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Taken from Tom Three Persons: Legend of an Indian Cowboy.

Tom Three Persons drove his string of horses across the open prairie of the Blood Indian Reserve in southern Alberta. The year was 1907, the day was hot, and the animals were thirsty. The Indian’s saddle horse, a white mare, easily kept pace with the others as they approached a gentle draw that led to the cool waters of the Belly River.

As Three Persons and his horses trotted into the valley, a white man came riding towards them. This was unusual for cowboys seldom ventured onto the reserve unless they were looking for stray animals. Three Persons knew all the local riders, but he had never seen this man before. The stranger rode a black stallion and was dressed entirely in black–his shirt, trousers, boots, hat, and even his neckerchief were black.

The two men stopped and the white man began to talk. Much to Three Persons’ amazement, the cowboy spoke perfect Blackfoot and knew the nenteen-year-old Indian by name. The man identified himself as Siksinum, the Black One, then, switching to English, he said that his name was Billy. No one knows exactly what Billy said that day, but it is clear from the small amount of information that Three Persons was willing to share in later years that Billy offered to become Three Persons’ protector.

“[Billy] told Tom that he would become the richest Indian on the reserve and told him other things about his future,” recalled his daughter-in-law. According to an elder, Billy also said: “If you want to work for me, everything will be there for you, anything you can think of to make you prosperous, anything that you want during your life on this reserve–those are going to be with you.” The elder added that when the young man agreed “Tom Three Persons was possessed by the Devil.”

According to other accounts, Tom Three Persons had been Billy’s second choice. First he had approached Jim Black on the Blackfoot Reserve about one hundred miles north of the Bloods. As a child, Black had been playing near the river when he fell asleep. He had been awakened by a white man wearing a black suit decorated with gold buttons. The man had looked down at the Indian boy and had said, “You’ll never be rich. I’ll come back again.” Later, when Black was sixteen–a few weeks before the Three Persons’ incident–he was riding along a trail when he met a “white man dressed as a cowboy riding a black horse.” The white man said, “Do you remember me? Do you want me to put your name on the list?” Black refused and the man said, “You were going to be rich, but now you’ll have bad luck.” After that encounter, Black was beset with misfortune for several years until he finally told his story to Father J.L. Levern. The Oblate priest was sure that the cowboy had been the Devil, so he went to Black’s house, exorcised it and the family, and soon their lives began to change for the better.

As for Tom Three Persons, his destiny was indisputable. Although his career suffered several setbacks, he always seemed to triumph. Whether this was the result of hard work, wise management, a native spirit helper, or the Devil, all depends on who you talk to and what they believe.

Taken from Tom Three Persons: Legend of an Indian Cowboy by Hugh A. Dempsey. Saskatoon: Purich Publishing, 1997. Prologue.
Used by permission.

read a passage from Urban Reserves: Forging New Relationships in Saskatchewan
read a review of Tom Three Persons from the Globe and Mail
return to Purich Publishing