[1] Houser was born in Winigan, Missouri, but later moved to Oxnard, California to escape the drought after both his parents died in 1911.

He gained his strength working in the fields; during summers he would load hay bales in 110-degree heat in Corcoran, California.

His six wins in shot put and discus, each time breaking a state record, made him the most successful meet participant ever.

[6] During this time he developed a discus-throwing style of doing one and a half rapid turns in the circle before release that has been copied by many later athletes.

On April 3, 1926 in Palo Alto, in a USC dual meet with Stanford, he set a world record with a discus throw of 48.20 m.[8] At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam he was the flag bearer for the United States team.