Trading Posts

We’re still waiting to hear about the prices fetched by the Christie’s auction today and tomorrow of iconic items belonging to Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, including Rogers’s famous horse Trigger, whom he mourned so much when it died in 1965 that he had it stuffed and posed in a trademark

Roy Rogers' saddle and parade ribbons (Photo by Abel Gutierrez)

rearing position. Christie’s officials say it’s expected to fetch as much as $200,000.

Ralph Gardner wrote in today’s Wall Street Journal about feeling a bit strange on seeing Trigger, as well as the other three stuffed animals featured in the auction: pet dog Bullet, Dale’s horse Buttermilk, and Trigger body double Trigger, Jr. “I noted that several summer interns I saw discussing the animal looked a bit squeamish,” he writes.

The Autry’s not trying for the famous horse. But we did

Add-your-own fan picture of Roger and his horse, part of the Roy Rogers archive now at the Autry

acquire some significant items this spring from the Rogers/Evans estate, including a beautiful blue and white saddle he used in two Tournament of Roses Parades, made out of plastic to ease the load on the horse during the long, slow ride down Colorado Ave.

More importantly, the Autry also acquired an extensive archive of personal papers, advertisement materials, news articles and correspondence that will become a part of the Autry Research Library’s holdings.

“There’s currently about 115 boxes of material which has not been yet been organized,” Marva Felchlin, Autry Library director, told KPCC host Alex Cohen in May. “There’s a a lot of newspaper clippings.”

There are also documents that might help one gain a behind-the-scenes peek at the business side of being a singing cowboy, including advertising presentations for tie-ins to the Roy and Dale movies and television shows.

“Most of the are sort of public relations materials related to

Fans of Roy Rogers at the unveiling of the Cowboys of the Silver Screen stamp series in April (Photo by Abel Gutierrez)

Roy and Dale’s merchandising,” Felchlin told KPCC. “There’s a lot of things that say, ‘Here’s how you could advertise Roy in your store and why you should,’ with lots of statistics.”

Roy Rogers died on July 6, 1998, and Dale Evans followed him on Feb. 7, 2001. The Roy Rogers Museum originally was located in Victorville, where it operated for several decades until 2003, when it shut its doors. The collection went to a museum in Branson, Mo., but it could not attract enough visitors, and it closed in 2009.

Even so, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and Trigger and even Bullet still come most alive in their movies and television shows, which are often featured at the Autry. On Aug. 14, the Autry’s film series “What is a Western?” will continue with Under Western Stars, Rogers’ first starring role, from 1938.