Hopalong Cassidy A western that was greater than The Roy Rogers Show or Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch. Hoppy was a hero to one and all. He and his sidekick, California Carlson, roamed the Southwest in thrilling stories week after week. Almost every tale had a little mystery in it, and almost every story ended with Hoppy’s boisterous laugh. Clarence Mulford, the author of the Hopalong Cassidy stores, created a hard-fisted, rough and tough cowboy, nowhere near or like the lovable Hoppy of the movies and radio series. He became a hero in black and on a white horse – a super hero of the West. He rescued damsels and cowboys in trouble, along with ranchers and bankers and railroad owners always against the bad guys – robbers, thieves, rustlers and the like. The radio series were a hard sell. And the owners could find no takers.