Famous as the original "Singing Cowboy," Gene Autry rode the range in the tradition of Tom Mix—clean living, honest, and innocent. He established the singing cowboy stereotype (continued by Roy Rogers, who inherited Autry's sobriquet): that of the heroic horseman who could handle a guitar or a gun with equal aplomb. A star of film, radio, and television, Autry was probably best known for his trademark song, "Back in the Saddle Again," as well as for many more of the over 250 songs he wrote in his lifetime.

Born in Texas, Autry moved to Oklahoma as a teenager, and began working as a telegrapher for the railroad after high school. While with the railroad, he began composing and performing with Jimmy Scott, with whom he co-wrote his first hit, "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine," which sold half a million copies in 1929 (a record for...