Tom Three Persons

Tom Three Persons (March 19, 1888 – August 13, 1949) was a Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy) rodeo athlete and rancher and a member of the Kainai Nation (Blood). Best known for winning the saddle bronc competition at the inaugural Calgary Stampede in 1912. An Indigenous athlete, he was the only Canadian to win a championship at this historic rodeo competition.

Early life Tom Three Persons was born on March 19, 1888, to Double Talker (Ayakonhtseniki) a Kainai (Blood) woman, and Fred Pace, a white trader and bootlegger. An injury prevented him from defending his title at the 1913 Winnipeg Stampede.

Although he remained active in local rodeos such as the Gleichen (Alberta) Stampede in 1914, and the 1918 Lethbridge Stampede, Three Persons never regained his Calgary form. Through the 1920s and 1930s, he remained involved in rodeo as an organizer and judge. He left an estate estimated to be worth $100,000. In 1983, he was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was inducted into the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum. In 2024 he was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame as a Rodeo Pioneer.