Tom Mix

Born in Pennsylvania he learned to ride at a local farm and eventually found work at the famous 101 ranch in Oklahoma. Reportedly he won the 1909 national Riding and Rodeo Championship which brought him into prominence. A year later he had a minor part as a cattle wrangler in the movie Ranch Life in the Great Southwest and a hugely successful career was launched. He was known for his very stylish outfits, a big cowboy hat and the stunts he performed with Tony the Wonder Horse. He actually shot several of his movies about an hour from my home in New Mexico.

Tom Mix made more than 300 films, all but nine were silent films and only a handful have survived. Most of his movies released on combustible nitrate film stock and have simply disintegrated. For whatever reason after talking movies arrived his career ended and he spent the rest of his life doing public appearances at rodeos and western events. There was a radio program that ran for some 20 years called Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters but he never appeared on the program.