Long after the disappearance of travelling Wild West shows, replete with romantic portrayals of gun-slinging cowboys and grizzled outlaws, the Calgary Stampede has endured into its 100th year.

Whether one views the 10-day festival as a tribute to Canada’s ranching heritage or a cartoonish depiction of cowboy culture, the rodeo and exhibition’s popularity persists.

More than one million visitors are expected to descend upon the Stampede grounds again this year for the festival’s centennial. Like many before them, the latest crop of visitors will be able to cheer on bull riders and steer wrestlers, walk past the blinking lights of the midway and sample deep-fried confections.

It’s an itinerary that long-time Stampede lovers might find familiar. As one expert notes, despite its longevity, the “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” hasn’t strayed far from a blueprint established decades ago.

“There’ve been some changes in rodeo rules and the dictates of modern taste have changed, but the Stampede as we know it hasn’t changed a great deal,” said Alberta historian Max Foran, a professor at the University of Calgary, who has studied the evolution of the Stampede extensively.

The modern prototype for the Stampede, according to Foran, was established in the 1920s.

Founder Guy Weadick, an American entertainer, came up withthe idea for a major Canadian rodeo competition in 1912. But it wasn’t until about a decade later that he established the Stampede’s tried-and-true “rodeo and exhibition” template, merging with the Calgary Industrial Exhibition and coming up with now-famous spectacles such as chuckwagon races

The rest, as Foran puts it, is history.

“The Stampede has been very, very effective in adopting a proven template,” he said in a phone interview from Calgary.

“Get the best rodeo competitors, offer top prize money, make sure the First Nations are involved, get a powerful volunteer component, put elite and prominent businessmen on your board, advertise widely, find celebrity support, the list goes on.”

That basic formula, says Foran, is among the many reasons the festival has become internationally renowned and continues to generate millions in tourist dollars. Using both history and myth to market itself, the Stampede nods at Canada’s ranching heritage but pulls much of its imagery from Hollywood depictions of the “Wild West.”

“But that’s what festivals are: statements about exaggeration, statements about excess,” said Foran, noting that a classroom depiction of the western Canadian frontier experience likely wouldn’t capture the imagination as much as the Stampede’s current template.

The modern-day Stampede salutes an exciting albeit idealized version of cowboy culture. Guests are invited to don wide-brimmed hats, enjoy a pint in one of the beer tents or scarf down a traditional pancake breakfast. Attractions such as the annual miniature donkey showcase are scheduled to take place at the Stampede barns. Meanwhile, the midway continues to offer a variety of deep-fried curiosities including deep-fried Kool Aid, wagon wheels and pickle chips.

Nearly 50 per cent of Calgarians who plan to attend the Stampede estimate they’ll spend up to $500 at the 10-day affair, according to a recent TD Bank poll.

In the eyes of Alberta-native Ronald Robinson, the Stampede hasn’t varied much since he nabbed his first job at one of the festival’s food stands more than 70 years ago.

“Both my sister and I peeled potatoes all day long,” recalled Robinson, now 84 years old. “We were quite a poor family and that was just a way to make some money.”

His potato peeling job eventually evolved into a bona fide sales job at one of the food stands, where he spent decades selling hot dogs and chocolate bars -- watching the spectacles and carnival-like excesses of the festival return to Stampede Park year after year.

“Those jobs allowed me to save up for an education,” said Robinson, who earned a hockey scholarship at age 19 and moved to California to study optometry.

Though Robinson decided to build a life in the U.S. suburb of San Leandro, he’s often returned to Calgary for the familiar sights and sounds of Stampede. His fondest visit is taking his own children for their first Stampede experience in the 1960s.

“What had changed when I returned with my children?” Robinson mused in a phone interview from San Leandro, Calif. before pausing to consider his own question. “Well, not very much.”

Moving into the future ‘without changing who we are’

Still, as the Stampede enters its second century, there has been a growing chorus of those who argue the original festival formula needs to be altered -- particularly when it comes to rodeo.

Organizers have acquiesced in recent years, changing the rules to time-honoured events such as calf-roping and the high-velocity, high-risk sport of chuckwagon racing. Stampede organizers have teamed up with veterinarians and external auditors for research into animal safety.

Animal welfare advocates, however, continue to clamour for more distinct changes to the Stampede. Eighty animals have died in the Calgary Stampede since 1986, according to the Vancouver Humane Society. Six horses died during rodeo events at the 2010 Stampede alone.

“Despite all the precautions, the reality is that rodeo involves risk,” said Foran.

Objection to rough-and-tumble rodeo events such as calf-roping and steer wrestling have existed since the beginning of the Stampede, he notes. But the argument against pushing animals to their physical limits for entertainment has gained momentum in recent years.

Celebrities such as game show host Bob Barker have joined the Vancouver Humane Society in criticizing the Stampede’s rodeo events. At the same time, embattled spectacles such as chuckwagon races continue to sell tickets.

The divide in public opinion has thrown Stampede organizers into a delicate tug of war.

“I think it’s a dilemma that the Stampede is considering always: How can we move into the 21st century without changing who we are?” noted Foran. “In other words: What do we do?”