CULTURETECHLENSMyrtis Dightman
VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)
Combined Graph record U-07310 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6089.
Myrtis Dightman, born May 7, 1935, in Crockett, Texas, and raised on a ranch where his father worked, is a pioneering Black professional bull rider often called the Jackie Robinson of rodeo. He began in rodeo as a bullfighter, earned his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association card in 1957, and in 1964 became the first Black cowboy to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo. He qualified seven times in all, finishing third in the world standings in 1967 and again in 1968, and won major events including the Calgary Stampede and Cheyenne Frontier Days. He mentored Charlie Sampson, who in 1982 became the first Black bull rider to win a world championship. Dightman was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2016 and the PBR Ring of Honor in 2003, and a bronze statue stands at the Porth Agricultural Arena in Crockett, where an annual Labor Day rodeo bears his name. In May 2025 the National Cowboy Museum reported that he still lived in Houston and was celebrating his ninetieth birthday.
Answer summary · this record in brief, from its own record text
Myrtis Dightman, born May 7, 1935, in Crockett, Texas, and raised on a ranch where his father worked, is a pioneering Black professional bull rider often called the Jackie Robinson of rodeo. He began in rodeo as a bullfighter, earned his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association card in 1957, and in 1964 became the first Black cowboy to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo.
The record
- Also known as: Myrtis Dightman Sr., Myrtis Dee Dightman, Jackie Robinson of Rodeo (nickname), Jackie Robinson of Professional Rodeo (nickname)
Notes
Staged 2026-10-16 under CTL-GOV-006 (Scan Tail Wave 4 — 747 Program, Wave 11; fourth Scan Tail packet at the founder's 40-record size). Gate A (2026-10-16): no Myrtis Dightman entity in the live graph at 3,763 entities (exact / normalized / alias match + token containment; CLEAR). ID CTL-E-6089 free. Supply: 747 Supply Ledger, Tier 4 — Scan Tail Wave 3 packet ordered reserve, position 4 of 35 (corpus-gap-candidates-2026-10-15.json ranked clean survivor #1451). The scan supplied the NAME STRING ONLY; no fact in this record is sourced to it (CTL-GOV-004). SCOPE GATE: PASS — Black America canon under PPL-001: the barrier-breaking Black cowboy of professional rodeo, a Texas figure of national significance. Vital status: Living. The National Cowboy Museum reported on May 5, 2025 that Dightman still lives in Houston and was celebrating his 90th birthday, and the Houston Texans featured him modelling a game tee in a story published October 2, 2026. No credible 2023 death report was found; the premise check for a 2023 death is not supported. STATISTICS — STATISTICS (sourced, dated): Born May 7, 1935 (National Cowboy Museum, 2025-05-05); PRCA card in 1957 (Museum, 2025); 7 NFR qualifications, first in 1964 (Museum, 2025; Texans, 2026-10-02); 3rd in world standings in 1967 and 1968 (Museum, 2025); ProRodeo Hall of Fame induction 2016 (Texans, 2026-10-02). CORRECTION TO BRIEF PREMISE: no 2023 death report was found in opened sources — the opposite is documented (see vital_status). MEDIA: photo HELD (Photograph of Myrtis Dightman at his home in Crockett, Texas, May 29, 2018, published with Texas Monthly's July 2018 cover story on Dightman (photographer to be confirmed in a PHOTO-001 pass); no licence claimed here. — named candidate only; file-level rights verification per CTL-PHOTO-001 still required; no license claimed); chart FILLED (charts/chart-ctl-e-6089-myrtis-dightman.svg); video HELD (no matching-entity CTL Short or verified-rights archival video staged); audio HELD (no rights-cleared matching-entity audio staged); map N/A (person record). MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Persons carry no map in the packet standard.) | visual_assets = HELD: | chart = FILLED (CTL-created chart (black / deep red / gold) built only from this record's sourced statistics and timeline fact) | video = HELD (No matching-entity CTL Short or verified-rights archival video staged.) | audio = HELD (No rights-cleared matching-entity audio staged.)
Relationships
- Charlie Sampson — collaborated with
Mentored and travelled with Sampson for about two years; Sampson became first Black world-champion bull rider in 1982 - Jackie Robinson — related to
Widely nicknamed the 'Jackie Robinson of Rodeo' for breaking rodeo's color barrier, a namesake relationship rather than kinship
Sources
- National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, "This Week in the West, Episode 27: Myrtis Dightman" (published May 5, 2025, updated 2025-05-15, accessed 2026-10-16) — birth week of May 7, 1935, born in Crockett and raised on a 4,000-acre ranch, began as bullfighter, PRCA card in 1957, first Black cowboy to qualify for NFR in 1964, seven qualifications, third in world in 1967 and 1968, Calgary and Cheyenne wins, mentored Charlie Sampson, still lives in Houston and celebrates 90th birthday in May 2025 — https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/blog/this-week-in-the-west-episode-27-myrtis-dightman/ (primary source · build store)
- Houston Texans (official team site), "Texas Rodeo Legend Myrtis Dightman Models Battle of Texas Tee Ahead of Cowboys Game" (published 2026-10-02, accessed 2026-10-16) — Dightman alive and modelling the team tee in Oct 2026, 'Jackie Robinson of Rodeo,' first Black cowboy and bull rider at NFR in 1964, seven NFR rides, third in world in 1967, paved way for Charlie Sampson, ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2016 — https://www.houstontexans.com/news/texas-rodeo-legend-myrtis-dightman-models-battle-of-texas-tee-ahead-of-cowboys-game (primary source · build store)
- Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, "Myrtis Dightman: Trailblazer, Bullrider and Rodeo Legend" (accessed 2026-10-16) — champion bull rider from late 1950s through early 1980s, 'Jackie Robinson of Professional Rodeo,' Crockett ranch upbringing — https://www.rodeohouston.com/myrtis-dightman-trailblazer-bullrider-and-rodeo-legend/ (build store)
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Record CTL-E-6089 · Combined Graph record U-07310 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources · 2 mapped relationships.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.
Cite this record
Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Myrtis Dightman (CTL-E-6089).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6089/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Myrtis Dightman (CTL-E-6089) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Combined Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6089/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Myrtis Dightman (CTL-E-6089).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6089/
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