Historical & Living Legend Cleo Hearn
FIRST BLACK NATIONAL CALF ROPING CHAMPION & FOUNDER COWBOYS OF COLOR RODEOS
The Living Legend, Cleo Hearn considered Mr. Black Rodeo around the world, is the Founder of Cowboys of Color Rodeos. Cleo boasts a number of first throughout his life.
One of the first eight African Americans to serve in the Presidential Honor Guard under President John F. Kennedy
The first African American to attend college on a rodeo scholarship
The first African American to win a National Tie-Down Calf Roping Championship at the Denver National Western in Colorado
Cleo Hearn was born in Seminole, Oklahoma in 1939 he planned to be a baseball star until age nine when he met his first Black Cowboy, Marvel Rogers at an all-Black Rodeo in Boley, Oklahoma; and a dream was born. Today he can say he lived his dream of being a professional cowboy.
A member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) since 1959, Cleo competed in calf roping events throughout the West and Southwest until his retirement in 2019. He also founded and produced the largest and longest-running multicultural rodeo in the world -- the Cowboys of Color Rodeo Tour which runs from Jan through November and visits a number of cities in the Southwest.
As a youngster, Cleo would walk a mile or two to a local barn just to be near the horses. His family still doesn’t know where he got his love of horses but it might be from his father a Native American. Hearn is proud to represent two cultures and tell the stories of African Americans and Native Americans who both played a largely untold role in the settling of the American West.
When he didn’t have a horse to ride, other rodeo competitors let him ride their horses. A couple of white cowboys made a huge difference in his life and career by teaching him skills and allowing him to ride their good horses when he could not afford to buy his own. Ray Wharton of Bandera, Texas, the 1956 World Champion Tie-down Calf Roper had a huge impact on Cleo allowing him to live and work on his ranch in South Texas when few of his peers would have taken such a risk. Today Cleo owns several horses and honoring those who helped him, he does the same for young cowboys coming up the trail and learning the ropes.
Due to the draft, Cleo was one of the first African American’s to perform in an Army rodeo in New Jersey. He would take a busload of soldiers with him to Cowtown Coliseum on the weekends when he served as in Washington, D.C. on the Presidential Honor Guard. He also had the privilege of standing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and opening the car door for President John F. Kennedy on ceremonial occasions. He left the Army and Honor Guard to go back to college on a rodeo scholarship 21 days before President Kennedy was killed.
After graduating from Langston University with a degree in business and while at a rodeo in New York, he was spotted by Ford Tractors who was looking for a cowboy to appear in a commercial. He not only scored the commercial but Cleo was also offered a management trainee position with Ford Motor Company where he worked for 33 years. Throughout all these years he continued to rodeo on the weekends and during family vacations.
In 1970, Cleo was the first African American to win the tie-down calf roping championship at a major rodeo, the Denver National Western. As a cowboy, he participated at all the major stock shows throughout the United States (Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, San Francisco, Tucson, Phoenix, Albuquerque, and too many more to name) and even made it to the Calgary Stampede in Canada a time or two.
For 37 consecutive years, he was a rodeo participant at the granddaddy of them all “Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo” in Wyoming.
In addition to the Ford Tractor spot, he starred in commercials as a cowboy for Phillip Morris, Pepsi Cola, and Levi’s advertisements. Although he prefers Wrangler’s when roping. Today that experience serves him well as he promotes the cowboy and rodeo lifestyle on multiple television, cable, radio, print, and Internet outlets throughout the world.
Over the years, Hearn and his wife Verna, raised four boys (Harlan, Eldon, Robby, and Wendell) and they all went to college on rodeo scholarships and now work in various industries education, medical, and insurance while raising their own families. Wendell, the youngest, still competes at professional rodeos throughout the country.
Since the 1970’s, Hearn and his family, wife Verna and four sons and now their families, have been working together to produce Black and Cowboys of Color Rodeos. He put on his first rodeo in 1971 in Harlem, New York for 10,000 kids. His second rodeo came in 1985 and became an annual event. Originally it was called the Texas Black Invitational Rodeo as the first beneficiary was the African American Museum in Dallas, Texas. As the tour expanded and move to other cities in the Southwest, part of the proceeds were donated to the National Cowboys of Color Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas, ICREA, Inc., and other local nonprofits.
Cleo was a member of the Southwest Colored Cowboys Association and helped established the American Black Cowboy Association in 1971 to encourage minorities to compete in rodeo and to become members of the PRCA.
Over the years he has been a member of the Boy Scouts of America, Lone Star High School Rodeo Association, United States Calf Roping Association, Cowboys Calf Roping Association, Oldtimers Rodeo Association, American Quarter Horse Association, Paint Horse Association, and the Tennessee Walking Horse Association.
Even though retired, Cleo continues to speak to K-12 students and teachers during career days, workshops and museum tours, and rodeos. He has offered the keynote address at Social Studies Conferences, Rotary Club Dinners, and Sales Meetings. On a number of occasions, he has participated with other educators, authors, or living history experts on program panels for schools, associations, libraries, and museums.
In addition to the boys working and rodeoing, the grandkids also had the opportunity to ride and learn rodeo skills. Two of Cleo’s grandchildren Taylor and Rachel competed during the early and teenage years at the Cowboys of Color Rodeos and Great-Grandson Charles Flores helps with marketing the rodeos today. When Cleo is not working with them he is mentoring other junior calf ropers and barrel racers. His grandson Taylor moved from rodeo to baseball during high school and college, and now is living his dream as a starting pitcher with the Texas Rangers, Major League Baseball.
Throughout his rodeo career, Cleo has often been interviewed by the media and documentary filmmakers. Some of the highlights include 2003 Forgotten Cowboys –– British Broadcasting Corporation Documentary Cowboys of Color Rodeo at the State Fair of Texas; 2004 Cowboys of Color Rodeo Tour Best of the Best –– TV1 Cable Broadcast; Dan Rather CBS Nightly News; CNN Big Story, and an upcoming EPSN Legends Feature for Black History Month in 2022, along with numerous local appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and Public Television stations.
Hearn has been recognized for his outstanding achievements as the: 2005 Texas Trail of Fame Inductee - Fort Worth Stockyards; 2006 Nominee for Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame, African American Museum Dallas; and in 2009 as an inductee into the first Bandera Museum Hall of Fame with his mentor Ray Wharton.
Hearn continued roping and every day and competing in Senior Rodeos on the weekend until he was 80 years old, then an old shoulder injury forced him into retirement. Today his four sons: Harlan, Eldon, Robby, and Weldon continue the legacy by producing Cowboys of Color Rodeos in Texas and Oklahoma.
For more photos of Cleo Hearn and Cowboys of Color Rodeos visit our YouTube Channel or Social Media pages @WildWestDiversity.