Champion the Wonder Horse series; he was one of several horses that Autry rode in that production. After learning about the horse through stunt man and movie horse wrangler Tracey Layne, Autry paid $75 for the original Champion, whose sire was a Morgan trotting horse from Ardmore, Oklahoma. Trained to perform numerous tricks, Champion could untie knots, fall, roll over and play dead, come at Autry's whistle, bow, and shake his head yes and no. In one film he pushes Autry into the arms of his leading lady June Storey. By 1939 his reported worth was $25,000. The original Champion died in 1943, at
Gene Autry "Gene Autry Memorial Interchange." In 2007, he became a charter member of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in Richmond, Indiana. Johnny Cash recorded a song in 1978 about Autry called "Who is Gene Autry?" Cash also got Autry to sign his famous black Martin D-35 guitar, which he plays in the video of "Hurt." In 1977, Autry was awarded the American Patriots Medal by Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Other winners of this medal were Helen Hayes, John Wayne, and Texas State Representative Clay Smothers. Autry was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2004,