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Guy Weadick, 1886-1953, was born in Rochester, NY, USA. His natural gift for showmanship and a dexterity in roping turned him to vaudeville and rodeo. In 1906 he married Grace Maud Bensell, 1883-1951, also known as Flores (or Florence) La Due, also a trick rider and roper. In 1912 he gained the financial backing of the "Big Four", A.E. Cross, Patrick Burns, George Lane, and Archibald J. McLean, and staged the first Calgary Stampede. The next Calgary Stampede, held in 1919, was also managed by Weadick. It became an annual event in 1923, and Weadick managed it from then until 1932 when he was fired over a dispute with the Stampede Board. In 1920 he bought a ranch in Eden Valley, west of High River, Alberta. He turned the Stampede Ranch into a dude (guest) ranch in the 1930s, and entertained many famous people, including Edward, Prince of Wales. In 1950 the Weadicks moved to Arizona for his wife's health. She died in 1951, and in 1952 Weadick married Dorothy "Dolly" Mullins, 1890-1985, who had also competed in the first Stampede. Weadick died the following year.
He was inducted into the Canadian Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1982. Guy Weadick School in Calgary was named in his honour in 1979. For further information see The Cowboy Spirit : Guy Weadick and the Calgary Stampede / Donna Livingstone. -- Vancouver : Greystone, 1996, and The First Stampede of Flores LaDue / Wendy Bryden. -- Toronto : Touchstone, 2011.