The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum was a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postm ...

, focused on the careers of

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

and

Dale Evans Dale Evans Rogers (born Frances Octavia Smith; October 31, 1912 – February 7, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She was the third wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers. Early life Evans was born Frances Octavia Smith on ...

, stars of radio, film and television. The museum was open from 1967 until 2009, at three locations in California and Missouri.

History

Rogers took the idea of building a museum after visiting the Will Rogers Museum in 1938 and finding it with few heirlooms. Rogers decided to start a collection of his own materials and upon retirement in the 1960s put them on display. Two prized and unique possessions of the museum were

Trigger Trigger may refer to: Notable animals and people ;Mononym * Trigger (horse), owned by cowboy star Roy Rogers ;Nickname * Trigger Alpert (1916–2013), American jazz bassist * "Trigger Mike" Coppola (1900–1966), American gangster ;Surname * Bru ...

, Rogers' horse, and Bullet, Rogers' dog, in taxidermy.

Relocations

The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum was established in its first location in

Apple Valley, CA Apple Valley is an incorporated town in the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County, in the U.S. state of California. It was incorporated on November 14, 1988, and is one of the 22 incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in the ...

. In 1976 it relocated within California to

Victorville Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810. History In 1858, Aaron G. Lane came to what is now known as Victorville and founded a waystation called "Lane's Cro ...

, where it stayed for 27 years. After Rogers' death in 1998, and Evans in 2001, in 2003 the museum moved to Branson, Missouri, where it stood for 6 years until it closed.

Dissolution at auction

The museum struggled financially during an economic downturn, and the remaining family decided to close its doors on December 12, 2009. The majority of the collection was sold in July 2010 for $2.9 million, with Trigger and Bullet being purchased by a Nebraska-based TV network named RFD. The

Autry National Center The Autry Museum of the American West is a museum in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to exploring an inclusive history of the American West. Founded in 1988, the museum presents a wide range of exhibitions and public programs, including le ...

acquired key artifacts including newspaper clippings, Rose Parade programs, Roy Rogers Show memorabilia, sheet music, and the rare plastic saddle he used on Trigger. Another significant item that sold in auction was Rogers’ 1964 Pontiac Bonneville for the price of $254,500. Artist

Nudie Cohn Nuta Kotlyarenko ( uk, Нута Котляренко; December 15, 1902 – May 9, 1984), known professionally as Nudie Cohn, was an American tailor who designed decorative rhinestone-covered suits, known popularly as "Nudie Suits", and other e ...

, Rogers’ tailor, outfitted the car with silver dollars, chrome-plated pistols, horseshoes, miniature horses and rifles, many of which were functional parts of the car such as door handles, switches and controls.

History

Relocations

Dissolution at auction

References

Further reading