It was a cold, clear January day in 1898 when stockmen and dignitaries from across the West gathered in Denver for the inaugural National Livestock Association Convention. The event’s organizers were eager to secure the Mile High City’s place as a major agricultural market city.
To cap off the convention, plans were made for an enormous barbecue featuring the wild meat of the plains. The Denver Republican newspaper promised free beer and six tons of meat, including buffalo, elk, antelope, bear and two hundred opossums.
On the afternoon of the barbecue, thirty thousand people descended on the stockyards. Police tried unsuccessfully to restrain the growing throngs. The rioters carried off chunks of meat, loaves of bread and barrels of beer. Women and children were trampled. When the dust cleared, the stockyards were stripped clean of food, cookware and even beer glasses.
The barbecue organizers blamed undesirable elements from the rough and tumble areas of Denver for the chaos.
Read the Benjamin F. Davis papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more.
For more information, visit the American Heritage Center site.