Army Scout - Tom Threepersons

Unarguably, Tom Threepersons would be considered a Lawman well before his service as an Army Scout would be mentioned. However, it is beyond any doubt that Tom Threepersons and his accomplishments should be considered as legendary. Threepersons, born into the Cherokee Nation on or about 1893 and moved with his father and a friend (sometimes reported as his brother) to Alberta Province, Canada around 1908 to start a ranch.  My Grandfather lost his ranch in Montana in the early 1900's and also moved to Alberta to ranch taking my father and his two brothers. So I've always felt a kinship with Tom Threeperson's story.

Threeperson's father was soon killed by raiders. After the killers were released by the courts, Tom Threepersons killed both raiders in a gunfight.

Tom then joined the famed Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and as a Mountie tracked criminals and raiders across the very rough and remote territory of the Canada-U.S. border. It was during his service with the RCMP where Threepersons was in gunfights resulting in more than 10 criminals killed or wounded, and Threepersons himself was wounded at least once.

Threepersons cemented his legend as a Canadian lawman by also working the Canadian- Alaska border where he tracked and killed kidnappers as well as tracking robbers for over 200 miles back on the U.S. Canadian border before capturing these men. Another manhunt led to the death of his partner, which Threepersons avenged days later, killing both remaining suspects.

Knowing his way around a horse and riding in local rodeo circuits in his teens, gave Threepersons a reputation as a capable Cowboy, which he proved in 1912 Threepersons won the Saddle Bronco event at a rodeo in Calgary that would be known worldwide as the Calgary Stampede.

A few years later, at about 21 years old, Threepersons moved to Arizona where he cowboyed and raised horses. He volunteered to serve as a scout for General Black Jack Pershing’s Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa and later served at Fort Bliss, Texas before being discharged in 1920.

Threepersons then served as an El Paso Police Officer and a Federal Probation Officer before leaving to run a ranch in Mexico. In Mexico he reported killed a couple of rustlers then returned to the U.S. where he became a Mounted Customs Inspector.

Later on he served as El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputy and here he designed a holster, built by the S.D. Myres Saddle Co., which became known as the Tom Threeperson's Style. This holster is still in manufacture by El Paso Saddlery which bought out S.D. Myres in 1969. The Threeperson's holsters are shown at right.

Leaving law enforcement, Threepersons moved to Gila - Silver City area of New Mexico, ranching and guiding the rest of his life. Tom Threepersons died on April 2nd, 1969 and is buried in Silver City, New Mexico.

Wyatt Earp Died 84 years ago Today

Today marks the 84th anniversary of Wyatt Earp's death, having passed away at age 80 in Los Angeles having out lived all of his brothers. The photograph at left is thought to have ben taken within a year of his death.
Wyatt did not die in a brothel like how most men want to go out,....he died at home. 

Earp, of course, most famous for his "Shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona in 1881, enjoyed a long and productive life well after that his famous career as a lawman, most notably working in Hollywood mentoring and coaching Actor-Cowboy on the silver screen including Tom Mix and William S. Hart, who he developed a friendship with. 

Wyatt Earp, and his brothers Vigil, Morgan, James, Warren and Bruce,...just kidding - he did not have a brother named Bruce,....were immortalized in many movies, the most recent one's being "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp", and if you can forgive the rider's jerking their horses' heads around with the reins, then these movies are enjoyable.

Note to my wife:  No brothel death for me.  I just as soon die in bed,....from natural causes.

The Legend or Myth of Frank Hopkins

Marti asked "I don't know if you have seen the movie Hildago about the endurance racer in the old west. A couple of the ladies I ride with on weekends, one is a former  endurance rider, were telling me that it is all false. Do you have an opinion about Hidalgo?"

Hi Marti, the man in question was Frank T. Hopkins. I'll leave it to you to determine how much, if any, of the legend of Hopkins and his primary horse, Hildago is true. The movie was certainly made for entertainment not as a historical docu-drama.

It does not surprise me that endurance riders don't believe any of the Hopkins legend.  The Long Riders Guild which describe themselves an association of equestrian explorers, is a world wide organization and probably the most vocal group when it comes to calling Frank Hopkins a complete fraud. In fact, it looks to me they are vehemently anti-Hopkins. They have a tab on their website titled "The Hildago Hoax" with 30+ articles to convince readers why Hopkins was, in their words, a charlatan.

In a counter to Hopkins supporters, the Long Rider's Guild state that (most) of these authors did not do good enough research into Hopkins and his alleged endurance racing. Yet to be fair, most of the articles and links in the "Hildago Hoax" are written ny newspapers, educators and magazines from the non-horse world and it makes one think how much research they did.

One of the anti-Hopkins claims is that there are no photographs of Hopkins ever on horseback and no one exists to verify his claims. Yet on the Hopkins website, there are several!? This is the Frank T Hopkins website, sponsored by the Horse of the Americas registry and the Institute of Range and the American Mustang (IRAM), which are obviously Hopkins (and Hildago) believers and supporters.

On this website are some articles accredited to Hopkins, which support at the least the claims that he was very knowledgeable about horses, and particularly knowledgeable and supportive of the Mustang breed.

I remember when the movie came out and I mentioned I was taking my then 10 year old daughter to see it, a cowboy buddy of mine about had a fit telling me it was nonsense and I was wasting my time. I replied that "I did not have to believe in Santy Claus to put up a dang Christmas tree!"

Another one of the "false claims", in fact of the major claims by the anti-Hopkins crowd is concerning the long distance "Ocean of Fire" race in the Middle East. The majority of the movie "Hildago" was over this alleged race. There is a principal Arab Newspaper called "The Arab Times" which refuted these races. And why wouldn't they if Hopkins raced in one and won it?

In October 1993, I was in Taif, Saudi Arabia doing some work for the Crown Prince, HRH Abdullah bin Aziz al Saud, who is now the Saudi King. Taif is on the western escarpment at about 5,000 feet elevation, over looking Mecca and Medina on the coastal plains. I was invited to a Royal horse and camel race. We arrived just before the camel race and as the horse race had just started. One of the Saudi National Guard  Captains told me, words to the effect that the horse race was a "far race" and we "would not know the winner for several days".

So Marti, the bottom line in my book, is that there is as much credible evidence that Frank Hopkins was as least somewhat legit as there is that he was somewhat of a fraud.  Most of the writings surrounding Old West personalities,....gun fighters, lawmen, outlaws and soldiers,....took a lot of liberty in writing and publishing those stories.  You are going to have to make up your own mind on Frank Hopkins......if he was a liar or legend.  Regardless of either, his writings show that he knew horses.  Good luck and safe journey.