Midnight was foaled in 1916 on the Cottonwood ranch in the Porcupine Hills, west of Fort MacLeod, in Alberta, Canada.
He was a black horse standing 15.1 hands (61 inches, 155 cm) and weighing 1,300 pounds.
"As often happens with legends, both human and equine, recounting the early days of such standouts can be difficult and confusing.
[4][1] It was in the late 1920s that McNab sold Midnight to stock contractors Peter Welch and Strawberry Red Wall.
[1] Verne was a notable rodeo producer and stock contractor who was inducted into ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1990.
[2] Some say it is only rumors that he was ridden by a cowboy named Pete Knight during Cheyenne Frontier Days at some point in the early 1930s.
[2] Regardless, according to many sources, no one is on record as having officially ridden Midnight, despite his long career and multiple appearances in large rodeos.
[6] He bucked at the inaugural National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver, Colorado, in 1931.
[7][6] This continued until 1933 when he retired from bucking at the end of Cheyenne Frontier Days due to ringbone disorder.
He was buried beneath a gravestone saying: "Underneath this sod lies a great bucking horse.
[1] In 1957 a 96-page novella entitled Midnight, Champion Bucking Horse was written about him by Sam Savitt.