Burk, Clyde

Orphaned at age 19 during the Depression, Clyde Burk held his family of two brothers and two sisters together. Born June 13, 1913, in Comanche, Okla., Burk made himself into a tie-down roper and went on to win four world championships. An outstanding horseman, Burk trained Bartender, the sorrel gelding he rode to win his first two titles. When Bartender began to age, Burk bought the great Baldy from Ike Rude. Baldy, also a 1979 inductee into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, carried Burk to his second pair of world titles. Burk’s brilliant career was cut short when he was killed while hazing for another cowboy in Denver on Jan. 22, 1945. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.