OklahomaHorses Magazine July 2023

14 OklahomaHorses • July / August 2023 named Champion are next to Autry’s handprints at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Other horses doubled as Champion in movie stunts and personal appearances. And one of the Champions made aviation history as the first horse to fly from California to New York. Besides movies and television, Autry and his horses appeared in rodeos, parades, and other performances. Word is that Autry’s horses performed the world’s largest repertory of equine tricks at the time, including dancing the hula and the Charleston, jumping through a ring of fire, and playing dead. FromTexas to Oklahoma and Beyond Still considered one of the greatest western stars of all time, Orvon Grover (Gene) Autry was born in Tioga, Texas, in 1907. When he was an infant, his parents moved to Achille, Oklahoma, then settled in Ravia, where Autry grew up and graduated from high school. After graduation, Autry was a telegrapher for the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway (the Frisco) in Oklahoma. Famous entertainer Will Rogers heard Autry singing on the job and suggested that he make his mark in a professional career. It worked — fans adored Autry as America’s Favorite Cowboy. In 1941, Autry purchased the 1,200- acre Flying A Ranch, west of Berwyn, Oklahoma, to serve as headquarters for his traveling rodeo. In his honor, Berwyn’s citizens renamed their town Gene Autry, and the name remains today. But World War II got in the way, and Autry sold the Flying A Ranch. His career took a hiatus when he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in 1942, serving abroad. He was the only officer allowed to wear his beloved cowboy boots while in uniform. After the war, he toured with a USO troupe in the South Pacific, then resumed his movie career in 1946. Although gentle in nature, Autry was an astute businessman who became a multimillionaire through his connections with television, film, radio, real estate, businesses, and anything he targeted. He invested in a plethora of endeavors, owning everything from hotels to oil wells to radio stations — and a 110-acre California ranch which he used to film western movies. But he was generous with his wealth. A huge baseball fan, Autry acquired the American League California Angels in 1961. In the sports world, he was known as the Cowboy. He was one of the most popular sports-team owners of the time, spending millions on the players. He was the American League’s vice president until his death in 1998. Autry’s list of awards and accolades runs into the hundreds and includes induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, for which he served as chairman of the board. The Gene Autry Oklahoma Museum, in the town of Gene Autry, houses the world’s largest collection of vintage memorabilia of cowboys in the entertainment world, including singing cowboys, from the 1920s to the present. In a conversation with a movie director, Autry once said, “I’m not a good actor, a good rider or a particularly good singer, but they seem to like what I do, so I’ll keep on doing it as long as they want.” An exhibit at the Gene Autry Oklahoma Museum in Gene Autry, Oklahoma, welcomes guests to the town. Photo courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society.