[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17967]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                  GENE AUTRY DAY FESTIVAL IN TIOGA, TX

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 25, 2001

  Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce the first 
annual Gene Autry Day Festival this weekend, September 28 and 29, 2001, 
in Tioga, Texas, in the Fourth Congressional District. Tioga is Gene 
Autry's hometown, and I join all those in Tioga and Grayson County, as 
well as friends and admirers throughout the Nation, in celebrating the 
life of this legendary American.
  Gene Autry was born on a ranch near Tioga, Texas, on September 29, 
1907, to Delbert and Elnora Autry. Gene's grandfather, William T. 
Autry, was a Baptist preacher who taught Gene to sing when he was five 
years old. At the age of twelve, Gene bought his first guitar from a 
Sears and Roebuck catalog for eight dollars. In his autobiography, Back 
in the Saddle Again, Gene noted that by his fifteenth birthday he was 
comfortable singing and performing before audiences at school and 
around his hometown.
  At a young age, Gene began working as a telegraph operator at the old 
Tioga railroad depot, where he reportedly sang and played for local 
townsfolk and passengers on the railroad. By the late 1920s, Gene was 
working as a telegrapher for the railroad in Oklahoma. While singing 
and playing in the office one night, Gene was discovered by the great 
cowboy humorist, Will Rogers, who recommended that he try performing on 
the radio. And thus began a career that would span more than 60 years 
in the entertainment industry and that would bring fame and fortune to 
this young man from Tioga, Texas.
  Gene Autry was successful in radio, recordings, motion pictures, 
television, rodeo, and live performances. He is the only entertainer to 
have five stars on Hollywood's Walk of Fame--one each for radio, 
records, film, television, and live theatrical performance, including 
rodeo. Gene appeared in 94 feature films and made 635 recordings, over 
300 of which he wrote or co-wrote. Some of his best known movies are 
based on his hit records, including South of the Border and Back in the 
Saddle. He sold over 60 million records, including more than a dozen 
gold records and two platinum records, Here Comes Santa Claus and Peter 
Cottontail. Another record, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, remains the 
second best selling single of all time, with sales totaling more than 
30 million. From 1950 to 1955 Gene produced and starred in The Gene 
Autry Show and produced other popular television series as well.
  In addition to his success in the entertainment industry, Gene was 
successful pursuing another passion--a love of baseball. In 1961 he 
purchased the American League's California Angels (now the Anaheim 
Angels) and held the title of Vice President of the American League 
until his death in 1998.
  Gene Autry was always proud of his hometown, Tioga, and he would have 
been honored by this Festival and by the efforts of local citizens in 
memory of him. Proceeds from activities associated with the Gene Autry 
Day Festival will be used to build a Tioga Heritage Museum, featuring 
Gene Autry, and to benefit Boys & Girls Clubs through United Way of 
Grayson County. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the citizens of Tioga 
for planning this tribute to their hometown hero and to a legendary 
American whose contributions to our culture will long be remembered and 
appreciated--the late, great Gene Autry.

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