On Oct. 26 the late Claire Belcher Thompson was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Okla.

She was born Gladys Emmons in Mansfield in 1902, the granddaughter of David and Frances Harding. She spent much of her childhood in Mansfield with her grandmother and her aunt, Mabel Harding Barnes. She became an experienced horsewoman.

She spent time during the summers at the Harding cottage on Ocean avenue on Chappaquiddick, built by her grandfather. Her aunt Mabel met her future husband, William D. Barnes, there at the Barnes cottage.

Changing her name to Claire, her husband Bob Belcher taught her to bulldog steers and then compete in rodeos. She was also a bronc and a trick rider and in her early years was a performer with the 101 Wild West Show. She traveled the major rodeo circuit starting in 1925. She earned many headlines at such places as the Boston Garden Rodeo, Madison Square Garden and won the 1934 ladies bronc riding title at Tex Austin’s Rodeo in London, England.

In 1929 she married Red Thompson, also a bulldogger. When he was gored by a steer and could no longer compete, she struggled to earn a living to cover his medical expenses. After her husband’s death, she returned to competition at age 50 and won the bronc event at the San Antonio All Girls Rodeo.

She loved her profession as a cowgirl and rodeo performer and her career extended from the Golden Age of Rodeo to the beginnings of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association.

She died in 1971. Her cousin was the late Clarence Barnes, grandfather of Clarence A. (Trip) Barnes 3rd.