Action inside and outside the arena draws tens of thousands to the tiny town for first day of five-day rite in July
More than 750 contestants and thousands of onlookers descended on the tiny town of St. Paul on Day 1 of what organizers bill as the largest Fourth of July rodeo in the land.
With a payout of nearly a half-million dollars and the opportunity to add a win in one of the nation’s most prestigious competitions, encouraging competitors to make the trek to the tiny town of 350 residents has not proven difficult…