Gene Autry, a little boy's hero

I offer the link at the bottom to a wonderful song sang by the original singing cowboy, Gene Autry. I offer this not only because it is such a beautiful song, but because Gene Autry became someone special in my childhood. He remains special to me even today, and I am almost 70 years old.
He became special to me then because of his singing and because of his radio program I listened to every Saturday or maybe Sunday. His radio program always started and ended with his signature song, "I'm Back in the Saddle Again." I always cried when his program ended, too, though I couldn't tell you then why I did, and I can't tell you now. I also remember that in growing up in Seminole, Oklahoma, there were two kinds of kids: Gene Autry kids and Roy Rogers kids. Roy Rogers was also a singing cowboy. Me, I was always a Gene Autry kid, though in my later years I came to appreciate Roy Rogers for staying a singing cowboy all his life.
Gene became rich, real rich, left show business and, as I recall, bought and ran the California Angels baseball team for sometime. When he did that, I lost track of him generally. But, I still recall one night late a bus in which I traveled stopped in a small town. I chanced to open an eye to peak at a sign, and lo and behold, I was in Chelsea, Oklahoma. I remember then how pleased I was that I opened my eye to see that sign and to know of being in Chelsea, Oklahoma. That was because Chelsea is a town where Gene Autry worked as a telegraph operator for the Rock Island Railroad, and one night none other than Will Rogers came in to have is daily newspaper column telegraphed to New York.
The story goes that Gene played his guitar and sang a few songs for Will Rogers, and that Will Rogers subsequently encouraged Gene to take his talent to New York. I think it was New York, but wherever, he encouraged Gene.
The other thing I remember now in thinking back to all of this is that I stayed most summers at my grandmother's home near Choctaw, Oklahoma. And, on those cool Oklahoma summer nights when the whole world seemed so perfect I heard the train called the Rock Island Rocket clatter along its tracks as it passed through Saviche woods. And, when it did, it always blew its whistle, and when it did that the wolves in Saviche's woods began to howl..
Gene would surely have heard the Rock Island Rocket, and. maybe he even heard wolves howl when that train blew is whistle.I like thinking that.When It's Twilight On the Trail' by Gene Autry