Champion the Wonder Horse public appearances. Autry paid $1,500 for the horse, which was part Morgan and part Tennessee Walking Horse. Touring Champion is seen in several scenes of "Gaucho Serenade" (1940), including the "Song at Sunset" scene with Mary Lee, and appeared with Autry in rodeos and stage shows throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, including an appearance in England in 1953. His hoof prints appear next to Autry's handprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. It is not known when Touring Champion died. Champion Three, a sorrel with four white stockings and a crooked blaze, appeared with Autry at personal appearances
Gene Autry was raised into Freemasonry in 1927 at Catoosa Lodge No. 185, Catoosa Oklahoma. He later became a 33rd degree Master Mason, as recorded on his headstone. On November 16, 1941, the town of Berwyn, Oklahoma, north of Ardmore, was renamed in honor of Gene Autry. In 1972, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Autry was a life member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Burbank Lodge No. 1497. His 1976 autobiography, co-written by Mickey Herskowitz, was titled "Back in the Saddle Again"