From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Stokes, Thomas "Ty"
(born: April 3, 1888 - died: April 21, 1929) Thomas "Ty" Stokes was a cowboy, born in Casey County, KY. Ty Stokes and Jesse Stahl, "The Bukaroo Twins," are recognized as two African American men who helped break the color barrier in rodeos. This recognition comes from California, where Stokes had moved by 1912. Stokes performed in shows as a trick rider and roper, and also a bull rider. A full account of Ty Stokes' lifetime accomplishments are published in "Champions of the rodeo: while segregation was still the law of the land, two black men helped break rodeo's color barrier in Fortuna," by S. J. P. O'Hara and A. Service in the North Coast Journal of Politics, People and Art, 7/19/2018, pp. 12-13 (online at issuu.com).Thomas Stokes was born April 3, 1888, though his birth year is given as 1889 on his World War I draft registration card (Ancestry); his name on the form is "Tom Stokes." He was employed with the Black Beauty Horse Show owned by Frederick T. Cummins. Thomas Stokes asked to be exempt from military service because he had lost an eye and was having problems with his other eye. He was living in Venice, CA when his registration card was completed. He died April 21, 1929 and is buried in Hayward, California.
