Champion the Wonder Horse films from 1950 to 1953 and in all 91 television episodes of "The Gene Autry Show" and all 26 episodes of "The Adventures of Champion" during the 1950s. Throughout the years, several other "Champions" served as doubles for film stunts and personal appearances, including Little Champ, Lindy Champion, and Touring Champion. In 1940, Lindy Champion became the first horse to fly from California to New York to appear with Autry at Madison Square Garden for the World's Championship Rodeo. Touring Champion, a darker sorrel with a medium blaze and four white stockings, became one of Autry's most reliable horses for
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"