Meet An “Amazing” Who Rode Bulls With Skill And Enthusiasm

Myrtis Dightman, at 86, sits astride a tractor instead of the bulls he rode for years, spreading hay for his cattle and enjoying a peace and quiet unlike his rodeo days. As recently as 2016, Myrtis was still racking up kudos, making both the ProRodeo Hall of Fame and the Bull Riding Hall of Fame in that year. But Myrtis contributed far more than his talent and skill on the back of a bull through his career. He was the first Black cowboy to compete at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR).

Rodeo was in Myrtis’s blood from early on when he started as a rodeo clown in his late teens. There was no way he was letting prejudice stand in his way. Myrtis overcame all the obstacles he encountered--often put there deliberately--to become an exceptional rodeo rider. Hailed as the “Jackie Robinson of Rodeo,” the Porth Ag Arena in Crockett, Texas, hosts an annual Labor Day Rodeo in Myrtis’s honor.

For more Amazings, go to https://www.Facebook.com/MeetTheAmazings.