Rooted in Faith: How the Jones Siblings wound up in Dickinson, North Dakota

If you had told Tayson Jones' younger self that he would be graduating next spring with two degrees in Equine Management and Agriculture Sales, he probably wouldn't believe you.

Yet the senior will leave Dickinson State next spring with a stack of accomplishments – not to mention the nine rodeo titles he’s racked up in his two seasons in Dickinson.

“When I got to high school, I hated school – I still do,” Tayson said with a grin. “I just wanted to go rodeo and ranch.”

That attitude was hardly a shock. Tayson and his sister Jaysee – also a member of the Dickinson State rodeo team – grew up in rural South Dakota in a town called Howes.

If you can even call it a town.

The unincorporated community in western South Dakota barely qualifies for its own ZIP code, and the Census Bureau doesn't even track its population.

“Howes is literally a gas station,” Jaysee said with a chuckle. “It's like a population of five – and that's the family that owns the gas station.”

The two grew up on a cattle ranch about 10 miles outside that “city,” where they were introduced to rodeo early. Their family, heavily involved in the community, got them involved as fast as possible.

4-H rodeo – the main youth program helping kids learn the ins and outs of the sport – was primarily just for ages 8 to 18. That wasn’t soon enough for the Jones family.

So parents Eric and Chasity started running and hosting events for younger kids, giving them a place to learn and be part of the rodeo community. They did it all out of an old arena just 10 miles from home.

The events included barrel racing, goat tailing, barrels, and poles. There, the two honed their craft.

For Jaysee, that rhythm of life just fit.

“I love this,” she said. “I honestly don't know how people live in town. Just being able to go off and do what you want and not have to worry about other people, it's great.”

The two would make the 40-mile journey north to Faith High School each day during the school year. 

They dominated the rodeo scene in high school, with both alternating appearances in the national competition. While Jaysee took the simple drive north to Dickinson for college, Tayson’s journey was anything but that.

“I didn't really want to go to college,” Tayson said. “But as school progressed, I found out you get a pretty good scholarship to do rodeo if you're halfway decent.”

That “halfway decent” skill he had was bronc riding.

As he progressed in high school, he became stronger in the discipline. During his freshman year, he attended a bronc riding camp back in Faith and has been hooked on the event ever since.

“My mom and dad didn't think I'd do it since I was such a chicken growing up,” Jones said. “I ended up getting on the first horse and kind of just got hooked after that.”

He parlayed that talent into a scholarship at Sheridan College, a two-year university in Wyoming, where he endured his share of hardship.

During a practice in his second year, Jones fell on his hand after getting bucked off his horse. Thinking it was just a sprain, he continued riding. A doctor visit a month later revealed a broken bone in his wrist that had not healed properly.

His solution?

“I just switched hands,” he said.

To this day, Jones still uses his right hand to hold onto the bronc rein – a change that seemed to work out pretty well.

“Switching hands was the best thing that ever happened to me, because that's when I started riding well,” he said. “I suppose it was a blessing in disguise.”

Those blessings didn't come by chance. During that sophomore season, he wasn't riding to the caliber he expected. The fall before, he competed in just two of the five rodeos before the injury.

Whether it was the school he attended or the small town where he first learned to ride broncs, faith has always been a constant.

“When hard times like that come, I pray a lot,” he said. “I just tell myself that it's all God's plan.”

His sister Jaysee wasn’t void of injuries either.

Sitting second in the goat-tying standings during the fall season, she broke her leg in the third rodeo of the year, taking her out of action for the rest of the season in that event.

It didn't stop her from competing, though.

Instead of sitting on the sidelines, she still competed in the breakaway roping events – walking boot on and everything. She even made a rubber stirrup to help with stabilization.

“I just made myself keep doing it,” she said. “I thought, Okay, I'm not able to goat tie, what's the next thing I can do? I can at least rope, so I'd be roping twice as much as I did earlier because I had more time on my hands.”

Tayson didn’t see it as a surprise. She’s always found a way to get the work done.

“She definitely practices a lot harder than I do,” he said. “She used to practice her tail off [in high school]. She's doing really well because of all the hard work she's put in over the last few years. We try to push each other in a different way. Like, who's going to be the one to make our parents more proud, in a fun way like that.” 

He partially owes his DSU career to his sister, too.

After he graduated from Sheridan College, he was planning on hitting the professional rodeo scene immediately.

Jaysee put in a good word with the Blue Hawks’ former rodeo coach, Eudell Larson – a decorated bronc rider in his own right–  in an attempt to get Tayson on the team. It took a couple of weeks of convincing, but Tayson eventually joined.

“He probably won't admit that I had a part in it, but I think I had a little part in it,” Jaysee said.

The two have now spent a season and a half on the DSU rodeo team together. Tayson finished his fall season with two rodeo wins and nine total in his career at Dickinson. Jaysee, still just a junior, sits in the top six for goat tying.

Tayson will look to win the regional bronc riding title this spring for the Blue Hawks for a second straight season in his final year. He also eyes a college finals appearance in the future. After that, he’d like to get his rookie card and make a run at the National Finals Rodeo.

“Hopefully I can rodeo till I'm 40,” he said. “I just want to rodeo as long as I can and as hard as I can until I don't want it anymore.”

Jaysee will look to do similar things in goat tying. She plans on getting her permit this summer and entering some professional rodeos. She also hopes to make it to the NFR. A physical therapy major, she plans on going to graduate school before entering the pro circuit.

“Would I ever have expected to go to Dickinson? Absolutely not,” she said. “But here I am now, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.”