Every July, the population of Cheyenne swells as hundreds of thousands of visitors pour in for Cheyenne Frontier Days, the sprawling ten-day celebration that locals and cowboys alike call "the Daddy of 'em All."

First held in 1897, it has grown into the largest outdoor rodeo and Western festival on the planet. The rodeo itself draws the sport's top contestants chasing serious prize money, but the event is far more than eight-second rides. There are thunderous chuckwagon races, a midway carnival, an air show, pancake breakfasts that feed thousands from a cement mixer, and nightly concerts by the biggest names in country music.

The scale is staggering. Volunteers by the thousands run the show, and the grounds transform into a temporary city devoted entirely to the myth and the reality of the West.

For Wyoming, Frontier Days is more than a party. It is an economic engine for the capital, a point of fierce local pride, and a living link to the territorial days when the rodeo was born. Cowboys measure their careers by how they place here, and fans plan their whole summer around it. More than 125 years on, the Daddy still reigns.