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Wyatt Glade– a touch of Lonesome Dove

In Larry McMurtry’s book Lonesome Dove, a pair of former Texas Rangers leave their homes in the Lone Star State and drive cattle to Montana to start a ranch in the new territory. For Tarleton alumnus Wyatt Glade, ’99, his cowboy adventure started in Montana, traveled to Texas and returned to Montana to fight for justice.

“I grew up in a rodeo family,” said Glade, who was raised on a cattle ranch in eastern Montana. “I went to Montana State University where I competed for the rodeo team.”

Before college, Glade became the Montana High School Rodeo State Champion Bull Rider in 1991. He quit riding bulls when he was about 19 to focus on saddle bronc riding.

In high school, Glade had traveled to Texas and interviewed with former Tarleton rodeo coach Bob Doty. At the time, Glade decided to stay closer to home for college.

While at Montana State, Glade was a member of the 1995 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Champion Men’s Team “At Tarleton, if you didn’t show up at class, you would hear about and earned the 1996 Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Rookie of the Year it. I remember the first time that honor. “After a few years in college, happened and I thought, ‘holy cow, I had a strong desire to get away from home while I was young,” things are different here.” Glade said. “Texas was still pulling wyATT gl ADE me, so I called up Bob and asked if the offer was still on the table. It was, so off to Tarleton I went.”

Another reason for the Texas pull was Glade’s girlfriend, Darcy, who wanted to live in Texas. She also enrolled at Tarleton, although she later finished her degree at Montana State.

With the change in schools, Glade red-shirted his first year at Tarleton and rehabbed injuries. The first year also helped him adjust to the differences in culture and expectations.

“Tarleton really turned my education around,” Glade said. “There was a level of expectation there that I didn’t experience before. At Tarleton, if you didn’t show up at class, you would hear about it. I remember the first time that happened and I thought, ‘holy cow, things are different here.’

“The quality of education at Tarleton was just outstanding. My grade point average went way up to where it should have been in the first place. Ultimately, coming to Tarleton enabled me to go to law school.” Although Glade didn’t start out with law school dreams, he was able to juggle rodeo, writing for the JTAC and his animal science/agricultural business studies at Tarleton so well that he graduated with honors. After Tarleton, Glade attended the University of New Mexico School of Law. “I went to law school there because I wanted to go somewhere I could train horses,” he said. “That’s how mixed up I was—Albuquerque is not a place to train horses.” Although horse training in New Mexico didn’t pan out, his personal life and law school did. In his first semester there, he and Darcy were married. Upon graduating from law school, the Glades returned to Montana. “We came back to Miles City to basically take care of my grandmother,” Glade said. “I went to work for a private law firm for about six months and then went out on my own.” In the three years he ran his own firm, Glade practiced a lot of criminal defense, opening the way to become a deputy county attorney. He soon earned promotion to county attorney. “That was 10 years ago,” Glade said. “Since then, I primarily prosecute crimes, everything from murder to driving without a license. I do mostly criminal law, but I also advise the county on civil matters and that kind of thing. My favorite part of my job is being in a position to help people who have been harmed by the actions of others.” In between fighting for justice, Wyatt and Darcy spend time herding their three kids—Quanah (11), Ira (10) and Odessa (6)—on their ranch south of Miles City. The Glades also run yearlings and horses on the ranch and still compete in rodeo. “Darcy is a barrel racer, and I’ve taken to training working cow horses,” Glade said. “My kids are getting into rodeo, so we’re bringing them along and raising my family’s next rodeo generation.” Whether that brings any of them to Texas is an unwritten chapter.