A Storyteller With Purpose

On a sunny Saturday in October the town folk of Harrisonville, Mo., step back into history. Hundreds fill the streets. Many, in authentic 1800s dress, come to celebrate Cass County’s Living History Festival.

Amid the alluring aroma of outdoor barbecue the crowd is beckoned to the courthouse stage. A middle-aged cowboy in full regalia, from wide-brimmed hat down to leather chaps and boots, hustles to the microphone.

“HEE HAAA!” he bellows. “Howdy, I am Wil Robinson, and I’m a historian of the African-American frontier and the pioneer West.” With a jaunty step and swoop of his hand, Wil invites the audience to let history “turn backward.” Then he launches into rhythmic portrayals of one African-American cowboy after another, a presentation he calls “Cowboys of Color.”

A horse trainer who pointed people to God

Wil talks with obvious pride about his African-American Wild West heritage, and he’s eager to pass it on to young people today. He learned about his past from a godly man, his uncle Kingsley Frey. Wil’s parents died when he was 4. His Uncle King and Aunt Regina Frey lovingly raised him and his three siblings along with their own five children. Wil talks about them often, with deep admiration. King, of Topeka, Kan., was a draft horse expert. As a young boy he learned to break and drive draft-pulling horses on a single- and double-tree hitch. These horses were used for pulling cargo wagons and plowing.

King taught Wil the same skills to be a cowboy—and much more. “Uncle King was a godly man,” Wil says. “He read the Bible and taught Sunday school. He taught me not to be afraid of God but to trust Him. He’d read the Bible to us kids. Then he’d quiz us on Bible verses and ask what they meant.”

When Wil faced a challenge, King would say, “God’s got you covered.” Both Wil and his wife, Brenda, glow when they talk about Uncle King. Wil puts it this way: “He was a ‘triple A’ when it came to being a Christlike man.”

King and Regina Frey’s influence touches Wil’s approach on stage. His performances often close with a Western vocal rendition of the Lord’s Prayer. At a Christian school Wil told the students, “I want you to remember one thing, if nothing else. As a cowboy or cowgirl, you can ride the roughest horses, win the biggest contests and still be a good Christian.”

A slave’s story

“Hello, Pards, I’m Bose Ikard,” Wil says, shifting into character. “I was born a slave in Mississippi in 1843. At age 4, I moved with my master, Dr. Milton Ikard, to Texas. While growing up on the frontier, I learned to ride, rope and fight.

“After the Civil War, as a free man, I worked as a cattle trail driver. My boss, Charles Goodnight, said I was the most responsible and devoted man who ever worked for him. We became lifelong friends.”

In a quick pivot Wil grabs a Stetson “silver belly” hat and slips on red cowhide gloves. “I’m Nat Love. I was born in a slave cabin in Tennessee in 1854. As a young man, I roamed to Dodge City and learned to be a cowboy.”

Wil struts across the stage telling how emancipated Nat Love earned the nickname “Deadwood Dick” in the Dakota Territory. The name stuck after Nat won rodeo roping and shooting contests. Wil’s voice drops to a gravel baritone: “I could ride a horse longer, shoot a firearm straighter and drive cattle longer than any man. I was wounded 14 times—and lived to tell about it!” Wil summarizes: “Nat Love: rodeo rider, cattle driver, railroad Pullman porter.”

Wil’s audiences learn also about Henry Flipper, born to slave parents in 1856 and saluted as the first African-American to graduate from West Point. (He placed 50th in a class of 76.) Another slave had taught him to read in a woodshed at night.

After emancipation, Henry attended missionary schools and then Atlanta University. As a civilian, he became a successful mining engineer. Later he served as a Spanish language translator for Mexican Affairs with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Wil loves to portray legendary cowboy Bill Pickett from Taylor, Texas. Of African-American and Native-American descent, Bill performed in the famous Miller brothers’ 101 Ranch Wild West Show from 1905 to 1931. He traveled the United States, Canada and Europe. He was billed as the inventor of rodeo bulldogging—jumping from a horse and throwing a steer to the ground so it could be branded. He’d twist the animal’s horns and bite its upper lip to keep control. (The lip technique is no longer allowed.)

In 1971 Bill Pickett was posthumously named as the first African-American to enter the National Rodeo Hall of Fame. In 1994 his picture appeared on a U.S. postage stamp in the “Legends of the West” series.

After Wil’s Harrisonville performance, Jim Gibb, a retired high school history teacher, said, “It’s good he’s bringing out awareness, and causing increased interest in black history. I think if you have a better understanding of people, you’ll find it easier to share Christian love.”

The cowboy storyteller

Wil, a true cowboy himself, was a professional bronc rider for 15 years. With a passion for African-American history, he created his own Black West Presentations, Inc. Often using an elaborate stage set, Wil performs at schools, theaters and national events. He has given one-man shows in Branson, Mo., and performed in the traveling Great American Wild West Show. Wherever he goes, Wil prays for God’s blessing and strength.

“I had no formal training in storytelling,” Wil explains, “but I watched movies. My cousin George Moses Gunn was in lots of movies and TV shows. He was my mentor.” (Moses is remembered for his role as Joe Kagan in the TV series “Little House on the Prairie.”)

Wil recalls his Uncle King’s tales of family history, told in a spirit of dignity and pride. This sparked Wil to dig into his roots and to discover his cultural identity. It led to broader historical research and eventually storytelling. Now as a historian, Wil is working with a publisher on his book about “Cowboys of Color.”

As portrayer of “Cowboys of Color,” Wil is especially conscious of his show’s impact on African-American youth. “I would like them to catch the meaning of their heritage. I want to inspire them to stand tall and to go forward.

“We are all God’s children, and we are called to honor Him.” Wil affirms the power available: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). And it is Wil’s dream that people of all races will hear God’s good news and draw on that power.