Silver City --  Silver City Museum Curator Javier Marrufo will facilitate this month's community conversation, “This Ain’t My First Go Round - Rodeo Roots in Grant County,” Saturday beginning at 11:00 am at the historic Silco Theater in downtown Silver City.  Marrufo will explore local rodeo history and culture with local western history buffs, Don Turner and JoAnn Miller, and share numerous photos collected from 1910 to 1978 to spur conversation with program participants.

Miller is an organizer of Silver City’s annual Wild West Rodeo at Southwest Horseman’s Arena, and a member of the Copper County CowBelles, while Turner is considered an "honorable sheriff" with the local chapter of Westerners, a group of Western history enthusiasts. He also participated in the creation and celebration of the museum's popular exhibit, “Ranching in Grant County.”

Topics that program participants will explore include seasonal livestock round-ups, branding and cattle wrangling, as well as the importance of such skills as lassoing and horse riding skills required for livestock management, as demonstrated through photographs of small rodeos held throughout western Grant County. In the 1940s, local rodeo became more formalized. The Sheriff’s Posse organized the annual Fourth of July rodeos in Silver City, which led to the annual Wild West Rodeo at Horseman’s Arena, just east of Silver City. The annual Ranch Rodeo, Nunn’s Frontier Rodeo and Junior Rodeo take place each September at the Grant County Fair, held in Cliff, NM.