METHUEN - Good guys wear white hats. And apparently drive matching Cadillac DeVilles.

That was how "Boomtown" cowboy Rex Trailer showed up in Methuen yesterday to help dedicate a new monument honoring the history of horses in the city.

"I have a history in horses myself," the Texas-born Trailer, now in his late 70s, told a crowd of about 50. "My job was cleaning the stables when I was a kid and I shoveled enough of it to know about horses."

Sure, the crowd wasn't from Texas, but Trailer wanted it anyway, doing one round of autographs and pictures by the granite monument, then heading to the trunk of his car to grab a stack of glossy promotional photos.

Trailer was clearly the main attraction - some people brought photos of themselves with him from decades ago - but the point of the event was the monument.

Conceived eight years ago by Methuen resident Marilyn Long, the tablet has finally found a home in a small park near the intersection of Lowell and Hampshire streets. The front has the words "Honor the Horse" and an engraving of a horse's head. The back has a longer inscription and an engraving of horses that was inspired by a photo hung in the city's central fire station.

Horses in Methuen pulled fire engines and public works equipment until into the 1930s, retired fire Chief Ken Bourassa said.

"When I first came on in the early '70s we had some old-timers who remembered the horses and they spoke of them fondly," he said.

Long ended the short ceremony by asking people to recognize how horses have worked "unselfishly" to quite literally drag the world into the modern age. To Long, who owns a quarter horse named Rio Bravo, horses "come first."

"First, last and always, the horse comes first," she said.

Trailer congratulated Long on her long fight to see the monument installed. Long also received a check from New England Equine Rescue to help with the cost of the monument, which was paid through fundraising.

"She would not give up. She was going to see it through," Trailer said.

And people had plenty to say to Trailer, too, starting with Mayor William Manzi, who called "Boomtown" "wholesome TV." The popular Boston-based children's show ended its run in 1974.

"On a personal note, Rex, they don't make TV shows like that anymore and we really, really, really remember you and treasure those shows," Manzi said.

Fran McKinney of Plaistow, N.H., said she's loved horses ever since sitting on one of Trailer's in Boston when she was a young girl. Yesterday was the first time since then that she met Trailer. She asked him to sign her cowboy hat and also got an autographed picture.

"This is awesome," was how McKinney put the reunion.

There also were some new fans too young to remember the TV show. Emily Dresser, 12, of West Newbury, Lydia LeDonne, 12, of West Newbury and Emma Symonds, 12, of Groveland, all came to meet Trailer. The three girls have been raising money through a lemonade stand to purchase a horse from a "kill pen" and rescue it from slaughter.

Horse Monument Inscription

This magnificent creature safely carried the City of Methuen and the world on its back in peace and in war. The horse gave of itself like no other animal in history. We can do no less than show our eternal gratitude and responsibility.