"It's the Cheyenne thing to do..."

That's how Bill Dubois, a 2004 inductee in the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame, replied when asked why he had been volunteering for more than four decades in a variety of capacities at the "Daddy of 'em All."®

"It's the Cheyenne thing to do" for tens of hundreds of volunteers who provide the people power to produce what arguably is the largest outdoor western celebration in the world. For more than a century, chief executive officers of large companies, bank presidents, school teachers, realtors, homemakers, state and federal employees— literally folks from every walk of life— have devoted millions of volunteer hours to plan, organize and execute all the events associated with Cheyenne Frontier Days.

It began as a simple one-day celebration in September of 1897 when a group of volunteers from the Cheyenne business community thought it would be fun and profitable to stage a western celebration. Today, more than 2,500 volunteers work around the calendar to produce an event that borders on two weeks long and includes parades, pancake breakfasts, world-class concerts, chili and chuckwagon cookoffs, carnival, exhibits, Indian Village, military open houses and performances by the United States Air Force Thunderbirds and, of course the event that started it all—nine Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) rodeos.

Volunteers are the fuel that drives the Cheyenne Frontier Days engine. Tasks range from sorting stock for the nine rodeos plus the slack performances; caring for the world's largest horse-drawn carriage collection and a remarkable period clothing collection; mucking horse stalls; directing traffic in all types of weather; manning gates; the care and feeding of a large media contingent; serving as hosts to the tens of thousands of spectators who enjoy the variety of events; the care and maintenance of a 100-acre park with barns, grandstands, exhibit halls, food facilities and arenas and thousands of other grizzly little details that must be accomplished for the event to succeed.

You get the picture. Cheyenne Frontier Days is a small community in and of itself for the better part of the month of July, and, complimented by a full-time staff of 13, the "community" works because of the volunteers who won't let it be anything but the best.

 Why do they do it?

 "It's the Cheyenne thing to do."