Cattleman's Triumph

Oklahoma's taste in governors has run to flamboyant showmen like sulphurous old "Alfalfa Bill" Murray or gregarious millionaires like outgoing Governor Bob Kerr. With the inauguration last week of Roy Turner, a well-heeled oil-&-cattleman, Oklahoma got a little of both.

Unlike his predecessors, Roy Turner is no professional. Until he jumped into the Democratic primary last spring, his only previous political experience was a job on the Oklahoma City school board. But he had made a fortune in the Oklahoma City oilfield and a statewide reputation as the owner of a famous ranch in the "Hereford Heaven" country.

At one time or another most of the 4-H boys & girls and Future Farmers in the state had turned up there for his annual stock-judging contest. He had made headlines when his highly touted bull, T. Royal Rupert 99th, sold for a record-breaking $38,000 (TIME, Jan. 24, 1944), and turned out to be a dud.

In cattle-minded Oklahoma, his bulging ranch-office trophy room, crammed with the winnings of his purebred Hereford show stock, was a sure vote-catcher. So was his snap-brimmed, cream-colored hat --the badge of the western cattleman.

On inauguration day the 5,000 Oklahomans who gathered at the domeless state house for the ceremonies were reminded of another Turner asset. As they waited for the new governor to appear, the Flying L Ranch quartet gave out with the tune of Hereford Heaven--authored by Roy Turner, introduced in the movies by Cowboy Hero Roy Rogers.

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