Tom Three Persons became a successful rancher at a time when Canadians did not expect Indians to succeed. His even greater claim to fame was in the rodeo arena—at the first Calgary Stampede in 1912 he won a world championship in bronc riding, and was the only Canadian to achieve a championship in any major event at the stampede. He became a hero, took up calf roping, and inspired generations of Blood Indians to success in the rodeo arena. But there was a dark side—Tom Three Persons carried out vendettas against neighbours, drank too much, abused his wives, and was said to have had no natural children who reached adulthood.

Hugh Dempsey is an author, historian, and researcher. He is the former associate director of the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, and is currently its chief curator emeritus. He is also the editor of the quarterly Alberta History. Dempsey was made an honorary chief of the Kainai Blackfoot in 1967 and in 1975 was invested as a member of the Order of Canada. He is the author of more than twenty books, including The Great Blackfoot Treaties, Maskepetoon, Firewater, and Crowfoot.

Hugh A. Dempsey's profile page

[Three Persons'] life is an exposé of the racism and greed that underlay the appropriation of the west.

The Globe and Mail

Believers say that mysteries surround the life of Alberta's first rodeo world champion, while others claim he was purely an ordinary man ... Whether, as Dempsey writes, Three Persons' Success was "the result of hard work, management, a spirit helper, or the Devil, all depends on who you talk to and what they believe." ... Dempsey, as he has done in many of his books, skillfully incorporates documentary and oral history to write a fascinating biography.

NEWEST Review

This is an interesting and accessible piece of western history.

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix