Listen | Discover | Engage a service of Southern Oregon University
The Jefferson Exchange

Black cowboys featured in rodeo display at Bend's High Desert Museum

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio

Don't go looking for a Black cowboy in one of those old black-and-white western movies. The cowboys are only white in those, while there really were Black cowboys on cattle drives in the west. Some historians think up to one in four cowboys were Black.

There is a Black rodeo on tour in our time, the Bill Pickett Invitational, and a series of photographs of it are on display now at the High Desert Museum in Bend.

Gabriela Hasbun is the photographer, and Heidi Hagemeier, Director of Communications at the museum, joins us to talk about the display.

Stay Connected
The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Angela Decker is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Geoffrey Riley hosts the show.