IF YOU LIVED IN JUAB COUNTY DURING THE 1950'S, WE ALL HAD HEROS AND I HAVE LISTED FOUR OF MINE.

In going through some old boxes, I found a fascinating file containing a variety of articles on western  hero's, so I wanted to share them. In present day, we seem to confuse American Idols from American Hero's, or at least that is my take. The first photo copy should  be of Randolph Scott, who died in 1987. The Jones kids adopted him as a hero, as he looked; walked and talked much like our father-Alma Jones, who is in the second photo. We considered both of them hero's, as they were gentleman, regardless of where they were. Their kindness was real, as was their citizenship and integrity. The second photo is of Gene Autry, the first singing cowboy(Roy Rogers was second) who made over  90 films, most of which were westerns. On screen, he was the good guy who always won, often only shooting the gun out of the bad guy's hand or just "winging them". Back then, it was just good entertainment, even though the good guy usually had a six shooter, but for some reason they never ran out of bullets, but we didn't have to watch a lot of bloody body shots. In his private life, Gene Autry was a hero, deciding to put his career on hold and join other Americans in World War II. He didn't want to take the easy way, and became a pilot on a C-109, transporting supplies over the dangerous Himalayas. He then entered professional rodeo as a stock producer and inducted in the PRCA Hall of Fame, then bought the California Angels baseball team. He had no kids, but treated his baseball players who felt like singing the Gene Autry song that first made him famous " That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine". He treated his animals; his employees, and the public with the same type of fairness and humanity he showed in the movies. The last photo is of one of my modern day hero's-George Strait. Like the other men, he is a straight shooter. I found that out when my buddy come across him hunting deer near Kanab. He was exactly as he portrays...one of the good guys, a real hero we can all look up to. It is not too late to find a hero...who is yours!