Years ago I came across a gunfighter known as Tom Threepersons who was supposedly a Cherokee from Vinita, born around 1889. Threepersons gained a huge reputation as a federal border agent in and around El Paso, Texas. He was involved in many gunfights with gunrunners other desperadoes on the border where he came out on top. To make a long story short it is my belief that Threepersons was a Cherokee Freedman, who changed his name in Canada. There was a Blood Indian in Canada with the same name that won the first Calgary Stampede bareback horse championship. While in El Paso, Threepersons developed the first truly fast draw holster. This is the same holster that John Wayne used in all his later western movies. The owner of El Paso Saddlery that makes this holster told me he always thought Threepersons was a black man. There have been numerous articles written on Threepersons over the years in various western magazines. There were several migrations of Cherokee Freedmen to Canada from Oklahoma during the decades around the turn of the century.

Speaking of Canada I recently came across an excellent three volume history titled "Outlaws and Lawmen of Western Canada," by Heritage House Publishing. Good photos with text. It is the best reading I have found on the subject to date. If you look around to various book sellers on the internet they can be acquired at a good reasonable price. Be aware some people are trying to sell the first volume for a lot of money, I got mine very cheap after looking around.