Gene Autry the entire ranch is open to the public during the Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival, another legacy of Autry's multiple talents. From 1940 to 1956, Autry had a huge hit with a weekly show on CBS Radio, "Gene Autry's Melody Ranch." His horse, Champion, also had a CBS-TV and Mutual radio series, "The Adventures of Champion". In response to his many young radio listeners aspiring to emulate him, Autry created the Cowboy Code, or Ten Cowboy Commandments. These tenets promoting an ethical, moral, and patriotic lifestyle that appealed to youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts, which developed similar doctrines.
Gene Autry's Melody Ranch Studio 10, in Chicago. There, at 4:02 minutes into the program, we hear Virginia Vass sing "Idaho". She was a regular vocalist on the "Melody Ranch" show at the time. In mid 2009, at the age of 93, Virginia recalled Gene Autry and his "Melody Ranch" show in an "Out of the Past" interview by Chuck Langdon and Lee Shephard. The most significant change in the program was to come after Gene Autry's induction into the U.S. Army Air Forces. While the format remained the same it was the theme that was modified. The name of the show was changed