Figure 2.18: Origin and diffusion of the American commercial rodeo.

Figure 2.18: Origin and diffusion of the American commercial rodeo. Derived originally from folk culture, rodeos evolved through formal cowboy contests and Wild West shows to emerge, in the late 1880s and 1890s, in their present popular culture form. The border between the United States and Canada proved no barrier to the diffusion, although Canadian rodeo, like Canadian football, differs in some respects from the U.S. type.

(Sources: Frederickson, 1984; Pillsbury, 1990b.)