EVENTS
All-Around Champion Cowboy, 1974-1979
Calf Roper, Champion, 1974
Steer Wrestler, Champion, 1977-1978
Born in 1950 at Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Tom Ferguson grew up in California, where he started rodeoing at age 11. Later, at California Polytechnic Institute, his expertise brought the rodeo team three National Intercollegiate titles.
Erupting onto the professional scene in 1973, Ferguson took second in the all-around. The next year brought him the all-around crown, which he kept for five more years. He was calf-roping champion in 1974, and in 1975s National Finals Rodeo he threw his steer in a record 3.5 seconds. In 1976 he captured the bulldogging championship. Through the mid-1980s Tom Ferguson remained in the top 15 in his events. The six-time all-around champion also competed in steer roping and team roping.
Tom Ferguson was so tough that his peers dubbed him “rodeo’s bionic man.” One of rodeo’s “new breed,” he was among the first professional cowboys to hire a manager. By 1986 he had racked up career earnings of nearly $1 million. Tom Ferguson retired from the arena to his Oklahoma ranch in the late 1980s.
