The grandstands have emptied, and cars file one by one out of the fairgrounds.

Behind the bucking chutes, Clayton Savage, a 22-year-old bull rider from Casper, chats with friends, playfully bouncing a young child on his left knee.

The little girl, not even 5, mimics a wild ride. She will almost certainly never ride a bull and is too young to understand the sport of rodeo.

She'll learn about Lane Frost, though. Savage will make sure of that.

* * *

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Frost's death at Cheyenne Frontier Days, and two decades after rodeo's most infamous in-arena tragedy, he may be more of a hero to rodeo fans than ever before.

"Every rodeo you go to, you're going to hear Lane Frost, no matter what. No matter if you're here in Casper or down in Oklahoma, you're going to hear Lane Frost," Savage said. "Not only was he a good bull rider, but he was a good cowboy. He's just the guy you wanna be like. You wanna be a world champion, but you want to be the great champion that he was.

"He wasn't just a champion, he was a great champion."

Frost, whose life was portrayed in the movie "8 Seconds," won the bull riding world championship in 1987 and made nearly $500,000 while rodeoing in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

But he's remembered just as much for his character as he is for his bull riding ability.

"There have been quite a few guys that accomplished more in the arena than Lane did, just because Lane's life got cut short, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anybody that did it any better," Ty Murray, a nine-time world champion and one of Frost's traveling partners, said. "It was everything from the toughness, to the riding, to the way he interacted with fans and people he met and his buddies. He was just a great guy."

Hall of Fame rodeo announcer Hadley Barrett saw enough of Frost in and out of the arena to know.

He remembers walking past Frost's angry traveling partners after more than one rough night of rides and ropes.

While they were ready to hit the road, forget about their struggles, leave the no-luck town and focus on the circuit's next stop, Frost didn't have his gear packed. Instead, Frost would be visiting with local children, sharing pointers and a few minutes of time with anyone who stopped to say hello.

The fan's champion, a hero in the making.

* * *

On July 30, 1989, the final day of Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, the Lane, Okla., native successfully rode a bull named Takin' Care of Business. His 85 points on the ride and third-place finish in the aggregate are mere footnotes from that muddy day.

After Frost dismounted, the bull hit the rider with his head, hooking Frost in the left side and back.

"It really looked like nothing, and right after that bull hooked him and then went on ... I didn't think anything of it," said Murray, who was filling in as a pickup man that day. "[But] Lane was a guy that never laid on the ground. He really was one of the toughest guys that I ever saw do the sport. So when I turned around and saw him laying there, I knew it was real serious."

Frost was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead less than an hour later.

It is believed that the hooking, despite not breaking Frost's skin, severed one of his main arteries. No autopsy was performed.

Three days later, in two southeastern Oklahoma towns, more than 3,500 people attended Frost's funeral and burial.

"You just can't believe it's been 20 years," said Tuff Hedeman, Frost's close friend and traveling partner who witnessed the accident.

"Not a day goes by that I don't think about it."

* * *

Hedeman joined Frost's mother, Elsie, in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday where they held a viewing of Lane Frost's documentary -- an effort to show the complete, true story of Frost's life and another chance to share more memories.

"He was the most awesome guy and I feel pretty fortunate that I was able to share as much of his life as I did," Hedeman said.

In part, family and friends hope the new film conveys Frost's Christian beliefs and that Frost's father, Clyde, wasn't the prototypical overbearing sports parent.

The differences, they say, are important, and the questions from fans on Thursday were familiar.

"Every time, one of the first questions asked is they want to hear the Lane Frost story," Hedeman said. "They want to know what kind of guy he was, where I met him, what we did.

"He's a guy that, to the Western and rodeo world, he's Elvis."

The comparison to Elvis may be a stretch for today's young bull riders, but Frost remains an icon in their eyes thanks, in part, to stories like Hedeman's.

* * *

J.W. Harris was honored when his name joined Frost's on the list of world champions in December.

Currently the No. 1 bull rider in the world, Harris had just turned 3 when Frost died and therefore never met the legendary cowboy. That hasn't stopped him from learning all about him.

"I've spent a lot of time with Tuff and he'd be telling some of his old stories and stuff, and Lane's name would always pop up," Harris said. "And his name will come up when you're talking about the greatest bull riders that ever lived or the greatest bull rides you've ever seen."

Savage falls into the same age bracket. He fondly recalls the stories his father, Vaun, told him from running into Lane out on the rodeo road.

While many casual fans may not have known Frost's story until the movie was released, the tales from veteran cowboys who knew him began building his legacy long before they hit the big screen.

"The movie helps, but it's hearing stories from guys that knew him ... and just hearing them talk about him," Harris said. "They all talk about how they'll never forget him."

Now, today's young cowboys like Savage and Harris are charged with making sure Frost is not forgotten.

And it starts with passing on the stories they've heard to the next generation of rodeo athletes.

"It's hard to believe that kids who weren't even born at the time of his death know who he is and what he was," Hedeman said. "He's still the guy that people talk about and remember even if you never knew him."

Added Murray, "If anything, his popularity and the popularity of the sport, there's just more of an awareness than ever."

Frost's contribution to the sport of rodeo continues with every ride -- whether it's on a bull inside a packed arena or on a lonely knee behind the chutes.

Twenty years after Cheyenne, his story continues to grow.

Contact sports reporter Eric Schmoldt at (307) 266-0578 or eric.schmoldt@trib.com.