Arts & Culture

Cleo Hearn, founder of Cowboys of Color Rodeo, dies at 86

KERA | By Zara Amaechi

Published November 11, 2025 at 6:02 PM CST

Cleo Hearn poses for a portrait at Mesquite Arena on March 4, 2014. The city of Lancaster recently honored Hearn by naming an equestrian trail at its Bear Creek Nature Park after him. Hearn is founder of the Cowboys of Color Rodeo, which highlights diverse cultures and features 200 cowboys and cowgirls of various colors competing for cash prizes. — Cleo Hearn poses for a portrait at Mesquite Arena on March 4, 2014. The city of Lancaster honored Hearn by naming an equestrian trail at its Bear Creek Nature Park after him. Hearn is founder of the Cowboys of Color Rodeo, which highlights diverse cultures and features 200 cowboys and cowgirls of various colors competing for cash prizes.

Cleo Hearn, founder of Cowboys of Color Rodeo, has died.

Executive Director of Cowboys of Color Rodeo Liz Lawless told Arts Access the 86-year-old died on Sunday morning.

The Lancaster-based Cowboys of Color Rodeo hosts multiple events throughout the country featuring diverse cowboys and cowgirls.

Cleo Hearn said that “before I got into it, they didn’t let black cowboys in professional rodeos, so black cowboys started [their own].”

Hearn earned many achievements for his contributions to the sport and cowboy culture.

He received a star on the Texas Trail of Fame in the Fort Worth Stockyards in 2005 for his lifetime commitment to rodeo and the cowboy way of life. In 2016, he was the recipient of the Lane Frost Award. More recently, he was inducted into the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame in 2021, and inducted into the National Cowboy Museum and Hall of Fame in 2022 for his long legacy of promoting the Western and rodeo cowboy lifestyle.

In Dallas, Hearn was well known for leading the Texas Black Invitational Rodeo at the African American Museum Dallas for 36 years. Museum founder Harry Robinson Jr. partnered with Hearn on the rodeo in an effort to highlight the overlooked history of Black cowboys in American culture.

Hearn was born in Seminole, Okla. He attended Oklahoma State University and made history as the first African American to attend college on a rodeo scholarship. Hearn made history again in 1970 by becoming the first Black man to win a major stock show tie-down calf roping event at the National Western in Denver.

From left, Robby Hearn, Harlan Hearn and Wendell Hearn, sons of Hall of Famer Cleo Hearn

In 1971, he produced his first rodeo in Harlem featuring 100 legendary Black cowboys including Bud Bramwell, Rufus Green Sr. and Myrtis Dightman, who is known as the “Jackie Robinson of Rodeo.”

The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, which Hearn brought the Cowboys of Color Rodeo to, posted on Facebook about Hearn’s death on Tuesday.

“Celebrating the diversity and uniqueness of our Western way of life, the Cowboys of Color Rodeo captivates thousands of loyal fans each year. His legacy, leadership and love for Western heritage will continue inspiring generations,” the post said.

Hearn is survived by his four sons Harlan, Eldon, Robby and Wendell Hearn. They are the current leaders of Cowboys of Color Rodeo.

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