Margaret Clark Formby was born to Fred and Mable Clark on July 12, 1929 and was raised on the family ranch in Van Horn, Texas. She left this world on April 10, 2003. She married Clint Formby in 1950 nd they raised their five children Chip, Brenda, Linda Kay, Marshall and Scott in Hereford Texas. She graduated as Salutatorian from Van Horn High School, in 1946, where she participated in Barrel Racing. She graduated from Texas Technological College in 1950. While at Texas Tech Margaret served as the Student Body secretary for two years. She was the only female student in the Ag Science department and was a charter member of the Texas Tech Rodeo Association. Margaret was voted the first Miss Texas Tech in 1950.
Margaret was instrumental in starting the All Girl Rodeo and the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in Hereford. She served as the Executive Director for 18 years, until it was moved to Fort Worth. She was the founder and Executive Editor of Sidesaddle magazine, the monthly publication of the Hall of Fame. She served on the Texas Tech Ranching Heritage Board as well as President of the Southwest Collection Library at Texas Tech University for a number of years. In 1977 she was appointed to serve on the Select committee on Child Pornography by Speaker of the House Bill Clayton. In 1982 she was chosen to serve on the State Select Committee on Teenage Pregnancy. In 1995 she rode in the Macy’s Day Parade with several Hall of Fame honorees to represent the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center.
In 1983 she was named Hereford’s Woman of the Year and in 1984 she was presented with the prestigious Bull Chip Award by the Deaf Smith County Chamber of Commerce for volunteer work in the community. She was president of the Women’s Division of the Chamber of Commerce, organized the Animal Action committee, board member of the Tri-county Red Cross, volunteer for the American Heart Asssociation as well as being actively involved in her husband’s and children’s lives.
In 1993 she was the first woman, and one of the ten first people, to be inducted into the Texas Tech University Rodeo Hall of Fame. She also received the Golden Nail Award that year. In 1994 she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. In 1994 Mirabelle magazine named her a “Fearless Woman. Her other awards include receiving The Texas Plains Girl Scout Woman of Distinction in 1997, she received the Citation of Merit from the Texas Historical Foundation in 1997, she was named a History Maker of the High Plains in 2000, and the American Cowboy culture Society Pioneer Woman of the year in 2001
Margaret was quoted as saying, “I’ve always had a definite interest in women’s place on earth. When you grow up in the West, you see that women had a definite place in the West. You don’t hear the real stories of the women who pushed forward. Cowgirls, too, have their place in history. They’re ours-uniquely American.”
