Happy Trails

Happy Trails

 

Some of my best and oldest memories are of being glued to the screen of our old black and white TV.  With only two channels there wasn’t much room for the dozens of children’s shows there are now.  Of course there was Captain Kangaroo, Romper Room, and Popeye.  But there was one that stood out from the rest.

It opened with the hero blazing across the screen riding his golden palomino stallion.  Despite the speed of the horse, the man almost seemed not to be moving at all.  He glided along, firing his revolver as his trusty German shepherd dog ran alongside.

Roy Rogers rode into our living room.

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In these days when it’s sometimes hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys and almost as difficult to tell kids’ shows from those fit only for adults, you always knew, if Roy Rogers played a role, the show was safe for anybody to watch.  Anybody.

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The man who would be known as the King of the Cowboys was born, not in the wild west but in the populous upper Midwest.  Andrew Slye and his wife Mattie Womack-Slye welcomed little Leonard Franklin Slye into their lives and their home in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 5, 1911.  Interestingly, the city would eventually tear down Roy Rogers’s birthplace to make way for Riverfront Stadium.  Rogers sometimes joked that he was born at second base.

Leonard spent the first several years of his life in the city.  When he was seven, his family bought a farm in Duck Run (near Lucasville, Ohio) and built a six-room house.  On the farm, the boy learned how to ride a horse and soon realized that the country life was perfect for him.  He also discovered music and would join other residents of the area to enjoy it by playing mandolin and calling square dances.

He picked up another talent when he learned to yodel.  He and his mother formed a “code” of yodels they could used to communicate across distances on the farm.

Leonard dropped out of high school and joined his father working at a factory in Cincinnati.  After the family visited one of the sisters in California they moved out west and rented a house.  Young Leonard held different jobs, including picking peaches while living in a labor camp like those depicted in John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath.  Life was tough in those days of the Great Depression, but Leonard’s sister came through again when she suggested that he audition for a radio program.

Thus it began.

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Slye worked hard and teamed up with other hard workers to gain success.  They eventually formed The Pioneers Trio, which a radio announcer changed because he thought the musicians were too young to be pioneers.  The name, Sons of the Pioneers, struck a chord with listeners and the group kept it.

He was still billed as Leonard Slye when he started working as a singing cowboy in a supporting role for more famous actors, such as Gene Autry.  Once again, luck played a role when Autry, in a contract dispute, refused to show up for a movie, and Slye was given a chance to step into a starring role in the film Under Western Stars.  Republic Pictures thought Leonard Slye didn’t sound like a cowboy star, so they gave him the stage name Roy Rogers.

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Roy’s first marriage ended in divorce after three years.  His second wife passed away due to complications of childbirth.  Rogers went on to marry one of his co-stars, a perfect match for him named Dale Evans.

Roy was a family man.  When they married, Roy had three children from his second marriage.  Dale embraced the kids and made them her.  Roy and Dale’s union added five more children.  The first of Roy’s three children with his second wife was adopted.  He and Dale adopted four of their five.  The couple became well known advocates for children and adoption.

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Besides losing his second wife after giving birth, Roy and Dale experienced much sadness during their marriage as well.  Their first-born daughter was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome and passed away before her second birthday.  Another daughter was killed in a bus accident shortly after her 12th birthday.  A son serving in the Army passed away in his sleep.

Despite the numerous tragedies in their lives, the two were well known Christians, and often expressed their belief through action.  Shortly after their first daughter’s death, they were scheduled for a long engagement at New York’s Madison Square Garden.  Management did not like the couple’s choice to include “Peace in the Valley” and insisted that the couple not include Christian music in their show.  Roy stated that he was willing to lose the engagement rather than deny his faith.

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Rogers made over 100 films, many of them playing a character named Roy Rogers.  Yes, I sad that right; he was contractually allowed to use his own name.  He also made appearances in numerous radio shows and television variety shows.  His productions frequently featured a sidekick, such as Pat Brady, Andy Devine, George “Gabby” Hayes, or Smiley Burnette.  Beginning in 1951 on radio, The Roy Rogers Show continued on television until 1957.  Pat Brady was his sidekick for the show, driving a jeep named LuLabelle at first but later changed to Nellybelle.  At times the jeep seemed to be almost human.  I don’t think any viewer ever complained about that.  I know I didn’t.

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At one point Dale got the idea that Roy’s theme song “Smiles Are Made Out of the Sunshine,” wasn’t western enough, so she composed a song she thought fit him better.  I’d say it did.  “Happy Trails” would be identified with the couple for the rest of their lives.

It still is today.

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We usually just referred to the show as “Roy Rogers” but were almost as likely to call it “Roy Rogers and Dale Evans” because Roy’s real-life wife played such a big part in the show.  The two, along with Roy’s palomino horse, Trigger, dog, Bullet and Pat with his cantankerous jeep solved many adventures during the show’s six seasons.

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There’s nothing odd about the fact that nobody on the show ever uttered a curse.  It wasn’t done in those days.  One thing that really stood out was that Native Americans (called Indians back then) were depicted as Roy’s friends, not as mindless bad guys, as was common on TV then.  Also, even though the show was about defeating bad guys, I don’t think anybody ever received more than a flesh wound from the gun-toting Roy.

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Roy and Dale were father- and mother-figures to us young viewers.  Pat reminded us of a goofy uncle who lived to make us laugh and we all dreamed of having a horse like Trigger and a dog like Bullet.  In my opinion the networks are not producing shows like The Roy Rogers Show today.  With the advantages in film production since the 1950s, I’ll bet the show would be a hit.

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Roy Rogers, “The King of the Cowboys,” left us on July 6, 1998 at 86 years of age.  Dale Evans followed three years later.

Happy Trails my friends.

 

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(above) Roy sings The Auctioneer on Hee Haw, which was a comedy show back in the late ’60s and the early ’90s.

 

(Below) Roy and The Sons of the Pioneers sing The Ballad of Pecos Bill for a Walt Disney cartoon.  It give you a good example of Roy’s yodeling.

 

(above) The beginning and ending credits of The Roy Rogers Show.

(below) A fitting tribute to The King of the Cowboys from a national news program.

6 Comments on "Happy Trails"

  1. Deonna Hampton | July 8, 2018 at 7:17 pm |

    Just 2 channels? We must have been living large with 3. Lol My favorite show was The Rifleman. Of course sometimes dad had to go outside and turn the antenna to pull in the channels. Good times.

    • davidscott | July 8, 2018 at 7:39 pm |

      Turning the antennae sounds so familiar. Ours was so high in the air on top of our split level house that I wasn’t allowed on the roof until later, when we had cable. I guess we could have gotten three channels if I had snuck up and turned it. I loved The Rifleman too! I tore up a couple bb guns and my hand trying to imitate Lucas McCain.

  2. Dottie Phelps | July 9, 2018 at 9:41 am |

    Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Sounds like he lived a fascinating and fulfilling life. I hope to do the same. Thanks for the info!

Comments are closed.