Cheyenne Harry and Tommy

Tom Tyler was almost always billed as Tom during his 1930’s B-westerns, but one popular recurring character is Tom Wade, officer of the Cattlemen’s Protective Association. Wade would receive his assignments from headquarters before jumping on horseback and with a partner on horseback too, head to the ranch where a cattle rustling complaint was filed. Along with the character of Tom Wade, sometimes he bore the nickname of Cheyenne Tommy, a suitable moniker for one of the top cowboys of the 1930’s B-westerns. Tom Tyler’s Tom Wade/Cheyenne Tommy appeared in “Lost Ranch”, “Brothers of the West”, “Orphan of the Pecos”, “Mystery Range”, “The Feud of the Trail”, and “Cheyenne Rides Again”, all released in 1937. Tom Tyler was not the first western star to be tagged a Cheyenne cowboy, however.

The Moving Picture Weekly,
March 9, 1918

Harry Carey was Cheyenne Harry in 27 silent film westerns from 1916 to 1919 in a total of 27 westerns which remained quite a popular franchise during its four-year period. Some of these silent films were "A Knight of the Range" (1916), "The Ban Man of Cheyenne" (1917), "The Drifter" (1917), and “A Fight for Love” (1919). In fact, the nickname Cheyenne was so popular with Harry Carey’s onscreen cowboy that sometimes he was solely billed as “Cayena” in Spain where many of his silent film westerns were released – Cayena being the Spanish version of Cheyenne.

Nicknames aside, what exactly constituted a Cheyenne cowboy on the silver screen when it came to Tom and Harry? Being fully human, virile, honest, genuine, someone who audiences can relate to, and fully appreciate their onscreen hero. In other words, being the consummate cowboy. Not only did Harry Carey embody all these qualities, but so did Tom Tyler, making him one of the most popular western stars of the 1930’s.