'July 4, 1888, became the birthday of professional rodeo when a group of Prescott, Arizona, merchants and professional businessmen organized the first formalized ''cowboy tournament'' and offered cash prizes. A cowboy named Juan Leivas walked off with rodeo's first professional title and was documented in the subsequent edition of the Arizona JournalMiner. These ''Cowboy Contests'' continued and were planned, promoted and carried out by a committee of local merchants. From then on, rodeo has grown into a multimillion dollar enterprise with more than 700 professional rodeos in 50 states.'