By turning California real
estate he owned into a multi-purpose movie ranch (Corriganville), all Ray
"Crash" Corrigan had to do to get to work every morning was step outside
his front door.
No battling crowded freeways, home was right there at the south end of the
main street.
Next door was a saloon, hotel, café, bank, general store, blacksmith
shop, and livery stable --- no phony false front buildings, either, but the
real deal with special windows to accommodate motion picture cameras. The
saloon and hotel were fully operational sound stages.
Some 3000 to 3500 pictures were filmed at his 1740 acre ranch. A special
lake was constructed for "The Adventures of Robin Hood." A fort was
built for "Fort Apache." When he opened the place to the public in
'49, he added an arena for rodeos and special events.
Everywhere a kid turned, there were Saturday matinee heroes and villains
performing live in bank holdups, jailbreaks, and gunfights. Ventriloquist
Max "Alibi" Terhune was there performing with Elmer. Chief Thundercloud
was there. The Sons of the Pioneers were there.
But the biggest attraction was Corrigan, the nicest man ever to step down
off a tall horse to give an awestruck kid an autograph.
Kids grieved when he retired. The ranch remained open, but it wasn't
the same without the ol' Range Buster there.
Visit the
Crash
website.