OneNewsNow.com - Features

A nostalgic visit to Roy and Dale's place

Randall Murphree - Guest Columnist - 7/11/2008 11:20:00 AM

Randall Murphree For ten years in a row in the mid-20th Century, Roy Rogers was named Cowboy of the Year. That's no surprise to my generation, the generation who grew up during the post-World War II years. Though Roy died in 1998 at age 86 and Dale Evans, his wife and acting partner, in 2001 at 88, their legacy is alive and well, carefully protected and proclaimed by their son, Roy Rogers Jr., at the Branson, Missouri, theater and museum bearing their names.

"Perhaps because my parents never forgot the poverty of their own backgrounds," says Roy Jr., "they determined to give their children values and standards that would see us through the tough times." And there were some tough times.

Roy Jr. says it was after the death of his little sister, two-year-old Robin, that Roy and Dale began including Christian music in their show. "Even today," he says, "we hear testimonies about young boys who gave their lives to Christ because Roy Rogers said it was important."

A recent visit to the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum in Branson whetted my appetite for more – not just about Roy and Dale, but about the Old West. The museum is a treasure for fans and history buffs alike – Roy's first guitar, his gun collection, Nellybelle the Jeep, Trigger, sports memorabilia, and family mementoes.

The singing cowboy king
At the end of the Great War, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant and Clark Gable may have lit up the big screen and walked away with the Oscars. But the Saturday matinee and, a few years later the television screen were owned by a rough-and-tough, shoot-em-up bunch of cowboys who were idolized by the kids of the 1950s. In those good ol' westerns, we could count on a few things where we knew there would be no compromise – the good guys wore white hats, they stood for what was right, and they always won.

No one exemplified this new hero better than Roy Rogers who, in fact, earned by consensus the title "King of the Cowboys." Fittingly, Dale was "Queen of the West." Their marriage and personal lives were marked by challenges not that different from the rest of us.

Both grew up in poor families. Roy was widowed and Dale divorced after an ill-fated teenage marriage. As husband and wife, they endured the deaths of three of their nine children, job-related stress, the challenges of raising teenagers. Yet their Christian faith allowed them to keep singing their "Happy Trails" theme song:

Happy trails to you ...
Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It's the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here's a happy one for you.

The song goes on
These days, Roy Jr. rides the trail in a way I'm pretty sure his legendary parents would applaud – with the same faith-and-family focus that marked their lives. He's not on the big screen, but he's accessible, up close and personal in the intimate setting of the Happy Trails Theater adjacent to the museum.

Well, it's confession time and I might as well be direct: I enjoyed the show by Roy Jr. and his High Riders band much more than I had planned to.

Roy Jr. has been performing in Branson five years now. He and the High Riders serve up a first-rate performance of cowboy music interspersed with Roy's frequent family tales that take you down memory lane. I should warn you that his brief stories will make you rush to the gift shop to pick up his book, Growing Up With Roy and Dale. It's a great read, which, incidentally, I'll be reviewing next week.

Pre-show entertainment includes a re-run of a 1985 episode of television's "This Is Your Life" in which host Ralph Edwards surprised Roy as the night's honored guest.

As Roy and his musicians launch into the music, I'm a little surprised to hear old favorites of mine such as "Tumbling Tumbleweed" ("...drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweed.") and "Cool Water" ("Dan, can you see the big green tree, where the water's runnin' free and it's waitin' there for me and you?")

Maybe I just didn't realize they were cowboy songs. Anyway, they had my attention and respect right from the outset. Then more memories – when Roy was just getting his feet wet as an entertainer and singing cowboy, Roy Jr. and the other kids would hang on the running board of Dad's pickup truck with a megaphone to announce the show that night in small towns all over the area.

Another favorite of mine – and, if applause is a measure, a favorite of the entire audience – was Roy's cover of the spiritual "Poor Wayfaring Stranger." He had sung it for Dale's 2001 memorial service at her request.

A crowning touch to the show is the appearance, for the first time this year, of Roy Jr.'s son Dustin. To visit Roy and Dale's place is a lot like going home for a family reunion. I imagine the King of Cowboys must be mighty proud to see another singing cowboy on the stage, passing on the family legacy.

Randall Murphree, a regular contributor to OneNewsNow, is editor of AFA Journal. The AFA Journal is a division of the American Family Association, the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates OneNewsNow.com.

Opinions expressed in 'Features' published by OneNewsNow.com are the sole responsibility of the article's author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support the American Family News Network, OneNewsNow.com, our parent organization or its other affiliates.