Denver’s Stock Show Great Barbecue Debacle When January rolls around each year, it is often a slower time of the year for many ranchers. Calves have been marketed and calving has not yet started. This is when many producers turn their attention to attending the National Western Stock Show, which has been taking place annually at Denver’s former stockyards since 1906. This year, both the exhibitors and spectators are in for a treat as the new show facilities are unveiled, capping off a more than $1 billion investment by the city of Denver to support agriculture. “The Yards” facilities have been in use for two years now and have received rave reviews. With new pens – each containing its own electrical and water source – as well as new facilities to show in, the pen and carload exhibitors have lauded the upgrades. This year, the facilities for what was known as “The Hill Show” are being unveiled. This includes the most modern and spacious show complex in the industry, with well-ventilated barns, as well as upgraded tie-out areas. The show arena is 30 feet wider and 40 feet longer than the old coliseum, with a show surface that will be more comfortable for the exhibitors, judges and livestock. The cattle barn can hold 1,260 head, with additional facilities for the equine, sheep and swine shows. Due to improved seating and uninterrupted views, the new National Western Complex will also be more comfortable for spectators watching the shows, and people will enjoy the new sale facility, food courts and banquet hall. The improved ventilation alone will be a huge improvement over the old barns, and one show veteran and current breed executive who toured these upgrades said it is the best facility exhibitors will show at all year. The Barbecue Debacle The 2026 National Western Stock Show with its great new facilities is a far cry from when the original stock yards hosted its first event in 1898. In January of that year, Denver was hosting the first annual National Stock Growers Convention – the forerunner of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association – and the crowning event was to be a barbeque held at Denver’s Union Stock Yards. The result became known as the “Great Barbecue Riot of 1898.” In what was to meant to “show off ” both Denver and its state-of-the-art stock yards, the famous chef Columbus B. Hill oversaw the cooking and Zang Brewing Company agreed to provided free beer to the throngs expected to attend. Hill had a big job, with the menu including a reported six tons of meat ranging from a large number of hindquarters of beef, BOB HOUGH | CONTRIBUTING WRITER Inaugural National Western Stock Show. 1906. Public domain. 58 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN January 2026 PAST and the
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