Cowboy actor Ben Johnson arrived in California in the late 1930s when Howard Hughes bought some horses from an Oklahoma ranch where Ben worked. Hughes liked the way he handled horses and offered him a job hauling them to northern Arizona where they were filming The Outlaw starring Jane Russell. When the filming was finished he hauled them on to California. During the early 1940s he wrangled and did some stunt work until he caught the eye of director John Ford while doubling for Henry Fonda in Fort Apache. As they say, “the rest is history.”
Related Posts
-
Howard Hughes is credited with bringing Ben Johnson out to Hollywood from Oklahoma in the…
-
Somewhere between Pop Country and Cowboy Western you’ll find the music of Royal Wade Kimes,…
-
Some of the old Cowboy stars were accomplished horseback riders, but very few could “set…
Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian and the Wild West History Association’s vice president. His latest book is 2018’s Arizona Oddities: A Land of Anomalies and Tamales. Send your question, with your city/state of residence, to marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu or Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327.