Happy Trails: Dale Evans and Roy Rogers always rounded up the bad guys.




Photograph courtesy of Cookie Curci-Wright







Remember When

Unlike other childhood TV heroes, Roy Rogers was the real thing

Back at the ranch, the cowboy triggers fond memories

By Cookie Curci-Wright

In 1998, Hollywood lost its most beloved singing cowboy and many an adult, myself included, who grew up in the 1940s and '50s, mourned his passing.

To a generation of baby boomers, Roy Rogers was, is and always will, be the quintessential king of the cowboys. As kids, we sat in darkened theaters on Saturday afternoon watching Roy, Trigger, Dale and Gabby round up the bad guys. And we knew there was more to a Roy Rogers movie than just shooting and riding; there was a message to be heard and a lesson to be learned.

The love affair between my generation and Roy Rogers began over 50 years ago when we gathered at the kiddie matinee to pay homage to our hero and his golden palomino.

When the theater lights dimmed, our enthusiasm swelled. We knew we were about to be transported into another world, a realm of fantasy and imagination--Roy's world, where a wrong deed never went unpunished, where the bad guys always went to jail, and an act of kindness was always rewarded. Where Roy, Dale and Trigger stood for all that was good. We were captivated by the battle of good vs. evil, and re-enacted it often at play.

I remember how I sat in the front row at the palatial Hippodrome Theater. My imagination soared with excitement as I waited for the curtain to rise. When Republic Studio's proud eagle flashed on the silver screen, I snuggled deeper into my seat in anticipation. Munching on a bag of mom's homemade sandwiches and reaching deep into my Crackerjack box I satisfied my craving for food, while Roy and the big screen fed my appetite for adventure.

Every Saturday, Roy Rogers became a babysitter for millions of us kids, when our moms dropped us off at the local kiddie matinee. We kids had four hours of screeching good fun and our moms got four hours of peace and quiet at home.

Later, in the 1950s, Post cereal brought The Roy Rogers' Show to the TV screen. Filmed entirely at Roy's Chatsworth, Calif., ranch, the show was an instant success. Every Saturday afternoon, I rushed into our family living room at exactly 3 p.m., opened the mahogany doors on our old Packard Bell TV cabinet and tuned into another thrill-packed adventure at Roy's Double R-Bar Ranch. It was there that Roy, Dale, Trigger, Pat Brady, Nellybelle and Bullet, Roy's wonder dog, all pitched in to corral the villains.

Eventually, television's popularity brought an end to the kiddie matinees. Why go to the theater, when Roy and Trigger could be seen in our very own living rooms?

Despite my typical 1950s little girl wardrobe of frilly dresses, white gloves and bobby sox, I chose to wear my Dale Evans cowgirl outfit and my Roy Rogers' six-shooter, much to my mother's fears that I would grow up to be a gun-toting cowboy. And when I asked for a pair of spurs and cowboy boots for my ninth birthday, mom was mortified. She was sure I'd never outgrow my tomboy stage.

But I wasn't the only tomboy in my neighborhood. Most girls my age owned their own Roy Roger's holster and hats and played cowboys and bad guys with the boys. My two-wheeler became my Trigger and, with my pistols and pigtails, we rode the streets of my old neighborhood together in search of the bad guys.

A few years later, when rock & roll and Elvis came on the scene, I put away my cap pistols and little girl toys, and placed Roy, Dale and Trigger in that secret, special place reserved in every little girl's heart for childhood heroes and daydreams.

My affection for Roy Rogers has endured throughout my adolescence, my middle age and into my senior years. And to tell the truth, my heart still beats just a little bit faster whenever I hear the mention of his name. The years have proven that we chose our heroes well and never had cause to be disappointed. Roy Rogers lived his life, on and off the screen, in a way that made us proud to be his little buckaroos.

I'm glad Roy Rogers was there for a generation of kids who grew up in the 1940s and '50s, a time when movies were a way for us young observers of life to feel a sense of participation, a time when the world was in need of heroes. Through the years, Hollywood has created other cowboy idols and TV heroes. There was the Lone Ranger and Tonto, played by Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels, both wholesome TV characters. However, Clayton Moore, who portrayed the Ranger didn't really go around wearing a black mask and shooting silver bullets and Jay Silverheels (Tonto) spoke perfect English off-camera.

To the contrary, Roy Rogers wasn't playing a character, he was actually Roy Rogers. He really rode his horse Trigger off-camera and he really did live on the Double R-Bar Ranch in the valley.

There were other childhood TV heroes--Batman, Tarzan, Superman, Captain Midnight, Flash Gordon--but, unlike these fabricated characters, Roy Rogers was different; Roy was for real.

Perhaps these words, taken from a song written by Dusty Rogers, Roy's son, says it best for a generation of kids who fondly remember their childhood pal: "He rode across our silver screen for over 30 years/As the king of the cowboys there was magic in his name/A man who loved his country where he will always ride/Ride off into the sunset in a western sky of blue/He has given us precious memories/And happy trials for me and you."

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