FAIR'S HISTORY ROOTED IN VARIETY, COLOR

The pacing ostrich is history, as are horse races and Nebraska Bill's Wild West and Trained Bronco Show.

At one time or another, all were part of the annual celebration known as the Southeast Missouri District Fair.

The 143rd annual district fair will run from Sept. 13 to Sept. 19 and will feature everything from carnival rides to circus clowns and champion livestock.

The look of the fair has changed over the years, but it is still rooted in the tradition of the fall harvest -- the showing of the plumpest pumpkins, the best baked goods and the sturdiest steers.

The fair is the oldest such event in Missouri, said fair association president Pete Poe. The organization puts on the annual event in Cape Girardeau.

The district fair dates back to 1855 when the Missouri Legislature created the Southeast District Agricultural Society and appropriated $3,000 for the first fair.

It was held in a wooded area along what is now South Frederick Street.

Horse racing drew crowds and soon became the featured attraction. Because there was no track, the horses sprinted across a field.

The Civil War brought a halt to the fair when federal troops took over the fairgrounds for an encampment and razed the buildings.

In 1870, the fair was revived on a 150-acre site south of Gordonville Road and west of Kingshighway. It remained there almost to the turn of the century.

Premiums were offered for everything from poultry to whiskey and shoes to stoves.

The fair had its share of problems and was almost taken over by sheep raisers and horse racing.

The site was inaccessible to pedestrians, and there was no public transportation. The land was sold to the Blattner family when the fair association went bankrupt in 1897.

A new fair association was formed in 1900 and bought 40 acres of land for $2,000 at what is Capaha Park but was at the time west of the city limits.

A grandstand was built along with a pavilion for the display of flowers, crafts and baked goods. A pond was constructed with a sulky track built around it.

At the 1904 district fair, the most popular show was Nebraska Bill's Wild West and Trained Bronco Show, featuring the marksmanship of Nebraska Bill and a quadruple amputee named William La Rue, a veteran of the Sioux uprising.

Other shows were an Oriental theater, an Eskimo village displaying items from Alaska, a Chinese palace that featured "Ping-Pong girls" and a plantation minstrel side show.

The Southeast Missourian newspaper reported on Oct. 12, 1904, that "a motley crowd of fakiers, horse traders, fortune tellers, palmists, balloon peddlers and grafters are encamped around the fairground."

The newspaper reported the exploits of a pacing ostrich at the 1909 fair. The ostrich pulled a sulky for half a mile. "Moving pictures of Dr. Cook's discovery of the North Pole are exhibited in a tent," the newspaper pointed out.

In 1913, parachute jumper Sky High Irving gave people an extra thrill when he landed in the fairgrounds pond.

In 1914, the fair association sold Capaha Park to the city but continued to hold the fair at the site until 1929 when the Depression forced the event to be canceled.

In 1939, a new fairgrounds was established on nearly 50 acres of land at what is today Arena Park.

The Arena Building was completed in January 1940, and the fair was revived in September of that year.

It was canceled in 1942 and 1943 because of World War II.

In the early 1900s, the price of admission was 25 cents. Today, the price is $2 for adults with free admission for children younger than 12.