Polish Up Your Boots & Tip Your Hat in Honor of Red Bluff’s 150th and Tehama County’s 170th Anniversaries

Nothing brings out the cowgirls and cowboys like April and the Red Bluff Round-Up —and this April is set to have the most grit and glory of them all. The west has been kept alive in Red Bluff for 150 years and Tehama County for 170, through three Red Bluff pillars that this year are joining together to celebrate their individual and collective histories.

The Red Bluff Round-Up Illuminates Red Bluff’s Cattle Roots

When Tehama County was established in 1856, it was known for its extensive farmland and rangeland and its history was being etched by the hooves of the animals that brought its earliest inhabitants and helped them flourish. One of the primary focuses of the Red Bluff Round-Up is to honor the part animals played in area history.

By the time Red Bluff was incorporated in 1876, the railroad was here and the agricultural hub was frequented by several “Cattle Kings” with their thousands of heads of cattle, who mingled with the “rancheros” (owners of “ranchos” or Mexican land grants).

The Red Bluff Round-Up will kick off its events April 9 with Cowboy Coffee at 7:45am at Red Bluff Dodge, 

545 Adobe Road, featuring free live music and breakfast. 

The Countdown to Round-Up schedule will be announced, culminating in the 105th rodeo starting 

April 17. redbluffroundup.com

Steeped in family values, Red Bluff Round-Up honors the animals that helped families build a life in this bountiful region.
Photo by Crystal Amen

Red Bluff Celebration and Round-Up Museum Connect the Past with the Present

Red Bluff’s western tradition and the animals who made it possible are celebrated each April at the Red Bluff Round-Up, renowned as America’s largest three-day rodeo, and the many events surrounding the rodeo. These activities serve as a connection to the past and a way to draw communities together through entertainment—making a significant economic impact each year. Even at its inception in 1921, the Round-Up drew close to 10,000 spectators and now draws an average of 35,000. General manager J.B. Stacey explains that a visit to the Round-Up Museum will amaze visitors with the history of a town built on western tradition. “The Museum was brought to Tehama County from the vision of past museum president, George Froome and the Round-Up directors over 20 years ago. It houses over 100 years of Rodeo History, not only from Red Bluff, but from the Rodeo Hall of Fame. It is free to the public to come and experience some Rodeo history.”

With Kelly-Griggs House Museum providing a stately background, museum docent Sam Storey poses in period attire with vintage Red Bluff Fire Engine 6, which will join Whitt Hall Fire Museum’s vintage Putty Put fire engine in the Red Bluff Round-Up parade.
Photo by Kate Hiller

The Kelly-Griggs House Museum Celebrates a Pioneering Woman and Her Family

Built in the early 1880s, The Kelly-Griggs House witnessed many of the comings and goings in early Red Bluff. We may think of a classic Victorian lady when we think of the first lady of the Kelly-Griggs House, Melvina Griggs. But legend has it that 17-year-old Melvina Roundtree first arrived in the area after trailing 1,000 head of cattle overland from Tennessee with her brothers while their parents made the trip around the Horn. In 1885, as a young widow with two boys, Melvina met and married Sidney Griggs, a gold miner turned sheep and cattle rancher. Sidney moved his new wife and stepchildren into his spacious home on the corner of Washington and Ash Streets.

This historic home was preserved as the Kelly-Griggs House Museum in 1965. The museum will celebrate its proud history by hosting a 150th Red Bluff Anniversary Celebration April 11 with live music, food, vendors, old-fashioned children’s games, museum tours and more, 9am – 4pm, 311 Washington Street. 

Call (530)527-1129 for more information.

Whitt Hall Fire Museum Commemorates Mission to Protect Red Bluff Settlers

Red Bluff expansion relied heavily on several horse-powered volunteer firefighting companies to protect the growing population and fine Victorian homes, which often served as the townhomes for the area’s prosperous sheep and cattle ranchers. Station 2, now known as the Whitt Hall Fire Museum, was built in 1906 to improve response times on the west side of town. It originally housed two fire steamers pulled by horses and then, in 1918, their first motorized engine, Putty Put. 2026 marks the 150th anniversary of the merger of the various volunteer departments into the Red Bluff Fire Department. To tour the Whitt Hall Fire Museum, call (530)527-1126.

The Red Bluff Fire Department will shine up its original motorized engine, Putty Put, for the Red Bluff Round-Up Parade April 18 and to celebrate the Fire Department’s 150th year. The parade, starting downtown at 10 am, is themed “150 years of Stars and Stripes and Hometown Spirit.”