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The Sidwell family: 6 generations deep at Denver

Grover Albertus Sidwell began building his Hereford cattle business in 1908, the same year the Stadium Arena on The Hill at what is now the National Western Stock Show was being built. When the Sidwell herd and Stadium Arena were both standing on solid foundations, Grover and his son Frederick made their first trip to Denver by railcar, cattle in tow.

Hereford bulls displayed in The Yards in 1950 by patriarch G.A. Sidwell. Courtesy photo
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By the 1930s, the Sidwells had moved from north central Missouri to Colorado and the family — Grover and Frederick Albertus, continued exhibiting their Herefords in The Yards each January as G.A. Sidwell and Sons. As the years passed, the operation became F.A. Sidwell and Sons, with Frederick and his sons, Walter, Harold and Richard. In the early 1960s, Walter and his sons, Jerry and Gus, partnered, and Harold partnered with his sons, Bryan and Warren, who has since moved to Oklahoma. No matter the combination of Hereford cattle and Sidwell men, they could be found in Denver each January.

Walter, Harold and Richard Sidwell with the champion steer at the Colorado State Fair. Courtesy photo
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G.A.’s great grandsons, Jerry and Justin, known as Gus, both of whom showed commercial cattle against one another this year, and their sister, Joy Booco, were the fourth generation of the family to show at Denver. Both exhibited cattle in Stadium Arena, which is hosting the last year of shows before the livestock shows move from the building to the Sue Anschutz Rogers Livestock Center. Their children, the fifth generation, and their grandchildren, the sixth generation, have also shown in the building. Jerry’s great-grandchild, will likely be among the first to show in the new building, making the Sidwells seven generations strong in Denver and in Stadium Arena.



Joy Sidwell Booco showed right alongside her brothers, Jerry and Gus, and remains in the Hereford business today. She and her husband Randy live in Hayden, Colo., and operate part of Walt Sidwell’s former herd. Courtesy photo
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Jerry, who has attended — likely in a baby basket — since 1958, and Gus, who has attended since 1961, said neither of them have ever missed attending the National Western Stock Show in Denver, save for the year it was cancelled for Covid.

JUSTIN ‘GUS’ SIDWELL



“What made Denver special — and the National Western has been an integral part of my life — is the history,” Gus said. “The old Yards and the old Coliseum (Stadium Arena) are unique.”

The people, he said, come and go but the buildings remain to tell the stories. He said when they began showing in Stadium Arena, the concrete cattle barns still stood and the “new coliseum” the Denver Coliseum was just being planned and built.

“The cattle just look right in there,” he said. “They look natural in there and that’s due to the fact that there are still some windows, though they’re mostly covered. There’s something about the light in that building that make the cattle look natural, almost like they’re being shown outside, rather than in a dark arena under fluorescent lights. Maybe it’s because it’s so tall, but the cattle look different there, they look right.”

The announcers in Stadium Arena, Gus said, have been extraordinary through the years. Wayne Colette, who passed in 2023 at 87 years old, was a longtime NWSS announcer and is one of the voices Sidwell said he remembers booming through the building. The late Brian Allmer was another voice that became an integral part of the experience inside Stadium Arena in January in more recent years.

Gus Sidwell showing Herefords on The Hill in Stadium Arena in about 1970. Courtesy photo by Lynn Heinze
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As a child, he said he heard the announcers calling out the exhibitors’ hometowns and an interest in geography was sparked.

“They would announce the different Hereford breeders,” he said. “Weise and Sons from Manning, Iowa…George Werth out there in Quinter, Kan., who now raises Salers. They would announce these town names, and we had no dream of ever seeing them but we did eventually. What does Mineral Point, Wis., mean to you? Bob May. Names of towns bring names of people who showed cattle. Good cattle and extraordinary people.”

His son, Tyrel, “got the carpet,” qualifying for the champion drive with a steer and showed on the green carpet. The experience in the building as a parent remains an important memory and he never tires watching parents on the rail watching, nervously trying to give hand signals and meaningful looks to kids in the ring. Gus and Terri’s grandchildren from Tyrel and Kaycee Sidwell, Jordan, Kara and Paisley have all shown in Stadium Arena and been the recipients of those hand signals from the rail. Their daughter, Whitney, also showed on The Hill.

F.A. and Georgia L. (Townsend) Sidwell in 1949 sons with Harold, Richard and Walter. Courtesy photo
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“It’s going to be hard walking out of there this year after the prospect heifer show, knowing we’ll never show in there again,” he said.

The National Hereford Sale was long hosted in the sale ring that was partitioned off on the floor of Stadium Arena. It is still possible to examine the ceiling in the building and see where the divider once stood.

“I think that Denver revolved around Herefords for most of its existence, up until the 1970s,” he said. “That might be perspective, that’s what we did.”

Gus Sidwell with grandchildren Jordan, left, Taylor, and Paisley, right, who is the youngest Sidwell to show in Stadium Arena. Photo by Terri Sidwell
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Gus said he fondly recalls the many times he carried a red beer back to the green seats to watch a show among friends, watch the cattle in the ring, listen to the announcer, and soak in the Stadium Arena.

JERRY SIDWELL

Jerry said the end of the chapter in Stadium Arena breaks his heart, though he knows a new chapter is on the horizon. He said he remembers well the saga of Big Mac, the Charolais steer that was painted black and shown as a Black Angus in Denver and later dethroned as grand champion. He said if the concrete barn was still there, he could walk right to the stall where he saw Big Mac for the first time in 1972.

“My dad swears that steer showed as a Charolais at the Weld County Fair,” he said. “It was quite the deal.”

Jerry said he showed his first steer on The Hill in 1969 and spent several years prior, and many years after that running amok through the building, leaving no stone unturned and no alley not “terrorized.” He said Walter would purchase each of the kids a new pair of boots prior to Denver, and by the time they returned home in the 2-ton truck with stock racks, they had worn holes in the soles.

He said when he began showing, the top 10 steers were sold at the sale and the classes were broken by age. His first steer, a chronic bloater named Biscuit, was in a class with 61 other steers. Biscuit required a bolus every 12 hours to prevent bloat, and he was tame enough that he would approach Jerry for his treatment and then head to the bunk.
“We took him to Denver, and they didn’t have a showmanship class but a judge who judged that during the market show,” he said. “I could drop the halter on ol’ Biscuit and I could walk around him and comb him up and he wouldn’t move a muscle. He was the dead-doggedest tame you’ve ever seen.”

The Walt Sidwell (red suspenders) with his wife, Cindy (Drake) Sidwell family with the Gold Standard Champion in 2000. Jerry’s daughter-in-law, Casey (Kruse) Sidwell is on the halter. Courtesy photo by Allan Browarny
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At the time, the sale was in an auction ring in The Yards. He said there was a small 8-foot by 8-foot photo area and that was where Biscuit spent most of the sale, posing for photos with buyers and serving as the tame “picture” steer.

“His seventh place earned him a spot in the sale,” he said. “At that time, the biggest, rottenest thing that could ever happen to a kid was after the sale, they took ol’ Biscuit and put him in a pen bound for the packing plant. I guess I had a hell of a time dealing with that, but I did. It’s a hard lesson, but it’s a good lesson.”

He said at the beginning of his show career, the cattle were Herefords and a few Angus. Later, the European and crossbreds started appearing and they were hard to compete with. He said the first Maine cattle he saw was purchased by Dick White in Yuma and a partner who purchased a Cunia son. Cunia was born in France in 1969 and was the third Maine-Anjou bull imported into the U.S. by ABS.

Jerry Sidwell with his 2014 Grand Champion Pen of Three Steers. From left, Jerry, daughter-in-law Erin, granddaughter Addy, son Curtis, Gus Sidwell, Lianne Bowman, Jerry’s wife Linda and grandson Braiden. Courtesy photo
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“At the time we were raising Limousins, which was a bad idea,” he said. “From that, we went into the Salers and then Maines. You name it, we had it. There’s a lot of history there.”

Jerry’s grandsons Jed and Cal simultaneously showing lambs on the famous green carpet of Stadium Arena in 2020. Photos by Legacy Livestock Imaging
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Jerry’s children, Clint, Curtis and Becky, all showed steers on The Hill. Curtis showed on the green carpet and showed in Stadium Arena succesfully multiple times. Clint’s wife, Casey (Kruse) Sidwell showed steers and lambs, and their children, Cal and Jed, also showed successfully in Stadium Arena, making appearances on the green carpet with steers and lambs. In 2020, Jed and Cal were simultaneously on the carpet with lambs, vying for the champion slap.

Casey (Kruse) Sidwell on The Hill in 1989. Courtesy photo
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Jerry’s daughter, Becky Heidenreich’s children, Wyatt, Weston and Landree have shown cattle in Stadium Arena and Jerry’s son Curtis and his wife, Erin’s children, Addy and Braiden have shown prospects and fats in Stadium Arena and their youngest, Dani, has shown a mini Hereford there.

Jerry Sidwell’s family at the 2025 NWSS Commercial Female Show and Sale. From left: Sara Shields, Wyatt holding Waylon, Tye with great-grand twins Walker and Rashae, Weston, Jerry’s wife Linda, Jerry, and Guy McEndaffer. Photo by Marie Prodell, NWSS Media Scholar
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This year in the Commercial Female Show and Sale, Jerry showed and sold the overall grand pen of commercial females, the champion pen of yearling bred heifers, and the reserve pen of British cross yearling bred heifers. Gus showed and sold the overall reserve champion pen of commercial females. Jerry and Gus were joined by their wives, Linda and Terri, and had some of their children and grandchildren at their sides during the show and sale.

BRYAN SIDWELL

Harold’s son Bryan, born in 1961, remembers showing cattle on The Hill throughout the 1970s, years he said were a heyday for the event. He said stalling on the lower level required some planning, though, to avoid snow and sand dripping into the stalls.

“They were belt buckle cattle,” he said. “Belt buckle tall is what they were. It was interesting watching shows and hearing other families who started with belt buckle cattle, went to walk underneath cattle in the 90s and early 2000s, and graduated back to just normal-sized cattle.”

Sidwell said the classes in Stadium Arena were huge in the days prior to class and division breaks. This photo from 1958, where the family showed the 16th place bull, shows the cattle Bryan calls belt buckle cattle. Courtesy photo
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He vividly recalls the old cement barns with one indoor wash rack and one that could only be accessed by going outside. He recalls one heifer in particular that was shown during a particularly cold January who was quite tame and willing to stay in her stall and make the trek to the warm wash rack. When the spring shows rolled around, it became apparent that she wasn’t perhaps as tame as they thought but was instead highly motivated to stay indoors during the cold days of NWSS that year.

Bryan said he remembers showing Hereford bulls in Stadium Arena before the classes and divisions were broken down and rather the calf champion was selected from the entire field.

“You would have 100 heifers out in one class,” he said. “You’d have 50 or 75 bull calves and they would go through there and two or three judges would each pull some and it wasn’t necessarily getting the best one because it was so fast.”

He recalls the floor of Stadium Arena split to create a sale ring where the Hereford Sale was held until the 1990s.

Tag 2052 “The Bull” with Linda, Bryan and Brooke (Hinojosa-Sidwell) Redus on the halter. Courtesy photo
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Bryan’s wife and partner at Sidwell Herefords, Linda, who hails from western Nebraska, made her first trip to Denver in 1981 and she said she remembers what an experience it was for a kid from rural Nebraska. As a kid, referring to “Denver” was specific to NWSS, not the capital city.

Harold’s final walk through The Yards with a bull in 2014. Photo courtesy of Linda Sidwell
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Their daughter, Brooke Redus, showed tag 2052, “The Bull,” on The Hill in 2014. Linda said Harold, who passed away in 2020 at 81, didn’t like the bull when they chose him to be a part of their Denver pen of three spring calves for the 2013 NWSS. Redus showed the bull in Stadium Arena and, when in The Yards, Harold took the halter. With a broad smile, Harold led The Bull beneath the wooden catwalk and to a pen, which turned out to be his last stroll in Denver with a bull in tow.

The green seats of the Stadium Arena. Photo by Julie Moore
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