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The first Calgary Stampede, instigated by Guy Weadick, was held in 1912. The word stampede had been stomping through Mexican Spanish (as estampida) for two hundred years before that, and through southwestern American English for one hundred years before 1912. The earliest printed appearance of the verb in American English was in 1823 in this sentence:

“On the way...the cavallada (herd) stampeded and a part of the horses and mules were not recovered.”

As often happened with Mexican words, unaccented initial vowels in front of consonant clusters suffered aphesis, so that estampida became stampede quite early in American English. Look at some of the first spellings of the noun from American newspapers and books as the word filtered into English:

1826, stompado

1828, stampido

Note that the aphetic loss of initial e has already occurred.

1835, stampedo

1864, stampede

What Does Aphesis Mean?

A technical term in linguistics, aphesis is a form of elision, that is, loss of letters in a word. Aphesis is the common loss of unaccented first vowels. An example is the development of the English adjective lone from alone. This is an important concept in etymology, for it explains the origins of certain word forms.

More examples of aphesis in English words are:

STAMPEDE may have first entered English in America, but it was the Calgary Stampede’s worldwide fame that propelled the spread of the word stampede into nearly every language of the West and some of the East.

In Spain, estampida meant a loud noise caused by a pounding or a stamping. Estampida is a borrowing into Spanish from Provençal. But the root is ultimately Germanic and related to our English verb to stamp (the feet). The Teutonic root (Old High German stamfon) was borrowed into Latin through which it found its fecund way into all the Romance and European languages, to give English terms like postage stamp, a verb like stomp, the German noun Stempel (a stamp as an instrument for marking something) and the name of a renowned Italian newspaper published in Turin, La Stampa ‘the printing press.’ Related words from the same ancient etymon are step, stoop, and stump.

One of the tersest historical capsules appears on the Calgary Stampede’s own website, so I quote it:

"The Calgary Exhibition and Stampede is a combined agricultural fair and rodeo. Other presentations such as manufacturing and home and garden exhibitions occur at the same time, as well as native displays, an evening stage show and a large midway with sideshows and rides. Every July the Stampede opens with a parade; the rodeo and other events continue for 10 days.

Billed as the "Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth," the first exhibition took place in 1886 and the world-famous Stampede rodeo began in 1912, instigated by Guy Weadick, an American trick roper who had visited Calgary and judged the emerging town to be a prime location for a big rodeo. The first Stampede was financially underwritten by local businessmen A.E. Cross, George Lane , A.J. McLean and Patrick Burns. It was a great success.

The parade, combined with the annual Labour Day parade of the Calgary Trade and Labor Council, was enriched by rodeo competitors, the duke and duchess of Connaught and their daughter Princess Patricia, and 2000 natives in full dress - and some 14 000 spectators.

Prizes totaling $16 000 were provided for the rodeo events, which were highlighted by an electrifying bronc ride by Tom Three Persons on the famous Cyclone. In spite of its success, the Stampede was not repeated until after WWI, in August 1919, when a "Great Victory Stampede" was held. In 1923 the annual Agricultural Exhibition joined with a stampede, with Weadick continuing as the Stampede Arena Director."