Tom Brokaw

The Inspirational Life Story of Tom Brokaw;
Pioneer, Patriot, and One of the World Most Well-Known News Broadcasters

By Patrick Bunker

In order to better understand Tom Brokaw, it is important to understand the history of the American Dakota states. During the late 19th century this area was still seen as one of the great American frontiers. It was home to the native Sioux people and their legendary leaders like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, who hunted and warred from the backs of plain's land ponies. The indigenous Sioux were forced out by white settlers who came in their droves to grab their little parcel of rich farmland and Dakota was divided into North Dakota and South Dakota. Tom's ascendants moved to the area that would eventually become South Dakota.
Tom's father, Anthony Orville Brokaw, (Red) was the youngest of ten siblings and born on October 1912. His parents, William and Elizabeth Brokaw, were in turn successors of Richard P. Brokaw who had come to South Dakota by wagon train after the Civil War. Richard P. was the descendant of Huguenots who had ended up in New York after leaving France. Protestant Huguenots were followers of John Calvin's writings and held a great deal of power even though massively outnumbered by Catholic believers. Eventually Louis XIV issued the Edict of Fontainebleau which effectively made all forms of Protestantism illegal. Around half a million Huguenots fled to avoid forced conversion and ended up scattered across Protestant European countries and English colonies in North America.