Editing Gene Autry (section)

==== Melody Ranch ====
Autry purchased the 110-acre [[Movie ranch#Monogram Ranch/Melody Ranch|Monogram Ranch]] in 1953, in [[Placerita Canyon State Park|Placerita Canyon]] near [[Newhall, California]], in the northern [[San Gabriel Mountains]] foothills. He renamed it the Melody Ranch after his movie ''[[Melody Ranch]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/sg032903.htm|title=Movie Magic in Placerita Canyon|website=Scvhistory.com|access-date=May 15, 2010}}</ref> Autry then sold 98 acres of the property, most of the original ranch. The Western town, [[adobe]]s, and ranch cabin [[Set construction|sets]] and open land for [[location shooting]] were retained as a movie ranch on 12 acres. Numerous "B" Westerns and TV shows were shot there during Autry's ownership, including the initial years of ''[[Gunsmoke]]'' with [[James Arness]]. A decade after he purchased Melody Ranch, a [[wildfire|brushfire]] swept through in August 1962, destroying most of the original standing sets and dashing Autry's plans to turn it into a museum. However, the devastated landscape did prove useful for productions such as ''[[Combat!]]''. A complete adobe ranch survived at the northeast section of the ranch.<ref>{{cite web|title=Placeritos Ranch/Monogram Ranch/Melody Ranch|url=http://www.movielocationsplus.com/MELODY.HTM|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913080512/http://movielocationsplus.com/MELODY.HTM|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 13, 2016|website=Movielocationsplus.com|access-date=December 24, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/autry.htm|website=Scvhistory.com|title=Memories of the place I called Melody Ranch|first=Gene|last=Autry|access-date=February 2, 2008}}</ref>

According to a published story by Autry, the fire caused him to turn his attention to [[Griffith Park]], where he would build his Museum of Western Heritage (now known as the [[Autry Museum of the American West]]).

In 1990, after his favorite horse Champion Three, which lived in retirement there, died, Autry put the remaining 12-acre ranch up for sale. It was purchased by the [[General Lee (car)#The Veluzat era|Veluzat family]] in 1991 and rebuilt. It is now known as the Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio and Melody Ranch Studios on 22 acres.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.melodyranchstudio.com/|website=Melodyranchstudio.com|title=Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio|access-date=May 15, 2010}}</ref> The ranch has the Melody Ranch Museum open year-round; and one weekend a year, the entire ranch is open to the public during the [[Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival|Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival]], another legacy of Autry's multiple talents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.melodyranchstudio.com/museum.html|website=Melodyranchstudio.com|title=Museum|access-date=May 15, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cowboyfestival.org/ |title=Archived copy |website=www.cowboyfestival.org |access-date=January 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041204211240/http://www.cowboyfestival.org/ |archive-date=December 4, 2004 |url-status=dead}}</ref>