and rodeo celebrates
the mining and ranching heritage of Wickenburg. Originally a boom
town, Wickenburg sprang up in 1863 after Henry Wickenburg
discovered gold along the Hassayampa River. Gold Rush Days, which
began in 1948, is sponsored by the Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce.
Held the second full weekend in February, the festival opens with
Arizona's fourth largest parade, featuring 1,000, horses and
hundreds of other entries, including antique cars, and fire trucks.
During the parade, saloon style "garter girls" distribute garters
to the crowd.
Since 1986, the Senior Professional Cowboys Rodeo,
held over two days, has been a "Gold Rush" highlight. Hundreds of
contestants, who must be 40 years or older, and have competed in
the other rodeos participate in this popular circuit event. The
rodeo features ladies barrel racing, calf roping, ribbon roping,
team roping, steer wrestling, and the difficult bull riding
competition. "Gold rushers" used to eat at the chuckwagon during
the 1950s, but now enjoy barbecue served at the community
center.
Other festival events are "shootin' tootin" Western
skits and stunts, a, family carnival, rock climbing, a gem and
mineral exhibit, a photography exhibit, more than 200 arts and
crafts exhibits, a dance, stage entertainment, a dance, and western
melodramas, which are performed at the historic Saguaro Theater.
Among events that pay homage to the city's mining heritage are the
drilling and mucking contests, in which contestants shovel ore into
carts, and gold panning contests.
Documentation includes a festival 2000 program,
photos, newspaper articles, a bumper sticker and buttons.
Originally submitted by: Bob Stump, Representative (3rd District).
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