Anytime Cleo Hearn met a diverse rodeo athlete, he stressed the importance of being the best person possible and dressing like you belong.
Hearn, the first Black cowboy to attend college on a rodeo scholarship in the late 1950s, was often barred from competing in regular events. Whenever he was allowed to compete, he aimed for the top prize and dressed in authentic cowboy attire so no one could deny his place in the Western sport.
Then for five decades, the Cowboys of Color Rodeo founder organized his own rodeo with the mission of spotlighting the history and legacies of Native, Hispanic, European and Black cowboys of the Old West.
Hearn died Nov. 9 at 86. His sons — Harlan, Wendell, Eldon and Robby — honored his legacy at the Cowboys of Color Rodeo during the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Jan. 19.
“This was his dream,” Harlan told competing athletes before the rodeo. “Dad always looked out for the cowboy first because he was one from beginning to end. He always wanted to make sure that you as contestants have one more rodeo to put on your list.”
A memorial video played during the event at Dickies Arena.
https://youtu.be/FpDvzriJ0bY?si=SFEN-KA96VPEkPvP Matt Carter, president of the stock show and rodeo, described Cleo Hearn as an “amazing gentleman” who alongside his sons created a legacy that the Fort Worth event looks forward to building on.
“We stand on the shoulders of giants, so we can really see far,” he said to the cowboys. “When we look into the future, we see this rodeo continuing to grow to highlight all aspects of rodeo.”
Riding into the future
Fort Worth resident Taries Woods celebrates a successful run during the ranch bronc riding event at the Cowboy of Color Rodeo on Jan. 19 at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report) Cleo Hearn was born May 3, 1939, in Seminole, Oklahoma, to a Seminole father and a Black mother. He joined the Real Cowboy Association in 1959 and later became the first Black man to win a major stock show calf roping event during the 1970 National Western in Denver.
The cowboy founded the Texas Black Rodeo in Lancaster in 1971. He changed the famed event’s name to Cowboys of Color in 1995.
Cowboys of Color, a signature event in the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo since 2010, is held in Cowtown each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Harlan Hearn gets emotional as he talks about the death of his father during a pre-show meeting for the Cowboys of Color Rodeo at Dickies Arena on Jan. 19. Harlan is one of Cleo Hearn’s four sons carrying on his legacy. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report) This year’s event was weighed down by several other emotional hits as organizers mourned the deaths of rodeo legends Kay Gay and Kevin Woodson, Harlan said.
Gay, who died at 87 in May, designed outfits worn by the pivot setters at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo for over four decades. Woodson, who died at 69 in July, served as the Cowboys of Color announcer for nearly 30 years.
“It’s a little rough because all three of those people, they mean a lot to my family and the world of rodeo,” Harlan said.
Although last year was difficult, Harlan said he and his brothers will continue leading the rodeo event as its managing directors and expanding on their father’s work to “educate you while we entertain you.”
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
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