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| name=Thomas Everett "Tom" Blasingame
| name=Thomas Everett "Tom" Blasingame
| birth_date=February 12, 1898
| birth_date=February 12, 1898
| birth_place=Waxahachie, Ellis County, [[Texas]], [[United States|USA]]
| birth_place=Waxahachie<br> Ellis County,<br> [[Texas]], [[United States|USA]]
| death_date=December 27, 1989 (aged 91)
| death_date=December 27, 1989 (aged 91)
| death_place=Claude, Armstrong County, Texas
| death_place=Claude, Armstrong County, Texas<br>
'''Resting place''':<br>
JA Cemetery in Armstrong County
|spouse= Eleanor Aloe Morris Blasingame (married 1933-1989, his death)<br>
|spouse= Eleanor Aloe Morris Blasingame (married 1933-1989, his death)<br>
'''Children''':<br>
'''Children''':<br>
Before he settled permanently at the JA, Blasingame worked for a time on ranches in [[California]], [[Arizona]], and [[New Mexico]]. Blasingame said that he moved about during the 1920s so that he could see the country. Working for different ranches was the only way a poor man could travel, he said. He described life on the ranch accordingly:
Before he settled permanently at the JA, Blasingame worked for a time on ranches in [[California]], [[Arizona]], and [[New Mexico]]. Blasingame said that he moved about during the 1920s so that he could see the country. Working for different ranches was the only way a poor man could travel, he said. He described life on the ranch accordingly:
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
We lived outside all the time. We had our bedrolls rolled up in a tarp. If it was raining, we'd just cover up with our tarps and sit there. We'd bathe in the river. It was pretty cold sometimes. We lived on [[beef]] and pinto beans. The meat kept fine outdoors. It was a lot better than this Frigidaire meat, you bet. Down on the desert outfits, they made lots of jerky. I'd eat it with biscuits if they was good, or I'd just eat it straight. You didn't have many good bread cooks out in the camp. In the wintertime, we'd have them steaks for breakfas], and gravy. It was a pack outfit, so you didn't get eggs or anything like that. It had to be stuff you could pack, but I never got tired of eating the same thing all the time."<ref name=ranches/></blockquote>
We lived outside all the time. We had our bedrolls rolled up in a tarp. If it was raining, we'd just cover up with our tarps and sit there. We'd bathe in the river. It was pretty cold sometimes. We lived on [[beef]] and pinto beans. The meat kept fine outdoors. It was a lot better than this Frigidaire meat, you bet. Down on the desert outfits, they made lots of jerky. I'd eat it with biscuits if they was good, or I'd just eat it straight. You didn't have many good bread cooks out in the camp. In the wintertime, we'd have them steaks for breakfas], and gravy. It was a pack outfit, so you didn't get eggs or anything like that. It had to be stuff you could pack, but I never got tired of eating the same thing all the time."<ref name=ranches/></blockquote>
Blasingame describes his experiences training horses:
Blasingame describes his experiences training horses:
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
I like to break horses. They raised their own horses here at JA and they'd break about forty broncs every spring, 4-year-olds. They was wild. They had run on the range. In the long run that was the best. A 4-year-old is pretty well hardened and hard to hurt, and he's got a good tough heart, too, not like these horses nowadays that are halter broken when they're winter colts not even a year old. I never did hit the horses much while I was breaking 'em, maybe a slap on the neck or somethin' just to let 'em know they done somethin' wrong. A horse is pretty smart. He knows when you're abusing him, and when you're not."<ref name=ranches/></blockquote>
I like to break horses. They raised their own horses here at JA and they'd break about forty broncs every spring, 4-year-olds. They was wild. They had run on the range. In the long run that was the best. A 4-year-old is pretty well hardened and hard to hurt, and he's got a good tough heart, too, not like these horses nowadays that are halter broken when they're winter colts not even a year old. I never did hit the horses much while I was breaking 'em, maybe a slap on the neck or somethin' just to let 'em know they done somethin' wrong. A horse is pretty smart. He knows when you're abusing him, and when you're not."<ref name=ranches/></blockquote>
Blasingame was not affiliated with a church but said that he had "read lots of books. Read the [[Bible]] a lot. I believe what the Bible says, but I don't reckon I'm religious. Even if I was, I couldn't go to church because I've got too much work to do."<ref name=ranches/>
Blasingame was not affiliated with a church but said that he had "read lots of books. Read the [[Bible]] a lot. I believe what the Bible says, but I don't reckon I'm religious. Even if I was, I couldn't go to church because I've got too much work to do."<ref name=ranches/>
==Tributes to Blasingame==
==Tributes to Blasingame==
In 1986, television news anchor Barbara West produced an award-winning television mini-documentary on Blasingame. This program introduced the then-unknown Blasingame to America when it was shown on many US stations at the time. [[Dan Rather]] then on [[CBS]], used it in his on-air tribute at the time of Blasingames's death.
In 1986, television news anchor Barbara West produced an award-winning television mini-documentary on Blasingame. This program introduced the then-unknown Blasingame to America when it was shown on many US stations at the time. [[Dan Rather]] then on [[CBS]], used it in his on-air tribute at the time of Blasingames's death.