Black cowboys in Chicago, Northwest Indiana carry on traditions

At 85 years old, Calvin White didn’t let his age slow him down while riding his horse speedily in between six tall, staked poles during the pole-bending competition at the Brown Family Ranch’s annual rodeo this fall in Gary. In this competition, the rider with the fastest time wins, and White placed third.

Of the many Black men and women riding horses in the region, White is among the riders who have been on horseback all of their lives, and he has no plans to stop riding anytime soon. Like most cowboys and cowgirls at the Gary event, White says rodeoing and horses are a way of life.

Horseback riding isn’t uncommon in this part of the Midwest. Riders in the nooks of northwest Indiana board and ride on ranches regionwide, including Merrillville, Gary, Schererville, Dyer and Hobart. The cowboys who hail from Chicago say being on a ranch is a reprieve from city life. There’s a different feeling to riding in the rural parts of Chicagoland and northwest Indiana, they say, adding that being a cowboy is a peaceful lifestyle.

For many, this is part of their heritage, and for others, it’s a trail they’ve blazed themselves. Yet all of the region’s Black cowboys agree they have a duty to keep the legacy going for the next generation.

White, who lives in Gary, was originally a cowboy from Monticello, Arkansas. Born in 1939, he trained as a carpenter and in 1964 — like millions of other Black Americans during the Great Migration — he migrated north in search of work. At the time, there were no jobs in the South, he said. In Arkansas, horse riding had been an everyday activity for White, who lived near horse owners of different backgrounds and whose uncle helped teach him about horses.

As a young man, White would give milelong wagon rides to those who stopped by his family home. “Up the road from us, there was a man with a brother in Louisiana,” White said. “He’d bring horses up to his brother’s and we’d go up there on horses and break the horses in. We broke them and worked them.”

Breaking in a horse is the process of training it to be ridden. Like many of his peers who headed north during that era, White carried the horse-owning tradition and lifestyle with him.

“That’s what we did down there: rodeo, ride horses, break horses,” White said. “My mother, everybody rode horses. It was more horse riders back then when (my mother) grew up than when I grew up. They rode horses back then like cars.”

White was born shortly after an era when renowned Black cowboys such as Bill Pickett, Bass Reeves and Nat Love roamed the U.S. Pickett is believed to be the originator of “bulldogging,” an event where riders jump off horseback to wrestle cattle; Reeves was one of the first Black U.S. Marshals and Love wrote stories of his life in the Old West.

Today, modern Black cowboys such as White — along with Jack Douglas, Kent Walker and others — hold onto the history of rodeo and horsemanship in the Chicago region. They have taken it upon themselves to instill this aspect of Black American culture in their families and communities.

Chicagoan Tommy O’ Penson Jr., 24, was taught by legendary Chicago cowboy Murdock, who is known as “The man with no first name” and who founded the Broken Arrow Horseback Riding Club in 1989.

“(Murdock) introduced us to (horseback riding). I want to pass it down, to keep it going in the chain,” O’Penson said of the tradition. “Then, when I have kids, my kids can do it. I understood how important it was 100%. One big thing is us doing it together; that’s how (Murdock and I) bond together.”

Within the cowboy community, riders such as White are seen as rocks, people with years of history, experience and knowledge. Another one of those rocks is Jack Douglas.

Douglas, 83, is a cowboy from Mississippi whose father was a horseman. Douglas began riding horses at age 7, and by 17, he was touring Texas rodeos with his father.

“I had just started riding bulls and got thrown off real bad in Texas,” Douglas said. “They said, ‘You can’t ride. You crazy. You can’t do that.’”

People were concerned because he was young and still getting the hang of rodeoing, Douglas said. “I got lucky and got a second chance,” he said. “I rode the bull about 11 seconds and I broke (made) $600 to $800.”

About 35 years ago, Douglas bought a farm in Gary, where he raised goats, pigs, horses and everything else, he said. In Indiana, he made a business out of breaking and selling horses. It was a trade he learned from and originally practiced with his dad. Douglas would break them in and his dad would sell them. He said this hard work taught him how to respect animals and people.

“I had a lot of fun breaking horses, getting them ready for other people to ride,” Douglas said. “After I did it a couple times, anybody could ride (that horse). I was pretty good.”

Douglas said he has broken and sold about 200 horses in his life. He retired from the business but keeps three horses of his own: Black Beauty, Tina and Betty. He no longer rides, but he does anything he can to be around horses. At the Brown Family Ranch rodeo, he was seen in the arena between events bravely picking up items dropped during competitions.

He said he always wanted to ride when he was young. “I just love to ride a horse and I’ve done it all my life,” he said.

Many of the cowboys and cowgirls in the region come from a family of horse riders. Rider Camille Fuller, 24, of Gary, said her grandfather Phillip Fuller was a cowboy in the area. He would bring his grandchildren down to his barn, and they would watch as he tended his horses.

Kent Walker was born in Hamilton, Georgia. His family relocated to northwest Indiana after his father got a job at a mill. Back in Georgia, Walker had ridden horses all his life. In 1985, he became a semi-pro rodeo performer up north.

“I got on a horse when I was 3; I’m 65 now,” said Walker, who lives in Gary. “Back in the day, Black people down in the country had horses and they used to ride their horses after they’d worked them all day in the fields. They made their enjoyment out on the weekends and had different events. They used to compete with their horses and that’s how I got hooked on it.”

After being raised around horse riders, Walker brought up his own children in the same environment. His son, Jerrae Walker, who lives in Arizona, said being back in Indiana for the rodeo was like being at a family reunion.

“I’m seeing family friends I haven’t seen since I was 10 or 11; now I’m 41,” Jerrae Walker said.

At the Brown ranch, Devontae Ware, 26, passed by on a tall, smoky gray horse. Ware’s uncle, Carlos Pedraza, said the horse is a quarter horse. Pedraza’s Uncle Buck, who grew up on a horse farm, gave the Chicago family its cowboy legacy, Pedraza said. Ware, Pedraza and their family now tour rodeos across the U.S.

Keith Bland, 64, of Crete, said the cowboy tradition taught him family values. “Tradition is not something that you pick up. It’s something that’s passed on,” he said. “Take a story, you pass it on. So that’s what I do with my son; he’s 13. He’s picking up the tradition of being a cowboy. He’s a calf roper.”

The cowboy tradition is also passed on through values, many cowboys said, especially the sentiment that the hard work and repetitiveness of horse ownership taught them patience, respect and maturity. They also said it put them on a positive path in life.

The number of Black cowboys in the region is hard to pinpoint. Community members say it could be upward of 200. United States Department of Agriculture statistics from 2021 indicate that only 134 farmers in Indiana identified as Black or African American. But the public Facebook group for Murdock’s Broken Arrow Horseback Riding Club has over 4,000 members.

For Black cowboys, there is an understanding that the love for horsemanship must be passed down to the other generations. The Brown Family Ranch’s rodeo started nine years ago as an annual bonfire with friends and evolved into a community-wide rodeo in Gary.

“One of my buddies said why don’t you do a speed and accuracy challenge? So, we had our first rodeo in 2021,”  said ranch owner Chris Brown. Competitions include events such as barreling, where a rider quickly races around barrels in a pattern.

The family also welcomes schools and organizations that want to learn about animals and horseback riding.

Nakesia Brown, Chris’ wife, said rodeoing can provide opportunities for young people beyond competitions. “You can get scholarships for these things,” she said. And the Brown family offers its own scholarship for college students.

Aniyah Hawkins, 15, of Momence, had an impressive showing during the Brown Ranch’s pole-bending competition. She said her mother, Leandria Ashley, was the first to ride in their family and inspired her to pick up the reins.

Hawkins described her approach to riding and competing.

“When I first started, it was scary because I’m going at such a fast speed and a horse has a mind of its own,” she said. “But once you get closer to a horse, it’s like, ‘I know your every move and you know my every move.’ It’s trust basically.”

Pedraza said he is passing on his knowledge to up and coming cowboys and cowgirls, especially things he learned from his uncle. “I was taught by some of the best,” Pedraza said. “It was second nature to me because I was taught from when we were kids.” And now he’s continuing the tradition.

Tiffani Arnold is a freelancer.