Bee Ho Gray is pretty much forgotten today, but he had a 50-year entertainment career in Wild West shows, vaudeville, carnivals/circuses, radio and more. He was mostly a trick roper who sang and told funny stories—much like his friend Will Rogers.
Gray—his real name was Emberry—was given his nickname by Comanche Chief Quanah Parker, a family friend. Gray’s brother used a crutch as a result of polio. “Bee Ho” meant “brother of the cripple,” and it stuck for the rest of his life.
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