sometimes, rodeo is just in the blood, and that’s exactly how rodeo was for Clyde Hubert Martin. He was born into a “rodeo family” on September 2, 1931. No one is quite sure when he rode his first bronc or bull, but few can remember a time in his youth when he wasn’t rodeoing. His father, C.U. “Speedy” Martin built the Old Carral rodeo arena in Port Arthur, Texas in 1941 where he produced both open and PRCA rodeos for several years when Clyde was a teenager.
Clyde began his collegiate rodeo career at Sul Ross in 1950. He rodeoed briefly for Texas A&M and Baylor, but spent most of his undergraduate career at Sul Ross where he traveled with teammates James Ward, Jimmy Calvert, Hub Powell, Ira Akers and his brother, Rodeo Hall of Famer Tex Martin. While on the collegiate circuit Clyde won an unknown number of saddles and buckles, but typically he sold them to help pay tuition and entry fees into the next rodeo. Thus, there is no clear number of his many wins. From surviving photographs, it is known he won the bareback buckle at Texas Tech in 1953 and another open rodeo in the Orange Jaycees, date unknown.
Clyde earned All-Around honors at the Arlington State College rodeo in 1953 and another All-Around at the Texas A&M rodeo in 1954. After graduating from Sul Ross in 1954, Clyde began graduate studies at San Houston State College. Clyde’s brief professional career culminated in a trip to Madison Square Garden when he qualified to ride saddle bronc at the Garden’s World Championship on September 29, 1955 where he placed in the money. Later he returned to complete his graduate work at Sam Houston.
Throughout his collegiate career, Clyde worked to advance the sport of rodeoing at the collegiate level, not only through his own participation at Sul Ross, Texas A&M, Baylor and Sam Houston, but also by encouraging other colleges to support rodeo as a collegiate sport. Shortly after completion of his master’s degree, Clyde began teaching at Blinn College, where he soon became sponsor of the Blinn Rodeo Club. Under his direction and tutelage, Blinn hosted numerous rodeos, and the club participated widely in the sport. Today his memory is still revered by his many students who feel honored to have worked under him.
