In the Hall: South Dakota saddle bronc rider Tom Miller inducted into PRCA Hall of Fame
South Dakota saddle bronc rider is inductee into PRCA Hall of Fame
A South Dakota man is a 2025 inductee into the PRORODEO Hall of Fame.
Tom Miller, Redowl, S.D., qualified for the National Finals Rodeo in the saddle bronc riding six times (1975-77 and 1979-81), winning the average three times (1975, 1979, 1981) and judging rodeos for thirty-plus years.
Miller was born in 1948, the son of JP “Bub” and Patsy Miller.
On the ranch, he and his brother roped a lot but they worked even more. “Dad always thought, the better the day, the better the deed,” Miller said. “We worked seven days a week.”
His granddad would send half semi loads of horses every two or three years, and Tom and his brother would start them, with the help of their dad. They kept some of the horses, and sold some.
In high school, Miller competed in the bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping and steer wrestling. He qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo twice, once as a sophomore and again, two years later.
In college at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D., he competed in every event, even riding bulls. “My mother did not want me to ride bulls, but when I got to college, she didn’t have much to say about it,” he said.
He won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s Central Plains Region in the bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and all-around several times and won the all-around at the College National Finals Rodeo twice (1970-71).
But it was in the fall of 1974 that Miller found his goal. He went to the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City, as a spectator.
Coming home, he’d made up his mind, telling himself “I’m going to be back there, but I’m going to be entered.”
And that he did.
He told his dad of his plan to rodeo full time, and his dad said he’d sell the north place, without Tom to help ranch.
But his dad supported him. “He said, he’d keep the place for a year, and ‘if you don’t make the Finals, you throw that saddle in a corner and I don’t ever want you to say another word about it,'” Tom remembers.
Bub also made sure Tom knew who was paying the rodeo bills.
He said, ‘I’ll tell you this, I’m no sugar daddy. You’re going to do it yourself.'”
At the 1975 National Finals Rodeo, Tom won the average. His dad was the first one in the arena after the final round, and he said to Tom, “you can’t quit now, can you?” Tom remembers. “And I didn’t, and he didn’t sell the ranch either. He was good to me, but he wanted you to do it yourself.”
From 1975 to 1981, Tom traversed the nation, competing in the PRCA. But every spring and fall, he was home on the ranch. He and his dad had 400 cows, and he helped with calving and branding, then hit the rodeo road. Then in the fall, he’d be back for weaning and shipping. “I’d miss probably two months of rodeo,” he said. “Even when I went hard, I’d always come home in the spring and the fall (to ranch.)”
The average, the best combined scores on ten rides, was always his goal. “I’d rather win the average at the Finals, than the world title, because everything is there; the best horses, the best cowboys. That became a goal of mine.”
In 1979, he lost the world title by only $5.28 to Bobby Berger. “The year I lost the world, I turned out of 42 rodeos. If I didn’t have a (bucking) horse I knew I could win first or second on, I didn’t go. If I had a good horse (drawn), I’d go.”
He retired from pro rodeo competition in 1981, and switched to judging.
Miller judged pro rodeos across the nation, judging the National Finals Rodeo five times. For three of those years, the roughstock contestants chose the judges, and Miller is proud to have been selected by them.
In addition to the PRCA shows, Miller judged bronc matches and the National High School Finals Rodeo fourteen times.
He served on the PRCA Rules Committee four years and on the PRCA Humane Committee two years.
Miller served as a saddle bronc riding instructor at schools for 25 years, instructing at schools put on by Johnny Holloway, the Korkow Rodeo Co., and others.
He approached rodeo with his own perspective.
“I didn’t have any extra flow of cash,” he said. “It had to be a business for me. It had to pay or I’d go home.” That mindset came in part from his dad. “You always had to carry your own weight. It makes you a better person.”
He married Vivian in 1978; together, they have two sons, Jeff Miller, who ranches in Texas, and Ryan Miller, who is a landman for oil companies in Texas. They have three granddaughters: Jeff’s daughter Braylin Miller, and Ryan’s daughters, Italee and Irelynd Miller.
Miller was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in 2019. He went through several forms of treatment, until doctors suggested an experimental treatment. The cancer has responded to the experimental treatment; there is no cure for it but Miller’s symptoms are under control.
He loved his rodeo days. “I loved it all. I loved the competition, I loved the travel, I loved the friendships you make and the people you meet. It was all good.”
With rodeo and ranching, Miller says he’s never worked a day in his life. “It’s not work when you’re enjoying it. I enjoyed everything I did.
“I love living.”
The other inductees in this year’s class include world champions Stran Smith (tie-down roping); Jeff Collins (bareback riding); Steve Purcella (team roping); and Joyce Burk Loomis Kernek (barrel racing); rodeo notable Pam Minick; rodeo producer Mack Altizer; stock contractor Harley Tucker; rodeo clown Skipper Voss; rodeo committee Livermore (Calif.) Stockman’s Rodeo; and the steer wrestling horse RTR Little Willy. Red Steagall will be awarded the 2025 Ken Stemler Pioneer Award.
The induction takes place July 12 at the PRORODEO Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo.
