Hero of the silent Western, Tom Mix and his "wonder horse," Tony, revolutionized both the style and content of the genre. Where earlier Westerns had depicted an austere (and fairly accurate) West and had emphasized character and unembroidered sentiment, Mix introduced a fast-paced and light-hearted version of the West, with a cowboy hero who offered youth, showmanship, and adventurousness. Mix films emphasized the hero's riding and stunting abilities and featured the spectacular natural backdrops of many of America's National Parks.

Though he invented a nearly mythic past for himself—one that supposedly included service with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders and military action in the Boxer Rebellion—Mix was actually born and raised in Pennsylvania and moved west to Oklahoma during the early 1900s. He joined the Miller Brothers' 101 Real Wild West Ranch in 1905, and eventually toured with various Wild West shows, before returning to...