If you have had the pleasure of watching the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo any time over the past half century, odds are good that you've seen this very tall man with his khaki vest risking life and limb to capture that perfect instant. Randy Wagner has spent a good portion of the last five decades getting down on the arena floor and snapping some of the most iconic rodeo images CFD has witnessed. Born in Royal Oak, Michigan in 1934; Randy grew up in Lander, Wyoming and graduated from Fremont County Vocational High School in 1952. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1959 with a degree in journalism which he used for the Army Corps of Engineers, newspapers in Laramie, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Wyoming State Parks and Historic Sites agency from 1956 through 1972. In 1972 he began working for the Wyoming Travel Commission from which he retired in 1987. In 1964, Randy first stepped into the CFD arena to capture publicity Randy could always be found in the arena while nearly in the middle of the action. The results were spectacular and his work appeared in news releases, souvenir programs, day sheets, posters, billboards, and advertisements. These images continue to be strongly represented in the exhibits at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum. In the 1970s, he produced a 28 minute 16 mm film entitled "Wyoming Rodeo, A Howdy Happening;' 90% of which came from Cheyenne. It was narrated by the legendary Curt Gowdy and won the 1977 International Travel Film Festival. The film was very successful and was used to promote Cheyenne Frontier Days and Wyoming for fifteen years. All was not centered on the glory and drama of the rodeo, he also captured the spectacle of all aspects of the celebration including the parades, the Indian dancers, the Thunderbirds, the Pancake Breakfast and the events on the CFD Midway. Randy was a diligent chronicler of the history of CFD and shot thousands of shots of the people of the rodeo including committee volunteers, chairmen, Dandies, Miss Frontier, the Lady in Waiting and innumerable shots of the people who came to enjoy Cheyenne Frontier Days and all its wonder. All of these images he developed in his own dark room. In his spare time, he was the director of the Wyoming Travel Commission from 1977 to 1987. There were many close calls in his career of trying to capture the moment. The worst was in 1985 when launched rudely by a bull in the arena in 1985. The free trip landed Randy in the hospital where he stayed for the rest of the rodeo that year. Wagner picture of Myron Duarte 1996 bull ride. Randy's support for the rodeo went farther than capturing it through his lens. In 1974 he was one of the founding members of the newly created CFD Publicity Committee under Bill Dubois. He served two terms on the CFD Planning Committee and was involved in the first comprehensive development plan for the park. He served as marketing manager through the CFD Centennial. He left an indelible mark in the arena as he is the designer of the current photography pit. Randy continues to serve with the PR committee today, shepherding the media who can easily spot and follow his looming presence (he refers to himself as being "five feet seventeen inches tall"). He is also a liaison with the Indian Committee. He has been a Cheyenne Frontier Days HEEL since 1978.