Death Valley Days is an American television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was broadcast on radio until 1945. From 1952 to 1970, it became a syndicated television series, with reruns (updated with new narrations) continuing through August 1, 1975. The radio and television versions combined to make the show "one of the longest-running Western programs in broadcast history." The series was sponsored by the Pacific Coast Borax Company, makers of 20 Mule Team Borax and Boraxo, and hosted by Stanley Andrews ("The Old Ranger") (1952–1964), Ronald Reagan (1964–1965), Robert Taylor (1966–1969), and Dale Robertson (1969–1970). Hosting the series was Reagan's final work as an actor; he left the series to run in 1966 for Governor of California. The television series was conceived by Pacific Coast Borax Company's advertising agency McCann-Erickson through company executive Dorothy McCann and Mitchell J. Hamilburg, who represented Gene Autry's Flying A Productions. Synopsis Death Valley Days is one of the first anthology series to appear on television, featuring different characters and stories each episode. The stories were based in fact, all within the legends and lore of California's Death Valley. Style varied by episode, with some being drama and others comedy. Most were human-interest stories of miners and homesteaders in Death Valley, where borax was mined. Advertisements for the company's best-known products, 20 Mule Team Borax, a laundry additive, Borateem, a laundry detergent, and Boraxo, a powdered hand soap, were often done by the program's host. As the series continued on the air, episodes began to focus on nearly any portion of the American West, not just the Death Valley country. Most episodes portrayed events in the late 19th century, the heyday of the "Old West". Some, however, were set in much earlier times, especially the Spanish colonial era, and a few recounted stories from the early 20th century. Cast Each of the 452 television episodes was introduced by a host. The longest running was "The Old Ranger," a character played by veteran actor Stanley Andrews from 1952 to 1965. Following the departure of Andrews, all subsequent hosts appeared under their own names, starting with Ronald Reagan, the former host of CBS's General Electric Theater. Reagan appeared in twenty-one episodes of Death Valley Days, including the 1965 segment "A City Is Born" in which he