September 2018 24 By Jim Olson, ©2018 WesternTradingPost.com Tom Three Persons was a Native who became famous. However, there are a lot of conflicting stories circulated about the man. Research reveals claims that he was a Cherokee, or perhaps a Blood (Kainai). He may have been born in Oklahoma (1889) or perhaps Canada (1888); he was a mounted policeman, tracker and rodeo star in Canada or maybe a famous lawman and prohibition officer in El Paso, Texas. He was a cowboy in New Mexico or a rancher in Canada. He had a leather gun holster named after him and he also won the World Bronc Riding Championship of 1912. His name was spelled “Threepersons” or perhaps “Three Persons.” He died poor in 1969, in Arizona, or possibly a rich man during 1949 in Canada… So many accomplishments (and contradictions) for only one man! How did he do so much, making his name a permanent part of Western history and lore? A closer examination of the facts reveals there were, ironically, TWO different “Tom Threepersons,” alive and making headlines at the same time. Their stories are often mistakenly jumbled into one. One was a rodeo star, who had a few encounters with the law— the other was a lawman, who had a few encounters with the rodeo. First let us look at the rodeo star who was a First Nations, Canadian. Tom Three Persons the rodeo star actually spelled his name “Tom Three Persons,” and was a Canadian-born, First Nations (Blood) whose first language was the Blackfoot tongue. His birth father was said to be an Anglo whiskey peddler and trader who abandoned his mother when he found out she was with child. His mother, a Native Blood, soon married another and Tom was raised by his stepfather, “Three Persons,” also a Blood. He grew up on the reservation where he learned to hunt, fish, farm, ranch and—to ride wild horses. When he was a teenager, his mother sent him to an Indian boarding school where he learned the English language and he was baptized into the Catholic faith. After graduation, Tom married his high school sweetheart and returned to the reservation to settle down and raise cattle. During roundup time on the reservation, he became known as an outstanding cowboy, a fine roper, and more particularly, a great bucking horse rider. It was because of these skills friends encouraged Tom to enter his first rodeo at Lethbridge, Canada in 1908. He placed well and returned the next year, winning first. A new career was in the cards for Tom. He was now a rodeo hand. It has been written that the lawman Tom “Threepersons” once served in the Canadian Royal Mounted Police. Research shows there was never any “Threepersons” or “Three Persons” enlisted with them. However, Tom Three Persons, the rodeo cowboy was said to have worked for them as a tracker at times. He was also reportedly a regular “customer” of theirs behind bars as he liked whiskey and fun—sometimes a little too much. He was supposedly in this exact position (incarcerated for drinking too much) in late August of 1912 when his life changed forever. Guy Weadick, an American Wild West Show producer was putting together the very first Calgary Stampede to be held during the first part of September 1912. It was quite a production, with the best ropers and riders from Canada and the United States invited to see who would be the new “Worlds Champion” in each event. Weadick had heard of Tom Three Persons (or maybe even knew him) because by then, Tom was a known local bronc rider in Canada. At the time, Tom had been traveling with the Addison Day Wild West Show and was billed as “The Famous Indian Rider.” When it came time for the Calgary Stampede, it has been reported that Weadick sprung Three Persons from jail so he could compete. Others claim the Mounties just let him out because they knew he was a great bronc rider and wanted him to win the glory for Canada (he also rode rank horses for the Mounties while serving time in jail). Whatever the case may be, Tom would leave the Stampede as the first ever World Champion being of Native (First Nations) descent, and also of being a Canadian. In those days, there was a famous bucking horse called Cyclone who had gone unridden in numerous attempts. He had thrown off the best American and Canadian cowboys every time they drew him. As fate would have it, after advancing to the final round, Tom Three Persons drew Cyclone, the world-famous bucking horse. At the end of a legendary ride, still written about in rodeo circles to this day, Tom would become the World Champion Bronc Rider and forever be remembered in rodeo history. He was now a celebrity! Years later, Guy Weadick was quoted by the Canadian Cattleman magazine, “Three Persons hit Cyclone in both shoulders with his spurs—and hard. Cyclone wasn't used to such treatment. He reared high and went into his usual pattern of bucking, but Three Persons kept applying the steel. Cyclone got mad and really started in to buck and did everything on his list to try and unseat the rider who kept hitting him with his spurs every jump. The horse finally quit bucking and stood still.” For many years after that famous ride, Tom continued to rodeo with success, becoming legendary both north and south of the border. He invested his winnings wisely and built up a large herd of cattle. He also raised and trained Thoroughbred racehorses. As a testament to his success, at the time of his death in 1949, it is reported his estate was worth a small fortune. So this “Three Persons” did, in fact, pass away in Canada, a wealthy man during 1949. Tom Three Persons remains one of the best-known Canadian Cowboys from the early days of rodeo to this day and has been referred to as “Alberta’s most famous Cowboy.” He remains an inspiration to generations of Canadian First Nations people and was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Cowboy Hall of Fame and the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum and Hall of Fame (in Fort Worth, Texas). Much of what Tom Three Persons, the Canadian rodeo star, accomplished in his life, however, is often attributed to Tom Threepersons the famous West Texas lawman. Next month we will look at the other of these “Threepersons” who was actually two different persons. Tom Three Persons, rodeo star and (middle) pictured with his wife and high school sweetheart.