Masked Rider:

An Inventory of Its Records, 1938-2012, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library

Biographical Sketch

The Masked Rider tradition began officially January 1, 1954, when a member of the Sheriff's Posse, Bert Eads, thought up the idea of having a horse lead the Red Raiders onto the football field at the start of each game. A beautiful black horse named Blackie was proved by Jim St. Clair. Joe Kirk Fulton became the first Masked Rider as he rode Blackie on the field during the Gator Bowl at Jacksonville, Florida. The Atlanta Journal described the event as "No team in any bowl game ever made a more sensational entrance." After Tech's victory, Fulton's father donated the start up gear for the Masked Rider, including horse trailer and saddle.

Unofficially, the Masked Rider has been sneaking onto the Tech football field since the 1930s. Since 1954, the official Masked Rider has been occupied by fifty Texas Tech students over the past fifty-seven years. Though the mascot has been a long tradition for Tech, the rules for performance on the field have changed as well as the costume itself. Many horses have been trained for their activities on the football field, including several owned by the Masked Rider at the time. Since 2002, the Masked Rider has ridden Midnight Matador.

Scope and Content

The materials contain information regarding the history of the Texas Tech Masked Rider program. The collection is alphabetized, however, a chronological, annotated listing of the Masked Riders and their horses is included.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open for research

Related Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Masked Rider Records, 1938-2012, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

Acquisition

Collection accession #(s):
1990-0152-B, 1999-0291-B, 2003-0166-A

Gifts, 1990-2003

Processed by

Lynn Whitfield, 1999

Collection Inventory