| Tom Threepersons | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1889 Vinita, Indian Territory |
| Died | 1969 Safford, Arizona |
| Cause of death | Natural causes |
| Nationality | Cherokee |
| Occupation | Gunfighter, lawman, soldier, U.S. Customs inspector, blacksmith, rancher and hunting guide |
| Known for | Inventor of the "Tom Threepersons holster" |
Tom Threepersons (1889—1969) was a Cherokee lawman, who is considered to have been one of the last of what were considered to be gunfighters. Although often described as being a "gunfighter," he better fit into the category of a lawman and soldier. Although at times said to be a gunfighter of the Old West, his career did not begin until the early 20th century. He invented the "Tom Threepersons holster."
The lawman named Tom Threepersons is frequently confused with the Kainai rodeo star, Tom Threepersons, who was born in Canada.[1]
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Threepersons was born in Vinita, Indian Territory on July 22, 1889, to John and Bell Threepersons.[2] His family and the family of his friend Bill White both moved to the Montana-Alberta border. He attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. After returning from school, Threepersons rode the rodeo circuit throughout Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming
In 1907, his father and White's father were killed during a fight with cattle rustlers. The suspects were arrested, but released on bond. Threepersons tracked them to a saloon, where he confronted both suspects, and killed them during a shootout. He was arrested for murder, but acquitted.[3]
He and his friend Bill White are said to have joined the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, and were stationed near Calgary; however, no records show a Threepersons in the mounted police.[1] Shortly thereafter the two were assigned to capture a gang of outlaws who had murdered an entire family. Threepersons and White tracked the murder suspects for five days through heavy snow, toward the Yukon River in Alaska, having to abandon their horses and continue on foot, carrying their weapons and backpacks. On the fifth day, they encountered the gang of three men, and engaged them in a shootout, during which Bill White was killed. One of the outlaws were killed, with the other two fleeing. Threepersons buried White, then continued after the remaining outlaws. Several days later, at a small settlement named End of the Trail, Threepersons located them. Rather than confronting them in the town, he located the cabin where they were staying outside town, and waited for them there. When they arrived, a shootout ensued during which both outlaws were killed.
In his short career with the RNWMP, which lasted from 1910 to 1912, Threepersons was involved in numerous shootouts, once killing three suspects during a failed bank robbery attempt in Calgary, and later foiling a train robbery near Medicine Hat. In 1912 he left the force, returning to ranching, and also began rodeo riding. That same year he was proclaimed "World Champion Cowboy" in Alberta, winning the Calgary Stampede. He was financially successful in the cattle business, and spent eleven months visiting other countries and places for vacation, to include Argentina, Africa, China, Japan, Philippines, and Hawaii.
He moved to Douglas, Arizona around 1914, where he worked as a cowboy. In 1916, he joined the U.S. Army, and served under General Jack Pershing in pursuit of Pancho Villa in Mexico. He was later assigned to Fort Bliss, and although he requested service in France during World War I, it was never granted. In the 1920 census for El Paso, his profession is listed as blacksmith. His wife, Susie, is also listed. While at Fort Bliss, he was injured when kicked in the head by a horse, which would cause him severe headaches for the rest of his life. He was discharged from the army in 1920.
He worked for two years for the El Paso Police. He was partnered with officer Juan Escontrias, and the two were involved in two shootouts during that time with smugglers, resulting in four suspects being killed, and Threepersons being shot and wounded in the chest during one incident in 1921. On June 10, 1922, Threepersons was appointed as Federal Probation Agent for El Paso, but he kept the job only a few months, resigning to manage the "Cudahy Ranch" in Durango, Mexico. During his brief employment for the ranch he killed two rustlers during a shootout. He was arrested by Mexican authorities for the shooting, but escaped and returned to the United States.
In July 1923, Threepersons accepted a position as a Mounted Inspector for U.S. Customs. That same year he was run over by a bootleggers vehicle during an arrest, which resulted in injuries, but none serious. From 1925 he worked for both the El Paso County Sheriffs Office and the El Paso Police Department. Locally, Threepersons was well known for his exploits, and starting in 1925, the S.D. Myres Saddle Co., of El Paso, began advertising the "Tom Threepersons-style holsters". That style holster, which included a cutaway top exposing the pistol hammer and trigger guard became popular, and was copied by several other manufacturers. Threepersons was also offered a job in Hollywood, California, in the film industry, making $700 per month, but he declined.
By 1929 he was suffering severe headaches from his head injury, and he left law enforcement and started a ranch in Gila, New Mexico. Four years later, in 1933, he traveled to New York City to have corrective surgery for the injury. Following the surgery, which did correct much of the problems, he moved to Silver City, New Mexico, and spent the rest of his life working as a rancher and hunting guide. Writer Skeeter Skelton, of Shooting Times Magazine, wrote Threepersons in 1962 in an attempt to interview him about his experiences, but Threepersons declined.
He died on April 2, 1969, in Safford, Arizona, and is buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Silver City. Several years after his death, Skelton came into contact with US Customs Agent John Voliva, whose hobby was gun collecting. Voliva had acquired a rifle and a pistol once owned by Threepersons, which Threepersons had sold to Tom Powers, a collector who owned weapons that once belonged to Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. Voliva, in his purchase of the weapons, had also obtained the personal scrapbooks of Threepersons. Together with these and documents he researched through law enforcement records of the time, he and Skelton were able to piece together a reasonable history of Threepersons career, which otherwise had been mostly forgotten outside of the El Paso area.