Where Big Dreams Ride

Reviving the Colorado Stampede

by Rita-Lyn Sanders, Director of Member Services and Communication

GRAND JUNCTION, COLO. - (May 12, 2026)  It takes a wide-open space as big as the Western Slope to contain the dreams of little girls who grow up on it. No one knows this better than Laura Mendel. And she’s filled it well: Barrel racing. Bronc riding. Big rodeos.

She adores them all and wants others to share in those dreams. In a nod to Grand Junction’s past she named her event the Colorado Stampede, held each Memorial Day weekend since 2024 at the Mesa County Fairgrounds.

“It fills my cup,” Mendel said. “When I watched rodeos as a kid, they brought me so much joy, and I want to bring that joy to everyone.” 

Now in its third year since revival, the Colorado Stampede is poised to hit its stride. Events like this often take several years to establish themselves, and Mendel has worked relentlessly toward that goal. But growth brings complexity. As the rodeo expands, so do the demands: larger purses, more detailed planning, and a steady stream of last-minute logistics.

Sponsors are never far from her mind. Their support helps fund the event and its prize money. One of the trickier tasks is competitor registration. The rodeo circuit depends on athletes and their animal partners staying healthy; an injury at one event can sideline a competitor for weeks. That’s why rodeos typically open registration just a few weeks before the event. This minimizes cancellations and schedule changes. 

Mendel understands this part of the job. She competed in barrel racing with Seven, her quarter horse, during boarding
school in Colorado Springs, and later at Colorado State University. As a member of the CSU rodeo team, she also helped organize events. 

“I learned in college that I love putting on events,” Mendel said. “I was better at producing them than competing in them.”

After earning a degree in equine science, Mendel took a job at the Larimer County Fairgrounds, known as The Ranch, where she helped coordinate more than 700 events each year, including the Larimer County Fair and Rodeo and the Big Thunder Draft Horse Show. She later became manager of the Mountain States Circuit Finals Rodeo, a role that deepened her experience in the industry.

Then life shifted direction.

Her grandmother died and Mendel inherited a home and land on the Grand Mesa. She and her husband, Tanner, packed up their lives — along with two horses and a pair of dogs — and returned to Mesa County where she grew up.

While contemplating her next step and exploring the idea of a pet resort, Mendel realized something was missing: Grand Junction no longer had a professional rodeo. She discovered that the Mesa County Sheriff’s Posse had once hosted the Colorado Stampede, a successful event that ran from 1957 to 1994. 

And she began to dream. 

She asked members of the Sheriff’s Posse how they would feel about a revival of the rodeo, and if they would volunteer to cover security. She recruited rodeo enthusiasts to serve on a board of directors, knowing she would need both expertise and community connections. She set up a business, sought volunteers, and signed 350 competitors, along with an entertaining rodeo clown who moonlights as a schoolteacher from Wyoming. 

It came together. So well, in fact, that the Colorado Stampede was soon named “Most Improved Rodeo” by the Mountain States Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Circuit. This year it earned another distinction: designation as a qualifying rodeo for Cheyenne Frontier Days. Winners at the Colorado Stampede can take the chutes in Cheyenne, attracting bigger and more athletes to the Grand Junction event. 

Today, the Colorado Stampede draws more than 9,000 spectators over three days. Beyond evening competitions, Mendel has added to the experience with youth activities and a local competition day for aspiring rodeo athletes.

Her next goal is to establish a foundation that would fund scholarships for rodeo student-athletes at Colorado Mesa University.

“People who enjoy the rodeo keep me going,” Mendel said. “The sponsors, spectators, competitors. I want a good event. I want people to come back.” 

And in a place as wide as the Western Slope, where dreams need room to run, Mendel is making sure the next generation has somewhere to chase them — one rodeo at a time.