8 Questions with Keith Ryan Cartwright

By: Andrew Giangola

They ride horses, rope calves, buck broncos, wrestle steers, ride and even fight bulls.

They are Black cowboys, and the legacies of their pursuits intersect with those of America’s struggle for racial equality, human rights, and social justice.

Keith Ryan Cartwright, who previously served as editorial director and senior writer for the PBR, brings to life the stories of such pioneers as Cleo Hearn, the first Black cowboy to professionally rope in the Rodeo Cowboy Association; Myrtis Dightman, who became known as the Jackie Robinson of Rodeo after being the first Black cowboy to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo; and Tex Williams, the first Black cowboy to become a state high school rodeo champion in Texas.

Black Cowboys of Rodeo is a collection of 100 years of stories, told by these revolutionary Black pioneers themselves and set against the backdrop of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, segregation, the civil rights movement, and eventually the integration of a racially divided country.

Cartwright recently answered eight questions regarding his book, which was released November 1 and is available wherever books are sold.

PBR.com: Why a book about black Cowboys?

Keith Ryan Cartwright: Ty Murray introduced me to Myrtis Dightman back in the spring of 2009. I was so enamored with Myrtis that after my first conversation, I told Ty I was going to write his biography one day. Myrtis has no formal education, and yet the wisdom he shares is astounding. I have collected more than a book’s worth of archives and anecdotes, but, in the eight years between that introduction and starting what would become Black Cowboys of Rodeo, I came to realize writing about one man — even someone as inspirational as Myrtis — would only serve to further mythologize the narrative that Black cowboys did not exist. So, I decided to profile a collection of cowboys spanning more than 100 years of American history.

PBR.com: You’re covering history that has been largely ignored. Did that make this a difficult book to write?

KRC: It was rather easy for several reasons. I knew I was on the right side of history. I knew it was the right thing to do, and, strangely, the stories were so easy to find that, at one point, I asked myself if this could really be happening. Every one of these guys wanted to share their stories – many for the first time; some had only been told in dips and drabs over time. All I had to do was be patient enough to actively listen. Houston and the surrounding Gulf Coast region led me to Oklahoma, which took me to Harlem, New York, and the tri-state area. Then came Los Angeles and Hollywood and Northern California, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Florida. It was a treasure trove of stories and, whenever possible, it was important for me to document the firsthand memories. The only difficulty I faced was knowing there were more stories, more characters than I could possibly write about in one book.

PBR.com: Why do you think history has ignored these men?

KRC: Seeing is believing, and when Hollywood popularized the Western, America was segregated, and later there was the civil rights movement. So, network and studio executives did not have the courage to put a Black man on a horse, like they did with John Wayne, and call him a hero. Think about it. For most people — here and abroad — the image they have of a cowboy is an actor, John Wayne, playing the part of a cowboy in a movie. John Wayne was a movie star who knew how to ride a horse, yet so many people who are unfamiliar with the West beyond what they never saw on television or the movies cannot imagine there being Black cowboys, because far too often they were not portrayed as anything more than servants.

PBR.com: You have assembled an extraordinary collection of stories on significant Black cowboys. How did you come to know all of them?

KRC: Social media and namely Facebook. Seriously, I found most of the cowboys profiled in my book on Facebook, and, in some cases, they found me. Some of them are on Instagram, and fewer yet are on Twitter, but it seems like they are all on Facebook. Over the past five years, I have slowly built a community of followers who have relentlessly shared stories, introduced me to family, friends, friends of family and friends, and shared names of cowboys they grew up hearing stories about. The LeBlanc family, Rex Purefoy, Harold Cash, Bud Bramwell, Nelson Jackson, Mike Latting, Charlie Reno, Steve Robinson, Barry Moore, Reginald T. Dorsey, the Stephens brothers, Marcous Friday, Ervin Williams and Steve Washington, the Hargo family, Gus Trent, Dennis Davis, Steve Reagor and dozens of Black cowboys from Los Angeles — including Tre Hosley, Chris Byrd, Stanley Taylor, the family of Tommy Cloud, Robert Brown, Larry Taplet and so many others — were and still are on Facebook. That’s why I had mentioned these stories were just waiting to be told. They were not hard to find.

PBR.com: What’s the reaction been for the cowboys covered in the book?

KRC: Dare I say overwhelmingly positive. As an example, I was in Las Vegas for the PBR World Finals, and Flint Rasmussen was kind enough to invite me on his show “Outside the Barrel” at the South Point Hotel. Whether it was me interviewing him or, nowadays, him interviewing me, we have always had great conversations, and this time was no exception. I cannot tell you how many people were there, but it was standing room only. Anyway, the PBR had purchased several cases of books and had them for sale along with all the PBR merchandise at the Western Expo. By the time Flint’s show was over, they sold out of books. That’s just Vegas. How many people in Vegas are thinking about reading a book? If you are in Vegas the first week of November, you are typically drinking Pendleton Whisky or a cold Coors Banquet Beer and watching professional bull riding. Yet, they bought all the books. I was very humbled. I have had several virtual author events from Los Angeles to Chicago and Nashville. I just booked an in-person event for Houston, and I am working on the details for Tulsa, and those bookstores are placing reorders. Again, it is overwhelming—not for me, per se, but to see the reaction to the stories and response readers have had for these iconic cowboys.

PBR.com: Does one story stick out or have special meaning to you?

KRC: There are so many special moments from the past four or five years, so I will share one from the week of the book’s release. Ervin Williams called me after reading about Bud Bramwell. He knew of Bud, and he knew they lived close to one another, but they are a generation apart from one another and had never met. Ervin is a legend in his own right — he’s a three-time NFR qualifier, and the one time rodeo was an exhibition sport at the Winter Olympics, he rode in the bull riding — and Ervin was just as engaged reading about other Black cowboys as everyone else. He asked me if I thought Bud would mind if he drove from Tulsa to Stillwater to meet him. I knew Bud would welcome Ervin with open arms, but on that Wednesday, I flew to Tulsa before going to Vegas. Ervin and I were going to have dinner that night and celebrate the release of Black Cowboys. I did not tell him ahead of time, but I called Bud, and he drove over to Tulsa that evening and surprised Ervin when we met up at Cobbler Mom over on Black Wall Street. Marcous Friday was there, too. I just sat off to the side and listened and watched as the three of them visited with one another and shared stories. That was a special moment for me. I cried that night. I cried a week earlier when Obba Babatunde called me and, in short, told me this document exists because of me. Mike Latting had some of the same thoughts, and on more than one occasion, he has explained, if not for me, a lot of these stories would have died with the cowboys. When you hear that, how can you not get choked up?

PBR.com: You were the editorial director and senior writer at PBR from 2008 through 2014. Was that good preparation for undertaking this project?

KRC: Absolutely. That’s how I met Myrtis Dightman, and that introduction ultimately led to this project. It took a while, but whenever I would ask, “What is next for me?” Justin McBride would always tell me, “Books. I keep telling you, Diablo, it’s time to be an author.” It is not for me to say whether I won or not, but this was my run at a gold buckle.

PBR.com: Is there another book on the horizon?

KRC: I have enough material for a second volume of Black cowboys. However, my publisher is interested in a companion piece, which I have tentatively titled Black Cowgirls and the Heroines of American Rodeo, so I am working on that along with developing a documentary film series. I am also working on a project looking at the emergence of Black stuntmen and women in Hollywood and another chronicling the history of prison rodeos. I will be 52 next month, and, honestly, to give some perspective to the time it takes to finish one project, if I complete all of these, I will probably be at the end of the arc of my career. It will be time to retire.

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