Tony Smith was born and raised along the Nebraska, Colorado border, of Scotch-Irish­ Cherokee ancestry. He was a standout athlete in numerous sports and an Eagle Scout. He left home as a teenager with a worn out pickup, a saddle and an old six-shooter. He eventually drifted south into the Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico region breaking and shoeing horses and cowboying. After a series of debilitating rodeo injuries left him crippled, he took up a serious study of the martial arts in an attempt to heal himself. After earning black belt ranking in several styles, he used his skills to work as a bodyguard and bounty hunter and eventually owned a successful bail bond business and a working cattle ranch.