Cowboys Of Color Rodeo Founder Cleo Hearn Wants Everyone To Know Real History Of The Old West

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - From the drama of the duels to the thrill of the chase, the class western television shows of the 1950s seemed to have it all. But while the famous heroes were all white, historians say, in real life the old west was just as diverse as our communities today. The Smithsonian estimates that one in four cowboys was Black.

Cleo Hearn wants to make sure everyone remembers the real history. "Black cowboys in history books.. [are] damn near forgotten," Hearn told a documentary crew in 2016.

Hearn is a big part of that history. He was the first African-American to go to college on a rodeo scholarship. He was also the first to win a major calf roping event. But racism kept him out of many competitions, including one that his son remembers well.

"They found out he was African-American and they said 'here's what we'll do. We will pay you the equivalent of first place money if you just go home,'" recalls Hearn's son Harlan.

"People would see me at a rodeo," said Hearn, "And because I was a different color they thought I was working for somebody."

So he decided to start his own rodeo. In 1971, Hearn helped found the Texas Black Rodeo. In 1995, he changed the name to Cowboys of Color, to include all races and ethnicities. His hope was inclusion for the participants and the audience. It's now a family affair, with Hearn's four sons helping run the organization.

"The reason we do this is to educate and entertain," said Harlan. "We want to expose them to it, pique their interest, give them a little history of it."

The Cowboys of Color Invitational Rodeo takes place on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day every year at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. Unlike many rodeos, the participants do not pay an entry fee. Cleo, now 81, didn't make it to this year's event but his son says, the mission continues.

"Education of western history for people of color is very important, and I believe that's one of the driving forces that's kept him going all of these years."

Click here to learn more about the Cowboys of Color.

Watch the mini-documentary about Hearn by clicking here.

Check out the 2018 CBS 11 report about Cleo Hearn here.