History Of The Cheyenne Frontier Days Parades

History Of The Cheyenne Frontier Days Parades

Photo Courtesy: Debbie Martinez

The first of four Cheyenne Frontier Days 2025 Parades will kick off at 9 a.m. Saturday in downtown Cheyenne.

The parade route is shown below.

How It All Started

The first CFD "parades" were mostly wild and woolly gallops through town by rowdy cowboys on wild broncos rather than the organized, well-planned processions enjoyed by modern spectators (according to the Cheyenne Frontier Days website).

The cowboys often used windows for target practice and introduced themselves to pretty girls by lassoing them. The only early exceptions were a parade in 1898 honoring Buffalo Bill and a 1910 event for President Theodore Roosevelt.

But, in 1925 a pageant around the theme of 'The Evolution of Transportation'' was organized. The following year, the first ever parade featuring floats that would last was launched, according to the website.

The parades have continued to grow and evolve along with CFD itself. alternating with the Pancake Breakfasts as free events on mornings other than Sunday mornings. The parades are held on Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday and again on the final Saturday.

The parades typically center around western themes, with floats featuring Native Americans, politicians on horseback, Cheyenne and Wyoming history and similar exhibitions.

Other common elements include marching bands and military groups.

Cheyenne has a long association with the military, starting with Fort D.A. Russell, which was an army cavalry outpost that was founded in 1867 to protect workers  workers on the Union Pacific Railroad. That same location is today home to F.E. Warren Air Force Base.

Saturday's parade will continue the tradition for 2025 along the route shown below.


There is one change this year, in that vehicle access is much more limited than in past years.

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Casperites Share Scary Beautiful Pics of Lightning Storm

July 15, 2025.

⛈ On the south west side of town, the sky looked like a strobe light. While there were a few lightning strikes that touched the ground, hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of strikes contributed to a sheet lightning storm, also known as intra-cloud lightning. This happens when electrical charges connect with a thunderstorm cloud, creating a disco-effect. But there were still plenty of cloud to ground strikes, and readers were quick to share them! ⚡

Gallery Credit: Kolby Fedore, TSM

Filed Under: Cheyenne Frontier Days, social post