Soul in the saddle Back

Lenny Foster takes a look at a different part of the old west

The photographs on this page are a sampling of Lenny Foster's Black Cowboy Rodeo Circuit Series.

Story by Rick Romancito, The Taos News * Photographs courtesy of Lenny Foster

When someone says "cowboy," what immediately comes to mind A Marlboro Man John Wayne Clint Eastwood Larry Mahan

What about a Native American Or a Black man

Actually, cowhands come in all shapes, sizes, colors and genders, but when it comes to the image, it's generally assumed that a cowboy is a young white guy. That's what Taos photographer Lenny Foster assumed too, that is until he found out about a little-known aspect of the rodeo world.

"I received the return phone call from Gene "Sugarfoot" Johnson almost a year after I had called him," Foster said. His name showed up in a Black newspaper out of Tulsa, Okla., called The Tulsa Eagle.

Foster had been at a black-arts festival in Denver when he spied a man wearing a "Boley Black Rodeo" T-shirt. Once he saw him, Foster said he "turned around and followed him to his booth" where the man sold T-shirts.

"Is that rodeo for real " Foster asked him.

"Yeah, of course it is!" the man replied, and proceeded to tell Foster about the Black Cowboy Rodeo Circuit.

Foster said he stood there with the "look of wonder and excitement of a child" as he listened to Sugarfoot Johnson explain something new and definitely interesting. Not surprisingly, the artist inside him also took notice.

"I hadn't heard from him for so long because he had spent this last year recuperating from a major heart attack," Foster said. "Sugarfoot, a tall lanky drink of water, got his nickname in the '60s when he played basketball with the Magicians, often as an opponent of the Harlem Globetrotters. He was called Sugarfoot because his footwork on the court was so sweet."

Foster said Sugarfoot Johnson provided him with a schedule of the circuit, which included events in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Arkansas.

"The first black-cowboy rodeo I attended was the Juneteenth Rodeo in Owassa, Okla.," Foster said. "Juneteenth is a day of celebration and remembrance of when the slaves in Texas were finally freed June 19, 1865. The Emancipation Proclamation took effect on Jan. 1, 1863."

Foster said he drove to the rodeo with excitement and curiosity, wondering what an event like this might be like. An African American photographer who grew up in Washington, D.C., who now lives and works in Taos, Foster said he gradually became immersed in the history and culture of Black Americans in the West and their vital contributions.

Among some the things he noted were:

* A third of the cowboys in the Old West were Black.

* Black families came to the West in covered wagons, "establishing self-sufficient all-Black towns, filling every job from barber to teacher, doctor to state legislator.

* African Americans were some of the West's earliest millionaires, owning much of the West's most valuable real estate and many prominent businesses.

* There were Black lawmen and outlaws throughout the West. Black outlaws fought with Billy the Kid in Southern New Mexico and rode with the Hole in the Wall gang in Colorado and Wyoming. "The largest concentration of African American outlaws," Foster said, "could be found in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma."

Upon arrival at the rodeo, Foster said he immediately felt odd, dressed in his "city-slicker clothes," so he changed into his Wranglers. "Needless to say," he said, "my dreadlocks and Tony Lama boots kinda gave me away."

He said as things got under way, his photographer's eye began to take over. He observed everything, probably because things seemed so new and because there seemed to be so many interesting ironies, such as hearing Aretha Franklin's "R...E...S...P...E...C...T" over the loudspeaker during the grand entry.

"I felt and saw more than the magnificence of the moment," Foster said. "I could visualize their ancestors who generations before had probably entered an arena such as this and started a legacy and tradition to pass on to those who now proudly rode through the arena."

Foster said he stood with pride and gratitude as a young woman sang the African American National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice," while the honor guard posted the colors.

"Looking out over the arena and the stands filled with Black folks, I was once again reminded of the importance of continuing to explore the diversity, richness and history of the African Americans in the West."

Soon his shutter was clicking away, recording images of pride and honor, ones that actually are little known. But now they are.

Photographs from Foster's Black Cowboy odyssey can be seen at his Living Light Studio, 103A Quesnel Street. Call 737-9150.