Clarence Mulford, the creator of the legendary Western character Hopalong Cassidy, was born in Streator, Illinois, in 1883 to a prestigious family with a rich lineage dating back to 1643. Interestingly, more than 20 Mulfords fought in the American Revolution.
After completing his education, Mulford secured a job with the "Municipal Journal and Engineer" newspaper in New York, where he began writing stories in his free time. His first story was published in "Metropolitan" magazine, and soon "Outing" magazine started serializing his "Bar 20" short stories, featuring the iconic Hopalong Cassidy character. Mulford revealed that his early Western novels were written using factual data about the American West, whereas his later works were inspired by his extensive travels throughout the region. He maintained a comprehensive card file containing over 17,000 cards, covering topics such as fur trapping, cattle drives, the Pony Express, and the freight-wagon industry.
For many years, Mulford was dissatisfied with the film adaptations of his Hopalong Cassidy novels, which portrayed the character as a clean-cut, articulate, and courtly gentleman, played by William Boyd. In contrast, the novels depicted Cassidy as a gruff, irritable, foul-mouthed, and crusty old man. Eventually, Mulford came to terms with the disparity and even met with Boyd, which he had initially refused to do, and the two developed a positive relationship.
Clarence Mulford passed away on May 10, 1956, in Portland, Maine, due to complications arising from surgery to repair the smoke damage to his lungs, which he had suffered in a fire in 1947.
