Tex Harding's real name was John Thye and his singing was dubbed by a James "Bud" Nelson. The horse he rode was the famous Diablo which was later to become Duncan Renaldo's mount as the Cisco Kid. Harding was apparently added to the series to give the heroine someone to moon over, since he could sing and also gave Starrett someone to play off of, other than the sidekick. Producer Colbert "Bert" Clark obviously thought that this may bring a bit more appeal to the Durango series which were rapidly becoming assembly line products. Clark was the brother in law to Republic director William Witney.
I know right! The hat never ever comes off even if they go over a cliff, horse throws them, fights, doesnt matter..HAT never comes off, definetly a first