King of the Cowboys…….Part I

Whew!.........away from the political lunacy for awhile.  These next few blogs are gonna be fun.  I just wrote about  "King" Richard Petty, but when I was growing up, Roy Rogers was the "King of the Cowboys".

I didn't know it when I started this blog, but I just now turned on the television for some "background sound", and TCM is running a "Roy Rogers Day of movies right now.  (Roy would have been 100 years old this month if he was still with us-----TODAY as a matter of fact, the 5th, was his birthday.

So THIS blog just CLIMBED several steps, listening to Roy & "Gabby" as I write.

One of the few blessings I have left in this world, and I thank God everyday for it, is having been blessed to have grown up in the 50's.  It is a TREMENDOUS comfort for me today, because it gives me "somewhere to go" when it starts getting really stupid out here today.

Our kids and grandkids have NOTHING.  Those who were born in the 80's & 90's have grown up thinking it's ALWAYS been like this, because they've known nothing better.  I actually feel very bad for them on this.

But I don't wanna even go there.   Today's culture sucks canal water, and for the next few installments, we're gonna "saddle-up" and leave here for awhile.

If you're too young to remember Roy Rogers and Trigger, ask your folks or your grand-folks.  The REST of us out here....let's head back down the trail a bit and re-live the show, brought to us by Post Cereal & Ovaltine.  Remember?

In Part I, we'll start with a shot of Roy & Dale's old home on 40 Tomahawk drive in Victorville, California, then on to the museum.  Early in his career, Roy decided to "pack-rat" everything, so that if he ever got anywhere in the movies, he would build a museum to display everything he collected.  And he certainly did THAT.

The photos you're seeing were taken several years before Roy passed away and the museum moved to Branson, Missouri, where since then, it has closed and everything auctioned off.  As you'll see, I picked a pretty good day to stop and see it.

The old museum was built like a cavalry fort with a huge statue out front of Roy's beloved palamino, Trigger......the "smartest horse in the movies" as he was screen-billed.  After Trigger died in 1965, Roy couldn't bear the thought of putting him in the ground, so he had the horse mounted, so all of his fans could always see him.  (Trigger was ALWAYS the number one attraction in that museum).

A couple of the parade saddles, that saw many Pasadena Rose Bowl  parades over the years.

The museum was LOADED with movie scripts, studio photos, I mean, Roy & Dale never threw ANYTHING away.  Also "mounted" for permanent display was Dale's horse "Buttermilk."-------not widely known------Dale's horse's ORIGINAL name was "soda", but she didn't like that and changed it herself.........(Trigger's original registered name was "Golden Cloud".

They saved western outfits and dresses from their many movies as well.

Off-screen, Roy was a staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment and a Lifetime NRA member.  He hunted, shot competition skeet and safari'd in Africa.

THESE were the 45's I wanted to see!  There were a few things there that had belonged to Gabby Hayes too.

....and where you'd find Pat Brady.........."Nellybelle" couldn't be very far away!

I doubt that anyone knows for sure how many Roy Rogers toys were made back then, but there must have been at least 10 display cases FULL of them.  I have a few that you'll see in "Part II."

Dale Evans wrote a lot of books.......and Roy's original band, the Sons of the Pioneers had a display too.  They appeared a LOT with Roy, both in the movies and on the road.

What I HADN'T figured on seeing at the museum that day, was ROY HIMSELF!  For a young kid from Potrero Hill with a pair of capguns, this was an unexpected fulfillment of a dream!  The BEST part of it was that he was a REAL PERSON--------not some "stuffy celebrity" who was "too good" for his fans.  Talking with Roy Rogers was like visiting with an old fishing buddy!

Standby for part II