Well, look, I agree with most everything you say. Certainly
all of the tales until this century, about Tom, were false -- because Tom made his living that way! He was not actually Tom Threepersons at all; but it is true that a man using the name
was a Texas lawman for 6-1/2 years and he
did have a ranch in NM -- I even have it mapped from official records -- but the tales of him being
the Indian who won the 1912 Stampede were born of what is known as 'identity theft' that was not uncommon at the turn of that century. In that endeavor he had the assistance of his second wife Lorene; and of both Eugene Cunningham, dime novelist and writer for El Paso Times; and Oren Arnold. All four of these folks made their living this way and the articles were published in USA, Canada, Britain and Australia that I know of. But one friend of Tom's interviewed by El Paso Times in 1982 said "I never knew him to work" so even the ranching part is unlikely. Instead he earned his living with endorsements from Boogers Reds' rodeo clothing and from Sam Myres gunleather, both of which he endorsed and whose advertising he appeared in; and from the interviews that Lorene (Tritthart) (Nichols) Threepersons gave to El Paso Times writers
. When the real Tom Three Persons discovered the ruse in a 1928 Cunningham article he vowed to sue; but Tom had already vamoosed from El Paso.
He really did wear the holster that he is known for, and it is in my collection with provenance from the widow of the man to whom Tom presented it in 1934 at a rodeo in AZ. He really did endorse Sam Myres "Tom Threepersons Style Holsters" in 1930.
the Colt is not in my collection; can't be done here in Oz. But his holster is.
Certainly you can be sure of my own research precisely because it was only
done because the old legends and assumptions could not be trusted. First I went to the likes of Askins, my old boss Bianchi, and Skelton (also knew Skeeter) for their info and quickly discovered that, because by now we knew that there were TWO Tom Threepersons/ Three Persons and both were rodeo performers, I had to be sure which man had owned 'my' holster.
I encourage you, were you ever to acquire the book that Witty (turnerriver) and I wrote and produced and published, to read it without a jaundiced eye (there are fifty makers in it); and in the meantime to visit my website for the book and click on the link there that offers a complete list of all the resources relied on to create the holstory itself that presently is 2,600 line items of sources
.
Nice to chat with you about all this. Now on to further research the suggestion that two well-known police holster makers, E.E. Clark and Ed. Lewis, were founder and successor respectively. Won't be sure one way or the other until lots more facts align or don't; but we know enough about Ed Clark and his son Earl to be sure what the essential dates and other facts are.