EVENTS
Rodeo Clown
Rodeo Bullfighter
Born at Goldthwaite, Texas, in 1906, John Lindsey was raised around livestock and made up his mind to be a rodeo cowboy. He entered the arena at age 14 and later signed on with the famed 101 Ranch Show. A natural comic, he started clowning in the 1920s and often teamed with Hoyt Hefner during the 1940s and 1950s.
Lindsey’s act included entering an event but bumbling his ride. In the calf roping, he would dash in on a mule, rope the calf, and dismount, but his loosely-cinched saddle and a suitcase full of loud clothes would fly into the air and scatter around the arena. He was known as “the cowboy’s clown.” As a rodeo bullfighter, he had few peers.
He worked all the major rodeos in the United States and Canada from the 1920s through 1964. In 1986 the Pro Rodeo Historical Society named him “Honoree of the Year” during the National Finals Rodeo. After retiring, John Lindsey raised horses near Vinita, Oklahoma, until his death in 1974.
