Very few people embody the spirit of the West quite like George Eidsness.
From his upbringing in northeastern North Dakota to building Transwest automotive group into a diverse group of businesses, Eidsness hasn’t forgotten the simple rules that make the Western way of life so special.
And after more than 70 years of unrelenting hard work and a “fix-anything-with-a-pocket-knife” type of resilience, Eidsness has earned the honor of being named the 2026 Citizen of the West from the National Western Stock Show.
The award “recognizes those who embody the spirit and determination of the Western pioneer — a true representative of the Western lifestyle, ideals, agricultural heritage and traditions,” according to the stock show’s website.
“It’s pretty humbling,” Eidsness said. “Like a friend of mine said, ‘You’re walking in pretty tall cotton.’ A lot of great people before me have received it, and to be put in a class with them is a real honor.”
Raised on a wheat farm near Brocket, N.D., that spirit was instilled in him at a young age. He took it with him to the University of North Dakota, where he earned a degree in business, then to Fargo, N.D., where he spent 17 years wearing a number of different hats at a local dealership.
In 1990, he and his wife, Barbara, bought Transwest Trucks, a Commerce City dealership that had been in business for just 18 months at the time. In the 35 years since, Transwest has grown exponentially, now with 25 locations across the western United States and Canada. Its dealerships specialize in service, sales and parts for the heavy-duty truck, trailer, automotive and recreational vehicle industries.
As Transwest began to quickly expand, Eidsness and his wife decided they needed a little room to stretch their legs as well — both professionally and personally.
In 1996, Eidsness acquired Steamboat Lake Outfitters and the Flying E Ranch.
“We were going to build a new house in town (Westminster), but decided that city life wasn’t really what we wanted,” Eidsness said. “We wanted to be out in the country and had an opportunity to buy an 80-acre parcel of land near Fort Lupton.”
Since buying that 80-acre parcel, Eidsness added another 65 acres, completing the property he has called home for nearly three decades.
The Flying E has an indoor rodeo arena on the property that the former owner would lease out for team penning events. When the transaction went down, one was already on the books, scheduled for after Eidsness closed on the property.
Team penning is a timed event in which a team of three sort three numbered cattle out of a head of 30 and place them in a pen on the opposite end of the arena.
“I stood around for most of the day watching the sport,” Eidsness said. “I finally saddled up a horse and tried it out and I was kind of hooked on it after that.”
A third-place finish that day launched the next chapter of Eidsness’s life: nearly 20 years traveling across the West competing in various team penning events. He also produced countless events at the Flying E and helped produce shows at National Western.
“I met a lot of great people,” Eidsness said. “Many of them are still friends today.”
In 2023, Eidsness was inducted into the U.S. Team Penning Hall of Fame.
Eidness credits that spirit of the West for getting him where he is today. It wouldn’t have been possible without a lot of hard work and a strong moral compass, he said. The guiding light for that moral compass: the Code of the West. While technically a set of unwritten rules, the code is agreed upon as:
Live each day with courage.
Take pride in your work.
Always finish what you started.
Do what has to be done.
Be tough, but fair.
When you make a promise, keep it.
Ride for the brand.
Talk less and say more.
Remember that some things aren’t for sale.
Know where to draw the line.
“It’s unique, I think, the Western culture,” Eidsness said. “The way people have learned to be responsible, to take care of their peers, to do the jobs that they’re supposed to do, and the lifestyle that’s expected. It is very important to try and keep that culture going. If we were to lose that part, the country we live in would not be the same.”
Eidsness has also incorporated the code into running Transwest, displaying it in his company’s buildings to remind employees of what Transwest represents.
“How they conduct themselves, how they treat others. It’s something that we adhere to,” Eidsness said. … “It’s important to maintain that culture of who we are and how we want to run our business.”
Even more important to Eidsness than embodying that spirit himself is passing it forward to the younger generations.
“We need more people embodying that spirit,” Eidsness said. “We can find more. And probably more importantly, we can make more.”
When asked how to make more, his answer was direct and confident.
“Education and leadership,” he said.
That’s why he’s long supported groups that introduce children to agriculture and educate them on it, such as 4H and Future Farmers of America.
“It’s certainly something that you don’t have to be born into,” Eidsness said. “You can be introduced to it at a later age and you can learn it. A lot of people who came from a different culture went to work on farms and ranches and businesses and learned the lifestyle and the work involved with it and eventually became part of that culture.”
That’s also why he has been a longtime supporter and sponsor of the National Western Stock Show. And the stock show will be returning the favor, celebrating Eidsness as the 47th Citizen of the West at the stock show’s annual award dinner on Jan. 12. Proceeds from the event support the National Western Scholarship Trust, which awards 100 scholarships to students attending colleges and universities in Colorado and Wyoming for studies in agricultural science, rural medicine or veterinary medicine.
For tickets, contact Rachel Melia at 303-299-5560 or RMelia@NationalWestern.com.
“Walking in tall cotton”
As the 47th honoree, Eidsness joins a long list of distinguished Westerners who came before him, including a former vice president of the United States (Dick Cheney), a former Supreme Court yustice (Byron White) and a founder of major league soccer (Philip Anschutz).
2025: Sharon Magness Blake
2024: Gen. Ralph E. “Ed” Eberhart
2023: Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead
2022: Ron Williams
2020: Marcy & Bruce Benson
2019: Robert “Bob” Tointon
2018: Tony Frank, DVM, PhD
2017: John Malone, PhD
2016: Michael J. Sullivan
2015: Philip F. Anschutz
Associate Supreme Court Justice Byron "Whizzer" White in his office in Washington, DC, Apr. 17, 1963.
2014: Fred C. Hamilton
2013: Dr. John Matsushima
2012: Lynn Cheney
2011: Pete Coors
2010: Tom and Becky Kourlis
2009: Robinson brothers
2008: Hank Brown
2007: Cortland S. Dietler
2006: Sue Anschutz-Rodgers
2005: George Marvin Beeman
2004: H.A. “Dave” and Jean True family
2003: William J. “Bill” Hybl
2002: Albert C. Yates
2001: Ned and Mary Belle Grant family
2000: Justice Byron White
1999: W.D. “Bill” Farr
1998: Daniel L. Ritchie
1997: Brownie and Thurman “Fum” McGraw
1996: Cliff Hansen
1995: Ben R. Houston
1994: Rollin D. Barnhard
1993: Dick Cheney
1992: William K. Coors
1991: Kenneth W. Monfort
1990: Alan K. Simpson
1989: Colorado Gov. John and Anne Love
1987: Charles C. Gates
1986: Nicholas Robert Petry
1985: William H. McNichols Jr.
1984: Allan and Gerald Phipps
1983: Pete Smith
1982: Aksel Nielsen
1981: Ed H. Honnen
1980: Frank H. Ricketson Jr.
1979: Willard Sims
1978: Robert “Red” Fenwick
Chris Bolin is a reporter at The Greeley Tribune.
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