Thanks to March Madness I know more about Old Ruth
March Madness preempted the CBS soaps on Thursday and Friday, March 16 and 17 so I found myself watching episodes of Gunsmoke on METV. I was humored by the character Festus Haggen (Ken Curtis) and the way he talked to his mule Old Ruth and wondered why the animal was given this name and if there was a back story.
Gunsmoke at one time was the longest-running television series- on the air for 20 years from 1955-1975. You can still catch episodes on several retro channels on the Frndly TV streaming service including MeTV. While everyone around him rode horses Festus was a lawman who stuck to his mule Old Ruth.
Curtis was a singer prior to acting and joined the Tommy Dorsey band in 1941. It was Dorsey who suggested that Gates change his name to Ken Curtis. The singer then joined Shep Fields and His New Music, which was an all-reeds band that dispensed with a brass section. In 1948 he was a featured singer and host on the country music radio show WWVA JAMBOREE.
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Curtis penned an ode to his character’s beloved mule
Curtis also became the lead singer for the Sons of the Pioneers from 1949 to 1952. The group had two major hits-“Room Full of Roses” and “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky”. The actor is also well known for a tune he penned to explain why his mules were named Old Ruth. You can listen to the heartbreaking saga by clicking on the video link but the gist of it is that during the Civil War, the mule saved the life of her owner while forfeiting her own. From that time he vowed that every mule he owned from then on would be named Ruth. So if you are a fan of Festus and his trusted mule you know their history.
