They ride bulls and horses, rope calves, buck broncs, fight bulls and even wrestle steers. They are cowboys. But because of the color of their skin, the legacies of their pursuits intersected with America’s struggle for racial equality, human rights and social justice.

Beginning at the dawn of the 20th century, their collective stories were set against the backdrop of reconstruction, Jim Crow, segregation, the civil rights movement and, eventually, the integration of a racially divided country. Their accomplishments and rightful place in history have largely gone unrecognized.

As PBR celebrates Black History Month, we are publishing three photo galleries heralding Black cowboys of rodeo. Our second gallery showcases the pioneers who came from the American West.

Courtesy of Harold Cash

Willie Thomas rode bulls in his first pro rodeo in 1953. He was ahead of his time and never got his just due, but that does not mean his ability went unnoticed. Donnie Gay, an eight-time World Champion, was a kid when he watched Willie compete in the 1960s. Gay said Willie was “probably the best Black bull rider, maybe ever,” and Bubba Goudeau, another well-known rodeo cowboy from the 1960s and ‘70s, agreed. Hall of Fame rodeo announcer Pete Logan – not known for doling out compliments – once told world champion bull rider Bobby Steiner that Thomas and Harry Tompkins were the two best bull riders he had ever seen compete. Coincidentally, in a handwritten letter sent to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1999, Tompkins wrote that Thomas was treated unfairly in his era, and “I recommend he be honored with the best of them” in Oklahoma City. Unfortunately, he is yet to be inducted.

Courtesy of Harold Cash

Harold Cash grew up spending weekends and summers on a farm with his paternal grandparents. He was 9 when they introduced him to his first Black rodeo in the late 1950s. By the end of the ‘60s, he had turned pro and was competing nationally. In this 1972 photo, he’s riding a bareback horse #821 at a rodeo produced by Thyrl and Mike Latting in Chicago, Illinois.

Courtesy of Harold Cash

In 1979, Harold Cash was almost 31 years old when he won his first of two All-American Rodeo Association bareback titles. He gave the buckle to Willie Thomas, who had never been afforded the opportunity to win any titles. After missing out on a second title by a mere $19 in 1980, Cash won the title again in 1981. He kept that buckle, proudly worn on his belt.

Courtesy of Donald Stephens

Donald and Ronald Stephens, twins from Tulsa, Oklahoma, were both firefighters with a passion for rodeo. In 1956, their father, Cletus, was among the first group of six African Americans hired by the Tulsa Fire Department. They became known as “The Six” and were eventually inducted into the TFD Hall of Fame last year. The boys became firemen just like their father, who introduced his two sons to the Western way of life. The brothers used to host rodeos at an outdoor arena they built on their ranch.

Courtesy of Harold Cash

Harold Cash (L) and his rodeo mentor-turned-father figure Willie Thomas (R) in one of their final photos together before Thomas was diagnosed with cancer. Thomas, who was 91, died in April 2020. Thomas and Cash enjoyed reminiscing about rodeos of days gone by while enjoying the simple things in life. In the latter years of Thomas’s life, Cash would drive nearly an hour from his home in LaMarque, Texas, to take the old-timer to see a local barber.

Courtesy of Harold Cash

In 2011, Emmy-winning actor Glynn Turman was inducted into the National Multicultural Western Heritage Hall of Fame along with bull rider Freddie “Skeet” Gordon. Turman (L) is pictured with Harold Cash (R) at the Fort Worth Stockyards. In 1984, Turman and fellow actor Danny Glover served as grand marshals for the first Bill Pickett rodeo in Los Angeles. In 1991, he and another actor, Reginald T. Dorsey, won the team penning championship. A year later, at the request of Coretta Scott King, Turman and his wife Jo-Ann formed the IX Winds Ranch Foundation and hosted their first Camp Gid-D Up event for inner-city kids, which is still held annually every year on his ranch outside of Los Angeles.

Courtesy of Jesse ‘Charlie Reno’ Hall

In 2016, the two Charlies — Sampson (L) and Reno (R) — traveled to Colorado Springs to support their friend and mentor, Myrtis Dightman (C), when he was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. It had been 50 years since Dightman became the first African American to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo – a feat he accomplished six times in his professional career.

Courtesy of Keith Ryan Cartwright

Tex Williams was the first African American to win a state high school rodeo title in Texas. He won three titles in two years — a bareback title as a junior in 1967 and two more, bareback and bull riding, as a senior in 1968. Unfortunately, he never was able to compete in his hometown of El Campo because Black and white amateurs were not allowed to compete together in Wharton County until the mid-1970s.

Courtesy of Keith Ryan Cartwright

Tex Williams pictured in 2017 with his three state championship buckles at the Black Cowboy Museum in Rosenberg, Texas, which is owned and operated by his cousin Larry Callies.

Courtesy of Keith Ryan Cartwright

Like Tex Williams, Larry Callies qualified for the state high school rodeo finals in Texas. A former U.S. mail carrier, Callies is a rodeo cowboy-turned-country singer (who opened for George Strait)-turned-museum founder. These days, he can be found hosting tours at the Black Cowboy Museum and sharing his knowledge of Black cowboys and their impact on the American West.

Keith Ryan Cartwright, a former editorial director and senior writer for PBR.com, is the author of the forthcoming book, “Black Cowboys of Rodeo: Unsung Heroes from Harlem to Hollywood and the American West,” which will be released wherever books are sold Nov. 1. Cartwright is contributing an ongoing series featuring Black cowboys throughout the 2021 season.