Tad Lucas

Barbara Inez “Tad” Barnes Lucas (1902–1990) was a world-famous cowgirl during the golden age of rodeo. Beyond winning acclaim for her equestrian skill, Lucas was known for her fashion flair.

Lucas began training horses at age seven on her family’s ranch in Nebraska and learned to ride steers with Lakota (Sioux) children from the nearby Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota. By the time she was 14, Lucas was a seasoned competitor with a first place award in steer riding from the Gordon, Nebraska Fair. She joined California Frank’s Wild West Show as a bronc rider in 1921, kicking off an almost four decade career in equestrian acrobatics. Lucas’s daring feats, big attitude, and fashion flair propelled her to international cowgirl stardom, earning her the nickname “Rodeo’s First Lady.”

Lucas heightened the impact of her routines by wearing eye-catching costumes. She designed and sewed her own outfits to create a distinctive visual identity that still prioritized mobility and comfort for competition. Much of her clothing features western motifs like silhouettes of rodeo animals embroidered on vests and pant legs. Fringe was part of Lucas’s signature style, as its movement emphasized the energy of her performance on horseback.

Lucas’s flashy outfits dazzled audiences as she executed dangerous stunts, but the very stunts that won her acclaim also almost ended her career. While performing the infamous “under the belly crawl” (where the rider flips under and around the horse) at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, Lucas’s horse stumbled and trampled her. She suffered a compound fracture in her arm, but defied doctors’ expectations by recovering and carrying on with riding. For decades afterward, she often wore a large bracelet designed by a Diné (Navajo) artist to cover the scars.

Lucas learned many of her stunts while performing in California Frank’s Wild West Show. Wild West Shows captured international attention from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. These traveling productions incorporated elements from vaudeville, circuses, and rodeos to tell sensationalized stories about the American West. Cowboys, outlaws, and Native American actors appeared in dramatic plots defined by racial stereotypes—but offstage, Wild West Shows provided a space for performers from different backgrounds to work closely together while exchanging skills and styles. The fashion aesthetic and acrobatic training that defined Lucas’s career reflect the influence of Indigenous performers and Cossack trick riders she met in California Frank’s show.