Blaine Nordvold

Blaine Nordvold, 81, of Eagle Butte, passed away Thursday, June 25, 2026, at the Cheyenne River Health Center in Eagle Butte.

A celebration of life will be 10:30 a.m. MDT, Thursday, July 9, 2026, at his home, 24805 BIA Rt 9, Eagle Butte. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service.  Directions: 13 miles southeast of Eagle Butte: Take Hwy 63 south about 10 miles, turn east on BIA 9 and drive 7 miles.  Located right at mile marker 7 on north side of road. In case of inclement weather, secondary location will be the Cheyenne Eagle Butte High School Auditorium.

Homer Blaine Nordvold was born at the Cheyenne River Agency on April 15, 1945 to Syd & Rose Nordvold.  Blaine grew up along the river breaks in “Armstrong” country along side his older brother Jerry, older sisters Faye, Nan, and Mary Jo, and younger brother Jud.  Blaine often talked about his younger years…like the time he took off horseback at 5 years old because he wanted to see the circus in town.  By the time his mom realized he was gone, he had made it a few miles down the road.  He said he always remembers his mom riding toward him on a high lope and that he was thankful to see her as he was tired.  Or, the time he broke his arm and couldn’t quit crying because he didn’t want to be shot like the horses who broke their legs.  Or the time he and his sisters were pretending to brand.  They used him as the calf, flanked him, and branded him or so he says in his poem, “I Ain’t No Maverick.”

Blaine was known for his gift of creating colorful poems about the cowboy way of life, extraordinary people or animals, and heartfelt poems for people’s loved ones.  He enjoyed reading his poems at special events and celebrations over the years.  In 1989 and 1996 he was invited to participate in the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada.  In 1990, SD Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) did a segment on cowboy poetry that he participated in.  His poems have been featured in obituaries, basketball & rodeo programs, etc.  He was especially proud of the fact that a poem he wrote for the Burke Stampede Rodeo was still featured in their program going on 36 years!

In the 1970’s, Blaine made his way to Arizona to rodeo with his younger brother, Jud.  Blaine and Jud participated in all rough stock events, but were renowned saddle bronc riders.  Blaine was also pretty good at riding bulls until a shoulder injury took him out.  Some highlights of Blaine’s rodeo career include:  1968 5^th place runner up bull rider in the AAIAA; 1974 & 1976 5^th place runner up saddle bronc rider in the AIRCA; 1975 2^nd runner up saddle bronc rider in the PRCA Turquoise Circuit; Rode his last saddle bronc at age 45; 2016 Casey Tibbs Match of Champions Honorary Chute Boss; 2016 Casey Tibbs Foundation Rodeo Promoter Honoree; 2019 CRST Labor Day Rodeo Honorary Chute Boss.

While in Arizona, Blaine met the love of his life, Linda.  They began their married life in Arizona, but eventually moved back to Eagle Butte, SD.  Blaine was a jack of all trades and worked several different jobs over the course of his lifetime.  One of the jobs that he really enjoyed was working as a Detention Officer and Sargeant at the old jail and at Walter Miner Law Enforcement Center.  Another was working for the Wolakota Horse Program in 1996 and as the CRST Horsemanship Program Coordinator circa 2010’s.  He was also very fond of writing his column in the West River Eagle titled “Don’t Squat with Your Spurs On.”

Blaine’s life centered on horses and his ranch…never has a man loved more than to be outdoors riding a horse.  In 1985, Blaine decided to trail some wild horses from Eagle Butte to Mobridge, SD to sell.  Now, there weren’t any kids on this trail ride, except for Stacie Nordvold and Frank Hill, but they weren’t there for fun, they were hands.  This initial trail ride sparked a dream in Blaine.  His ideology was that if kids had horses to ride and care for, they wouldn’t be so apt to get into trouble.  He also really loved the old way of life and wanted the younger generations to experience that.  This led him to establish the Fox Ridge Trail Ride, which ran from about 1987 to 1993.  A portion of one of the trail rides was filmed at the Harlan Gunville Ranch and featured on a PBS segment, as well.

Blaine participated in trail rides whenever the opportunity arose, such as the Bigfoot Memorial Ride twice; the 1989 Centennial Trail Ride in Custer State Park; the 2008 Ft. Pierre to Deadwood, SD trail ride; the 2009 Ft. Bennett to Ft. Pierre Casey Tibbs Memorial Ride in which he took grandson, Melvin “Tons” Cummings, along; the 2010 Pony Express Ride from Ft. Pierre to Eagle Butte, SD to commemorate Eagle Butte’s centennial; and the 2011 Scotty Philip Memorial Trail Ride from Philip to Ft. Pierre, SD.  Incidentally, Blaine is featured in the 2013 Scotty Philip documentary, “The Buffalo King.” Also, Blaine’s grandfather Hjalmer “Yum” Nordvold broke one of Scotty Philip’s buffalo to ride.

A couple of memories that Blaine was especially fond of and proud of was trailing horses from the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation to Ft. Pierre, SD with Casey Tibbs in 1965 and 1971.  In 1965, Blaine and his little brother, Jud, helped Casey trail horses from the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation to Ft. Pierre, SD from which the movie, “Born to Buck” derived.  Then in 1971, Casey again trailed horses to Ft. Pierre, SD and hired Blaine to break horses and be a stunt double for the movie, “Hard Rider,” which was filmed during this excursion.  He talked about these memories often and published an article in the 1982 February edition of the Western Horseman magazine detailing the 1971 experience.

Blaine was a devoted C-EB Braves basketball fan.  He loved watching the girls’ and boys’ teams.  He and wife, Linda (also a devoted fan), would regularly attend home and away games.  He was also a big fan of the Dupree Tigers boys’ and girls’ teams.  As his health started to decline, he’d watch the live plays faithfully from his chair at home.  Boy, would he get upset if he couldn’t get the game to come up on the screen.  He’d be harping at granddaughter, April Nordvold, to get things going on the laptop.  And, if that didn’t work, then he’d be saying, “call Jackson, call Trina!”

Yes, Blaine lived an extraordinary and adventurous life, but what he really enjoyed were the simple things:  A good horse, a warm day with a cool breeze, the meadowlarks singing, hot coffee, cinnamon rolls, a good basketball game or rodeo and the things that meant the most to him were his family and friends.  Blaine will be deeply, deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.  Because Blaine was loved by so many, the family wishes to honor all of Blaine’s wonderful friends, neighbors, & extended family as honorary pallbearers.

He is preceded in death by the love of his life, Linda Nordvold; parents, Rose & Syd Nordvold; little brother, Judson Dunn Nordvold; special nephew, Bud Longbrake.

Blaine is survived by his children:  Shane Thompson, Sabrena Goodrum, Lakota “Cody”, Wendell “Bobby”, Yura Lee Nordvold; & step-son Roland Halona; special niece & nephew Stacie & Kelcey Nordvold (Whitney); brother Jerry Nordvold; sisters Faye Longbrake, Nan Savoy, and Mary Jo Garreau; several grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and several adopted children/grands…all beloved but too many to name individually.

Luce Funeral Home of Gettysburg has been entrusted with Blaine’s arrangements.