Brawley Cattle Call Rodeo (Brawley, California)

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The Cattle Call Rodeo began on a high school football field. In 1957, the Chamber of Commerce realized that Brawley had no annual event like other towns and that is when they decided to host a celebration in Brawley saluting the cattle industry and the first parade and rodeo happened. A contest was held to propose a name and the winner was Mrs. Rex Hudson who submitted the name “Cattle Call”. The rodeo that was held on the Brawley High School football field in 1957, was a far cry from the successful professional event it is today. After that first year, Louise Willey, Ed Rutherford, Al Smith, and Dick Smith met at the Planters Hotel and decided to build a permanent rodeo arena.

The location chosen for the Cattle Call Rodeo was owned by the City of Brawley and was inhabited only by rattlesnakes, rabbits, coyotes and skunks. With help from Brawley Public Works crews and also volunteers from throughout the community, they began working on clearing the land. In a manner of months city crews and volunteers, all led by the rodeo committee, had cleared away all the brush and weeds, developed a roadway in and out of the area and created what would become Cattle Call Park. Local companies donated much of the equipment, materials, and labor needed to build the first arena and local service clubs made donations to the building fund. The Cattle Call Park today is in the city of Brawley where not only the rodeo is held, but also many other community events. It is a park for family and friends to enjoy and there is an area for horseback riding all year long.

The town Brawley has a significant cattle and feed industry, and hosts the annual Cattle Call Rodeo. Year-round agriculture is an important economic activity in Brawley. The Cattle Call Rodeo, which is located in the Imperial Valley, is a celebration of the area’s Western tradition and the importance of the cattle industry to the local economy. The Brawley Cattle Call Rodeo is a heritage celebrated every year towards the middle of November. It is now a 60-year-old rodeo and unique in how it came to be and because of what it still means to a community that cherishes its Western traditions. According to those who organize the event, the Brawley Cattle Call Rodeo offers a chance to see an area where agriculture thrives and a chance to experience rodeo as a community wide celebration.