Reel Cowboys of the Santa Susanas -- Hoot Gibson

'Reel Cowboys of the Santa Susanas' is a continuing series about "six-gun heroes that performed on movie location ranches in Chatsworth, California.  For more information about Chatsworth filming locations see http://www.cowboyup.com/ to find information about my books: Rendezvous at Boulder Pass: Hollywood's Fantasyland - 2010 and Reel Cowboys of the Santa Susanas - 2008.

Hoot Gibson (1892-1962) was an American rodeo champion and a B-Western cowboy star, director and producer.  In 1910, film director Francis Boggs (who was looking for experienced cowboys to appear in a silent film short) hired Gibson and Tom Mix (another future cowboy star).  Gibson made a second film for Boggs in 1911, and in 1912 Gibson was hired by director Jack Conway to appear in another Western, His Only Son.

In the early days acting was only a sideline career for Gibson who continued competing in rodeos to earn a living.  In 1912 he won the all-around championship at the famous Pendleton Round-Up in Pendleton, Oregon and the steer roping World Championship at the Calgary Stampede.  

Gibson served in the army during World War I, but returned to the rodeo after the war ended.  By 1921 Gibson was receiving offers for lead movie roles including some from up-and-coming film director John Ford, with whom Gibson developed a lasting friendship.

Between the 1920s through the 1940s, Hoot Gibson was a major box office draw (ranking second only to Tom Mix). He made a smooth transition from silent film to the talkies, and became a highly paid performer.  

Eventually singing cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers dislodged him as a top box office draw, but he continued playing supporting roles until his last movie Horse Soldiers (1959).

Hoot Gibson's Santa Susana locations filmography:

Arizona Whirlwind (1944) starring Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele (Corriganville) Monogram

Blazing Guns (1943) - Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson (Corriganville) Monogram

Cavalcade of the West (1936) - Hoot Gibson (Brandeis Ranch) Diversion

Death Valley Rangers (1943) - Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele (Corriganville) Monogram

Headin' West (1922) - Hoot Gibson (Iverson Ranch) Universal

Last Outlaw, The (1936) - Hoot Gibson and Harry Carey - RKO

Law Rides Again, The (1943) - Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson (Corriganville) Monogram

Local Bad Man (1932) - Hoot Gibson (Chatsworth Train Station) Allied Pictures

Lucky Terror (1936) - Hoot Gibson - Diversion Pictures

Marshal's Daughter, The (1953) - Hoot Gibson and Johnny Mack Brown (Iverson Ranch) United Artists

Outlaw Trail (1944) - Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele and Chief Thundercloud (Corriganville) Monogram

Painted Stallion, The (1937) - Ray “Crash” Corrigan and Hoot Gibson - Republic

Sonora Stagecoach (1944) - Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele and Chief Thundercloud (Corriganville) Monogram

Spook Ranch (1925) - Hoot Gibson (Chatsworth Trains) Universal

Trailin' Trouble (1930) - Hoot Gibson - Universal

Trigger Law (1944) - Bob Steele and Hoot Gibson (Iverson Ranch) Monogram

Westward Bound (1944) - Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele (Corriganville) Monogram

Wild Horse Stampede (1943) - Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson (Corriganville) Monogram