By Ken Edwards

"King of the Cowboys" – not Gene Autry, Roy Rogers or John Wayne, but Tom Mix bore this epithet during his movie career. As cowboy superstar of the silent screen, he was the matinee idol of many cowboy wannabe youngsters in the 1920s. Mix was the clean-cut hero of over 300 short and feature length westerns. But before he became a cowboy star he was a real-life cowboy and a lot of other things besides.

Born in a small Pennsylvania town in 1880, Tom learned to rope, shoot, throw knives train horses and spit before he was 10. An ambitious kid and handsome young chap, he aspired to become a sheriff in the Wild West but, just after he turned 18, the Spanish-American War was imminent and he enlisted in the army. He expected to go to Cuba to fight with the Rough Riders but he never left the U.S. Tales that he had fought in Cuba, the Philippines, in the Boxer Rebellion in China and in the Boer War in South Africa were all legends created by the Fox Movie Company years later. Instead, Tom became a deserter from the army and took off for Oklahoma with his young bride, Grace.

He found little to do when he first arrived in Guthrie, Oklahoma where Grace taught school while Tom worked at various odd jobs like breaking horses, tending bar in a local saloon and running a youth physical fitness program. He coached the high school football team and became drum major for the Oklahoma Cavalry Band.

The band went to the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 and there Tom met Will Rogers, about his own age, who was working in a Wild West show. The two became lifelong friends. Back in Oklahoma tending bar, he finally got into the outdoor work he wanted when he was hired to manage livestock and break horses for the 101 Real Wild West Ranch and Show near Bliss, Oklahoma. Soon afterward, Mix married for a second time (his first marriage was annulled) and he became involved in law enforcement, serving in a quasi-official capacity as sheriff or marshal in new boomtowns in Kansas and Tennessee. During this period he continued to break horses and cultivate his skills as a stunt rider and showman with rope and pistol.

Tom, now 26, returned to the 101 Ranch in 1906 and took up residence in Dewey, Oklahoma. In addition to working with the horses, he served as host for visiting "dudes" from the east. In 1908, he became a deputy sheriff and night marshal in Dewey and learned to deal with the rough crowds in the gambling houses and saloons and fought a loosing battle against bootleggers.

After three years at the 101 Ranch, Tom, now with 3rd wife, Olive, went to Amarillo, Texas and joined up with the Widerman Wild West Show where he became a star roper. This arrangement soon ended over a salary dispute. The Mixes decided to go it alone and headed for Seattle. They recruited many talented cowboys and Indians and put on a Wild West show for the locals. With lots of rain and mud, the show was lucky to break even. But it was a start.

A famous story about the Mixes occurred early in the summer of 1909. Tom decided to participate in the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. The bronco he drew was infamous for throwing its rider in a hurry and the rodeo’s producer didn’t think Tom had a chance of staying on board. Olive, knowing her husband’s toughness and determination, was willing to make a bet. Tom won the event and the $100 purse. Olive made $500 on her bet!

That same summer, Tom is reported to have made his first appearance in Prescott Frontier Days and also had his start as a western movie extra. In 1910, he signed his first contract with the Selig Polyscope Company and remained with them for the next seven years. Even during his rise to motion picture stardom he continued performing in Wild West shows in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The man was an incredible stunt-man on a horse, always performing his own stunts in becoming a silver screen icon.

Many Tom Mix westerns were filmed in and around Prescott. He was a star roper and bulldogger in our 1913 Frontier Days Rodeo and was a special guest rodeo performer here in 1922 while working for the Fox Studio as an established movie star.

For more on Tom Mix and many other cowboy performers see www.b-westerns.com

(Ken Edwards is a volunteer at Sharlot Hall Museum.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po1067pa). Reuse only bypermission.

Tom Mix with the original wonder horse "Tony" in Prescott, July 4, 1920. Tom died in an automobile accident near Florence, AZ on October 12, 1940 and "Tony" was willed to Tom’s lawyer. Ironically, old and ill, "Tony" was put down two years later…to the day of Tom’s death.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb130f13i9). Reuse only bypermission.

Tom and "Tony" in Prescott, 1920. The original "Tony" had white socks only on the rear legs and a diamond blaze which ended at the nostrils. A quote from Tom: "I’ve owned ‘Tony’ since he was born, seventeen years ago. He is a good horse and will be for some time yet, as I have never extended him in work. He doesn’t like this tour much though, and has been getting cross about it. Several times he has tried to bite me within the last few days and once he succeeded." The horses that succeeded him in films and stunts (also called "Tony" as Jr. and II) had similar traits but were easily distinguished from the original. Tom was well known for treating horses with respect and love and often defended animals against owners who were seen mistreating them.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb126f14i5a). Reuse only bypermission.

Movie making at Ft. Whipple with Tom Mix, 1919.