Ken Maynard and Evalyn Knapp appear "In Old Santa Fe" in 1934.

I got my coarse yet practiced hands on a crumbling copy of a 1935 songbook of 25 ditties used in the Westerns of old-time oater star Ken Maynard. The magazine-style periodical notes on the cover that “each song has melody, ukulele chords, words, piano accompaniment and guitar chords.” The songs have titles like “Christine Le Roy,” “The Dreary Black Hills” and “Curly Joe.” The introduction has a biography of Maynard, written by someone named Nancy Smith. A few excerpts follow.

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Ken Maynard was born July 21 in Mission, Texas. The first few years of his life were spent on a ranch near this town.

His father is William H. Maynard, who now lives in Columbus, Indiana. He was a building contractor and his work caused him to continually move from place to place. Ken’s mother owned extensive Texas lands which they had bought with the proceeds of Kentucky farm lands. Ken says when he was a boy, no one would have the Texas land as a gift, but now that they have sold it all, it is becoming fabulously rich in oil production.

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When he was eight years of age, he could imitate the tricks done by the average cow puncher. Incidentally, Maynard says that the fancy trick riding is a product of the circus and not of the range. The cow men’s trick in those days consisted chiefly of swinging toward the ground for a hat or some other simple stunt. The boy learned all of this quickly and began to develop his own style of riding.

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At the age of twelve Ken tired of the range and ran away with a cheap wagon show that came to their village. Wagon shows were plentiful in those days. Ken remained with the show for three weeks before his father came and took him home. The boy said it felt like three years and he promised to stay home.

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In 1914 Ken joined the Kit Carson show. In 1915 he went with the Hagenbeck and Wallace outfit. In 1918 he went with them a second time having appeared with Pawnee Bill in the meanwhile. Then he left show business to enlist in the army and was assigned to Camp Knox in Kentucky.

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Maynard’s first role was that of Paul Revere in the Marion Davies’ film Janice Meredith. He won the part by superior riding ability.

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Maynard has his own airplane and a government’s pilot license. He recently bought a 42-foot yawl and spends many week-ends cruising. He is a home owner, having purchased a large residence in  Los Angeles.

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He is regarded as the outstanding Western star in pictures today. Incidentally, all his pictures are based on historical facts of the west, the actor contending that boys and girls may be educated in history through the proper presentation of events on the screen.

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