Marker Erected by: Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission.
Statue Sculptor: Tony Chytka.
Date Statue and Marker Dedicated: May 27, 2005.
County of Marker: Lawrence County.
Location of Statue and Marker: Shine St. & Main St., Deadwood.
Marker Text:
RIDE HIGH, T. C., RIDE HIGH
Travis Calvin Halloway began his career as a professional cowboy in the family's living room near Eagle Butte, South Dakota, where he rode his first bucking horse - his brother Chuck. When Chuck could no longer his younger sibling, their father build T.C. a bucking barrel. The aspiring bronc rider offered his other brothers and sisters a dollar for every hour they would buck him on the contraption. So practiced, T.C. entered his first rodeo at the age of five.
Born to rodeo champ Johnny Holloway and his wife Sharyn on April 4 1977. T.C. felt the cowboy blood in his veins at a very early age. Not only was his great-uncle Casey Tibbs, a six-time world saddle bronc rider, but his parents staged rodeos for a living, giving T.C. ample chances for practice. As a teenager, T.C. qualified for the National High School Rodeo Finals three times. During his first year of college, he qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo, where he finished third.
His successes landed him in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1997. He took the rodeo world by storm, winning the Saddle Bronc Championships at the Badlands Circuit Finals and the coveted Reistol Saddle Bronc Rookie of the Year Award during his first year on the professional circuit. He went on to compete in the National Finals Rodeo in 2000, the same year that he won the saddle bronc event at the Days of '76 Rodeo in Deadwood, where he was a regular contestant.
T.C. was killed on August 28, 2001 in a car accident near Faith, South Dakota. This half-life size bronze, titled Ride High, T.C., Ride High was sculpted by western artist Tony Chytka and is based on several photographs of T.C. riding broncs in rodeos. It was dedicated on May 27, 2005.
The statue is being displayed in Deadwood at the request of the Holloway family, who has special ties with the community. Members of the Holloway family remain regulars at the Days of '76 Rodeo in Deadwood.
For more information please visit the History and Information Center at 3 Siever St.