, among countless others, who played pivotal roles in the settlement of the West. According to displays in the exhibit, as many as one-third of 19th-century cowhands were Black.
Thanks to his success as a competitor and his outgoing personality, Cleo’s stature in the sport grew. According to the, he eventually became the first Black Marlboro Man, which led to placement in ads for Levi’s jeans and Pepsi. In 1970, he became the first Black cowboy to win an event at the National Western Rodeo in Denver — one of the largest and most prestigious rodeos on the circuit.
As was the case with many trailblazers before him, Cleo endured. By the time he had a family to take with him on the road, he had established himself as an undeniable part of the sport’s history.“Taylor kind of experienced this playing select baseball,” Robby says. “A lot of times, we went to rodeos, and my dad and brothers and me, we might be the only African-American contestants … But we knew a lot of guys; we never had any trouble at the rodeo.
“Not being … hesitant to give back to inner cities,” Hearn said in 2021. “That’s where a lot of the is, and I’m tired of seeing people criticizing inner-city kids and their upbringing. … As a professional baseball player, I can help out! And it’s a matter of getting a whole city, everybody together, to try to fix it.”
“Kind of a hard mentor,” says Hutson. “When I say ‘hard,’ he was just kind of harsh or straight about a lot of things … We’d get into an argument, and I’d say, ‘Damn, I don’t see how we’re going to be friends if you don’t listen,’ and he told me, ‘You ain’t got no choice. We’re gonna be friends.'”
Rangers thearn14 MLB MLB ThreeTwoEephus Taylor Hearn's father was a professional tie-down roper. So are his uncles. His grandfather Cleo is a legend, known during his time as 'Mr. Black Rodeo.' While a post-MLB transition to rodeo is unorthodox, it would simply be a return to his roots.