Colorado State University Athletics
Memorable Moments: One Photo Marks the Start of Showdowns to Come
9/12/2024 2:00:00 PM | Football
A single photo exists from the first game 132 years ago
The Rocky Mountain Showdown has only been known by that name for less than 30 years, but the rivalry between the University of Colorado and Colorado State is the oldest in the state, marking 132 seasons since its first game. While the two schools may not have played one another every season, no matter what the stakes, it is a game for the ages.
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On February 11, 1893, a 46-year-old grocery store owner who was also one of the earliest photographers in Fort Collins, Stephen Seckner, set out to attend a football game between the newly formed Colorado Agricultural College team and the University of Colorado team. Seckner arrived at what is today the intersection of College Avenue and Plum, pretty much the outskirts of Fort Collins in 1893. There, on the east side of College between Plum and Locust, within view of Old Main, was a crudely laid out football gridiron in an east-west pattern.
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The CAC team had played two games prior to this one against the small hybrid college/high school known as Longmont Academy. Now, the CAC players wanted to play one of the bigger schools in the state, and even though it was February, the players from the University of Colorado were happy to oblige. CU had been playing since 1890, and the new CAC team wanted to learn from the experienced players. Technically, the 1892 football season had ended, but since CAC didn't get their team together until after the new year, they still wanted to play this new game that had been introduced to students across Colorado in 1885 by DU and Colorado College. Â
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Seckner set up his camera on the southwest corner of the field looking northeast, allowing the sun to be at his back for the best light. These were the days when cameras needed longer exposure times and taking an action shot was highly challenging. It is unclear why Seckner shot photos of the newly formed football team at CAC. He had shot the first home game against Longmont Academy on January 28th and the first team photo on January 25th. Since his business was grocery store owner and photographer, he may have been hired to shoot these pictures. The original, along with several more football and non-sports photos from 1893, were given to CSU's athletic archives in 2009 after being found for sale on eBay.
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The game itself was a disaster on the scoreboard with CU running up a 70-6 win against the CAC players who barely knew the game. However, for historical purposes, the one confirmed photo from this game makes the start of a rivalry even more rare. Very few long-standing rivalries, including CSU-Wyoming, have an action shot from the 19th Century of the first game ever played. While one other unlabeled and unconfirmed photo from this game exists in the private collection of local photo historian Malcom McNeil, written on the back of this photo is, "Taken at the time of Foot Ball game between Boulder University and State Agri College of Colorado. Ft Collins, Col February 11, 1893. Game won by Boulder 70-6."
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Since 1893, thousands of pictures have been taken at CU/CSU games, and there will likely be more than 100,000 taken at Canvas Stadium on September 14th alone, not to mention the game is being televised. Photos have captured the essence of how football was played in the long-forgotten days, and iconic photos, whether it is this one, movies of the 1919 game in Fort Collins, CU's Byron "Whizzer" White in 1936, CSU's Wayne Schneider kissing the ball after scoring a two-point conversion in 1958, or Steve Bartalo scoring a touchdown in the 1986 game in Boulder, this is how we remember the rivalry against CU.
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Photos have turned to video, including the Bartalo touchdown, Cecil Sapp carrying the CU defensive line with him for a touchdown in Denver or the extremely well-known video of Bradlee Van Pelt spiking CU's Roderick Sneed with a touchdown ball. As fans we can remember in our minds the best we can about certain games, but pictures tell the story and more than 132 seasons of football between CU and CSU, there have been an amazing amount of pictures to remember this rivalry. It all started with this one photo, taken on a dirt lot in Fort Collins for the first meeting among rivals.
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On February 11, 1893, a 46-year-old grocery store owner who was also one of the earliest photographers in Fort Collins, Stephen Seckner, set out to attend a football game between the newly formed Colorado Agricultural College team and the University of Colorado team. Seckner arrived at what is today the intersection of College Avenue and Plum, pretty much the outskirts of Fort Collins in 1893. There, on the east side of College between Plum and Locust, within view of Old Main, was a crudely laid out football gridiron in an east-west pattern.
Â
The CAC team had played two games prior to this one against the small hybrid college/high school known as Longmont Academy. Now, the CAC players wanted to play one of the bigger schools in the state, and even though it was February, the players from the University of Colorado were happy to oblige. CU had been playing since 1890, and the new CAC team wanted to learn from the experienced players. Technically, the 1892 football season had ended, but since CAC didn't get their team together until after the new year, they still wanted to play this new game that had been introduced to students across Colorado in 1885 by DU and Colorado College. Â
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Seckner set up his camera on the southwest corner of the field looking northeast, allowing the sun to be at his back for the best light. These were the days when cameras needed longer exposure times and taking an action shot was highly challenging. It is unclear why Seckner shot photos of the newly formed football team at CAC. He had shot the first home game against Longmont Academy on January 28th and the first team photo on January 25th. Since his business was grocery store owner and photographer, he may have been hired to shoot these pictures. The original, along with several more football and non-sports photos from 1893, were given to CSU's athletic archives in 2009 after being found for sale on eBay.
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The game itself was a disaster on the scoreboard with CU running up a 70-6 win against the CAC players who barely knew the game. However, for historical purposes, the one confirmed photo from this game makes the start of a rivalry even more rare. Very few long-standing rivalries, including CSU-Wyoming, have an action shot from the 19th Century of the first game ever played. While one other unlabeled and unconfirmed photo from this game exists in the private collection of local photo historian Malcom McNeil, written on the back of this photo is, "Taken at the time of Foot Ball game between Boulder University and State Agri College of Colorado. Ft Collins, Col February 11, 1893. Game won by Boulder 70-6."
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Since 1893, thousands of pictures have been taken at CU/CSU games, and there will likely be more than 100,000 taken at Canvas Stadium on September 14th alone, not to mention the game is being televised. Photos have captured the essence of how football was played in the long-forgotten days, and iconic photos, whether it is this one, movies of the 1919 game in Fort Collins, CU's Byron "Whizzer" White in 1936, CSU's Wayne Schneider kissing the ball after scoring a two-point conversion in 1958, or Steve Bartalo scoring a touchdown in the 1986 game in Boulder, this is how we remember the rivalry against CU.
Â
Photos have turned to video, including the Bartalo touchdown, Cecil Sapp carrying the CU defensive line with him for a touchdown in Denver or the extremely well-known video of Bradlee Van Pelt spiking CU's Roderick Sneed with a touchdown ball. As fans we can remember in our minds the best we can about certain games, but pictures tell the story and more than 132 seasons of football between CU and CSU, there have been an amazing amount of pictures to remember this rivalry. It all started with this one photo, taken on a dirt lot in Fort Collins for the first meeting among rivals.
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