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National Rodeo Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1955
Harry Tompkins
1927-2018
Texas
All Around Champion: 1952, 1960
EVENTS
All-Around Champion Cowboy, 1952, 1960
Bull Rider, Champion, 1948-1950, 1952, 1960
Bareback Bronc Rider, Champion, 1952
An unlikely candidate as a rodeo champion, Harry Tompkins was born at Furnace Woods, New York, in 1927. In his youth, however, he worked horses on an eastern dude ranch and entered competition at Madison Square Garden in 1946.
Harry Tompkins shared bull-riding honors with the famed Jim Shoulders over a 13-year period. During that time he captured five bull-riding championships, as well as winning two all-around titles and a single championship in bareback bronc riding. Blessed with exceptional balance, Tompkins was noted for riding with a slack rope and looking off to the crowd while in action.
Always a consistent performer, Harry Tompkins placed among the top ten money winners for 11 consecutive years. After leaving the circuit, he still competed in occasional old-timers’ events around his Dublin, Texas, home.
EVENTS
All-Around Champion Cowboy, 1952, 1960
Bull Rider, Champion, 1948-1950, 1952, 1960
Bareback Bronc Rider, Champion, 1952
An unlikely candidate as a rodeo champion, Harry Tompkins was born at Furnace Woods, New York, in 1927. In his youth, however, he worked horses on an eastern dude ranch and entered competition at Madison Square Garden in 1946.
Harry Tompkins shared bull-riding honors with the famed Jim Shoulders over a 13-year period. During that time he captured five bull-riding championships, as well as winning two all-around titles and a single championship in bareback bronc riding. Blessed with exceptional balance, Tompkins was noted for riding with a slack rope and looking off to the crowd while in action.
Always a consistent performer, Harry Tompkins placed among the top ten money winners for 11 consecutive years. After leaving the circuit, he still competed in occasional old-timers’ events around his Dublin, Texas, home.
