Gene Autry estate of Leo J. Cremer, Sr., and put Canadian saddle bronc riding champion Harry Knight in charge of the operation. A merger with the World Championship Rodeo Company in 1956 made Autry the sole owner. He moved the entire company to a ranch near Fowler, Colorado, with Knight as the working partner in the operation. For the next 12 years, they provided livestock for most of the major rodeos in Texas, Colorado, Montana, and Nebraska. When the company was sold in 1968, both men continued to be active in rodeo. For his work as a livestock contractor, Autry was inducted
Gene Autry into the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979. Autry received several honors for his contributions to rodeo. Gene Autry was often portrayed in the comics, primarily during the heyday of Western-themed comics, the 1940s and 1950s. The Register and Tribune Syndicate comic strip "Gene Autry Rides" by Till Goodan was the first entry, lasting from 1940 to 1941. From 1941 to 1943, Autry was the subject of a comic book initially published by Fawcett Comics and then picked up by Dell Comics that ran 12 issues. Dell then published 101 issues of "Gene Autry Comics" from