Old Cowhand

“I am an old cowhand, from the Rio Grande.  And, I learned to ride, before I learned to stand….”

Like any boy of the 1950’s, I was a cowboy fan.  Here I am seen in 1958 as my alter ego – Two Gun Chip.

I was talking with the owner of a local business and we got off on old cowboy stars, a few of whom I knew or met as a kid.  So, I thought it would be fun to write down a few memories of them…..

James Arnez – ok, this guy is huge!  I will post a picture of him with my grandfather soon, just to whet your curiosity.  He has made a career of westerns and although I really do not care for ‘Gunsmoke’, because it is just another soap opera, his other work has been quite good.  Nice guy.

Sunset Carson – what a nice man.  I think he really liked kids and every Saturday afternoon it was old western movie day at his place for the kids at the local base.  Yeah, I was to hear it whispered in town that man had a severe drinking problem and should not be around kids but he was always sober when I saw him.  I doubt there were ever more than eight of us and often there were only two of us, but I liked the guy.

Lash LaRue – showed up Sunset’s house a few times and although I had never heard of him, he was pretty interesting too.  I think I liked Sunset’s movies better but hey, any western is better than 2001 – A Space Travesty…..

Audie Murphy – an honest to gosh hero, pretty good western star and one of the more interesting men I have ever met.  I met him when I was a teenager and I was able to ask him some questions.  I will post another time about our conversation.

Roy Rogers – often did the bases so I got to see him almost every year.  Always a gentleman, always a great sense of humor, always a great show.  Most of the kids were really into Trigger, but I knew the real thing when I saw it!  I doubt any other western star could hold a candle to him for genuineness, but then I never knew Gene Audrey either.  I will post another time about my first meeting with him.

John Wayne – only met him once and I will post about him again when I write about Roy.  Let me just sum him up as being a ‘city slicker’  because he really was not a cowboy.

However, I really would have liked to have met William Boyd aka Hop-A-Long Cassidy – my favorite western character.  One of my friends got to see him at Hickman Field, oh was I ever so jealous!  But, at least I was able to get one of his coins he would hand out to the kids.

Gene Audrey is another I would like to have known but his touring days were over long before I was whooping it up with my cap guns.

Well, this is far more verbose than I had intended, so time to ride off into the sunset…..