Lander outdoor arena keeps Western cowboy culture alive

LANDER - There's a famous photo of Lander taken by local photographer Ted Carlson. In it, a herd of cattle spans the center of Main Street, led by a cowboy on a horse.

According to a post by the Pioneer Museum from a few years ago, this image of the Ellis ranch cattle drive was likely captured sometime in the early 1980s. It's captioned "Rush hour in Wyoming," and at one point was hung everywhere in Lander.

"I would've promoted Lander as a cowboy town [when I came here] 35 years ago," said Paula McCormick, president of the Lander Old Timers Rodeo Association.

"Now, we're an outdoors town, and there's nothing wrong with that ... [but] there is obviously still a really strong culture for that Western culture."

The cattle drives down Main Street may have come to an end, but that Western cowboy culture is still alive and well in Lander.

LOTRA is working hard to keep it that way.

On any given Saturday, people, horses, and sometimes cattle stream into its indoor arena.

Parents teach small children how to ride; rodeo hopefuls practice their roping or barrel racing skills; some people simply come to give their horse a chance to exercise.

There are roping events and other contests throughout the year, and the arena offers clinics on everything from breakaway roping to obstacle courses.

Memberships include access to the indoor arena's facilities; non-members who are willing to pay a small fee and who are sponsored by a member can come make use of the space as well.

"It's a real community here," McCormick said. "I'm always amazed how many people are up here riding ... people drive from Pavillion, Kinnear, Shoshoni."

It's no accident that people are starting to drive to Lander from throughout Fremont County to use the LOTRA indoor arena.

The organization has, in the past few years, invested in a new groomer, updated its facilities, and worked hard to "add value to memberships," McCormick explained.

"In the past year, we have put over $60,000 worth ... of grant money" into the facilities.

LOTRA is perhaps best known to most of Lander for putting on the Pioneer Days Rodeo every Fourth of July, held in the large outdoor arena at the rodeo grounds – but the other 363 days of the year, its attention is often on the nearby indoor arena.

The outdoor arena is a city-owned venue that can be rented for appropriate events, comparable to the community center or a park picnic shelter; when LOTRA puts on the rodeo, it has to pay the city for the use of the outdoor arena, same as a festival held in City Park.

About two years ago, the city of Lander was looking to increase these fees substantially.

LOTRA pushed back hard, arguing that the rodeo brings in far more value to Lander than it could recoup from ticket sales alone – and LOTRA's budget relies heavily on the money it brings in from that single event.

Beyond that, LOTRA has invested significantly in the parts of the rodeo grounds that don't belong to it. It reliably receives recreation board grants from Lander and Fremont County; when it knew that the city was looking to apply for grant funds to improve the outdoor arena, it chose to not apply for those grants and instead support the city's bid.

John Gaszo, LOTRA vice president, grooms the outdoor arena and track at no cost.

When the city recently cleaned out the cattle pens – which McCormick noted LOTRA does use even outside of the rodeo – LOTRA spent time and money clearing out manure from the places the city's equipment couldn't reach and patching holes in the shelters.

It brought records to the city demonstrating that between improvements, maintenance, "sweat equity," and years it hasn't applied for grants it typically receives in order to allow the city to apply for them, it's put more than $50,000 into the outdoor spaces of the rodeo grounds.

The indoor arena is something different.

Although LOTRA leases the ground it sits on from the city, it owns the building itself.

"I think LOTRA is the only not-for-profit that owns 35,000 square feet of building," McCormick said.

Replacing the 40-year-old roof has been a slow process, applying for grants year after year that allow a new section of roof to be repaired.

Recently, LOTRA has also received a substantial grant from the LOR Foundation and participated in Rocky Mountain Power's Wattsmart program, which allowed it to update its lighting to more energy-efficient LEDs – leading to better lighting in the arena and a lower electricity bill for LOTRA.

McCormick said that the new lights alone will likely save LOTRA thousands of dollars each year.

Its new grant funding also allowed it to invest in a new groomer, which now grooms the indoor arena at least five times a week.

All of these investments have helped make the indoor arena a better, more comfortable, more usable place, McCormick pointed out, leading to more and more people making use of it.

Although memberships aren't really what pay LOTRA's bills, they're still at the heart of what LOTRA does: provide a place for that Western roping, riding, cattle-driving community to come together year round and offer competitions people can participate in and clinics that help them hone their skills.

The LOTRA indoor arena was originally envisioned as a roping barn, McCormick explained, but over the years its purpose has expanded.

Now, it sees all kinds of uses – but roping is still a big part of what goes on there.

Breakaway roping is a growing sport nationwide, and the indoor arena is starting to offer breakaway roping sessions and clinics so Lander's rodeo youth can compete against cowboys and cowgirls from all across the country.