The San Gabriel Mountains rise out of the California desert and separate Victorville
from the entertainment centers of Los Angeles and Hollywood. Yet, the tie that connects
these Route 66 communities is as strong as a lasso turned around a saddle horn.
Victorville is home to the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum. Once the location of
several dude ranches, today, the tile roofs of new homes are nearly as prominent as
tumbleweed.
The Rogers Museum sets amid Joshua trees between Palmdale Road and Roy Rogers Drive.
The latter is a recent addition to Victorville exits and affords travelers easy access the
museum as well as an alternate exit to Route 66. Resembling a frontier fort, the museum is
marked by the presence of a large statue of Roy's horse, Trigger.
Inside the museum, it is easy to spot the man currently in charge of operations. Roy
Rogers, Jr., known as Dusty, is dressed in a colorful western shirt and leather vest. His
hearty handshake confirms the strength and confidence he brings to the task. In addition
to the day to day affairs of the museum, Dusty is busy planning for significant future
expansion. Today, the museum is much the same as it began some twenty years ago.
Originally housed in an abandoned bowling alley in nearby Apple Valley, the collection was
moved to its present location in the seventies. An amazing amount of memorabilia,
trophies, and photographs crowd glassed display cases on either side of narrow aisles.
Larger exhibits include prized automobiles. Among them, is the 1923 Dodge which carried
Roy and his parents to California on Route 66.
"We plan to change a lot of these displays," Dusty explains. "Most of
them haven't changed in almost thirty years."
It is an unnecessary apology. Much of the charm of the museum is the sense that you
have been given the key to a favorite uncle's attic.
The eclectic collection ranges from portraits of fellow western star Hopalong Cassidy
to curious hunting trophies of mountain lions and bears. By far the most popular exhibit
is Trigger. Mounted with front hoofs high in the air, the stallion once billed as
"the smartest horse in the movies" still thrills both young and old.
Taken in total, the museum tells the story of a man and woman who never lost their
sense of place or love of family while they enjoyed the titles of King of the Cowboys and
Queen of the West. The cards and letters sent by youngsters are displayed with the same
pride as box office awards.
"Dad has always said that he feels fortunate to have lived during some of the most
exciting periods of American history," Dusty remarks. "He has seen horse and
buggies and men stepping on the moon."
As he points to a scale model representing the future of the museum and surrounding
seventy-six acres, Dusty explains, "Rogersdale, USA will represent America from the
1860s to the 1960s. Our working concept is "Reliving the Spirit of Yesterday'. We are
going to create a complete retail, entertainment and cultural experience of the
visitor."
Scheduled to open in the summer of 1996, the 200,000 square foot complex will be
constructed as three "streets" portraying different periods. The first will be a
western street followed by a fiesta street, and concluding with a fifties street.
The buildings are modeled after those used in motion pictures and in some cases will be
exact replicas of structures seen on the silver screen. "We think that it will mean
more to people if the surroundings seem somehow familiar. They may even remember the
films."
There will be no vehicle traffic within the complex. Visitors are allowed to walk the
streets and witness a gunfight, sample the Spanish flavors of early California, or
appreciate the stylings of classic automobiles.
Conceived as a living museum, costumed employees will interact with visitors. The town
marshal may explain the difficult task of bringing peace to the Wild West. A
turn-of-the-century school teacher will describe education in a one-room schoolhouse.
"There will be no gate charge," Dusty proudly points out. "It will be
completely open to the public. We don't care if you spend a dime."
There will be plenty of opportunity to spend, however. Retail spaces will include
restaurants, shops, theaters, and galleries. Fiesta Street will feature a Mexican
restaurant. Western wear and Native American arts and crafts will be available. A
six-screen movie theater will present classic western films as well as first run features.
Live performances will be produced in an expansive Opry Hall and a smaller 300 seat
amphitheater. Route 66 will be represented in its own 8,000 square foot pavilion, one of
several buildings addressing significant subjects. "People identify with different
periods and different things," Dusty observes. "We think we will have something
here for everyone."
A hotel and 130 space RV park will accommodate visitors. Family activities may include
a hike along a "mountain trail" complete with reproductions of ancient Indian
petroglyphs, or roller blading in the "family entertain-ment park."
"Some folks may just want to stop and have a picnic. Others will want to see
everything and could stay several days," Dusty suggests. "We simply want to
offer them as many options as we can."
The enterprise is expected to employ as many as 300 people who are described as
"an extension of our family." A day-care center for employees on site was Dale's
idea. "Mom believes that families should stay together as much as possible. This was
an important addition to the plans."
"The museum itself is operated non-profit and will remain so," Dusty
explains. "We will invite loca1 schools and other groups like Junior Achievement to
occupy any of the many kiosks on the grounds. They can develop their own products, present
and sell them, and keep the profits."
"We have been talking about this for some seventeen years." Dusty pauses for
a moment as if in reflection and then with a broad smile says, "We are just excited
that it is finally going to happen."
From Interstate 15, exit at Roy Rogers Drive or Palmdale Road. The museum is located at
15650 Seneca Road, Victorville CA. Museum hours are 9am to 5pm daily. It is recommended
that you arrive at least two hours before closing. For additiona1 information phone (760)
243-4547.
A Conversation With the King of the Cowboys
When the young Leonard Slye first traveled Route 66, his goal was to see an older
sister in California and find a good job. It was 1930. Within a decade, he would become
Roy Rogers, one of Hollywood's great western film stars. Now at age eighty-three, Rogers
recalls the road that led him to fame.
"I was born in Cincinnati, but was raised on a farm in a little place called Duck
Run. I went to school there and got two years of high school before I had to go to work.
The depression was coming on and it was hard for anyone to get a job with my dad at the
shoe factory in Cincinnati.
"I got up one morning and dad said, 'Let's quit our job today and go out to see
Mary in Califoria. 'We were a close family and really missed my older sister. We talked
about her all the time. Well, I was just thrilled to death. I told him I had about ninety
dollars and thought that was enough for gas. We started packing and were rolling out in
about three days.
The road west, not yet fully paved, was slow and arduous. It left lasting impressions
on an Ohio farm boy, which, when recalled in later years, are accompanied with laughter.
"Oh, it was a pistol. We were in an old 1923 Dodge. We had several flat tires. It
took us two weeks to come out here. Of course, ninety bucks bought a lot of gas back them.
"I think we picked up Route 66 somewhere around St. Louis. I remember that we
burned out the bearings in New Mexico. In those days, they didn't have places where you
could buy bearings and things like that. We had to go out to a junkyard and find another
Dodge like ours and take out the bearings. That cost us a couple of days."
Like many other new arrivals to California, the work the Slye family found was in the
agriculture fields of the central valley. "We were from a poor family. Not hungry,
but poor.
"For the whole summer of 1931, we picked peaches near Bakersfield in the San
Joaquin Yalley. When we came back (to Los Angeles), there weren't any jobs. This was
during the depression and there just wasn't any work. That's how I got into show business,
really.
"There was a program on a radio station in Inglewood they called the Midnight
Frolic. It was an amateur show and anyone could go on. It was on the air from midnight to
six in the morning. My sister said I should go on the show. She took me up there. And when
they called my name, I just froze. Mary touched me on the shoulder and said 'Now you get
up there and sing.' I sang a couple of songs. I don't to this day remember what songs I
sang. I was so scared.
"About three days later this guy called. They had taken my name and address at the
station, and this guy calls to ask if I wanted to join a group he had called the Rocky
Mountaineers. It was better than picking peaches. I didn't get anymore money, really. But,
it was easier work and I enjoyed it.
"I was the only singer in the Rocky Mountaineers. Bob Nolan joined me and later
Tim Spencer. We became the Pioneer Trio. When we got to KFWB radio, they picked the three
of us off the Texas Outlaw progrum andput us on staff."
The Pioneer Trio soon changed their name to the Sons of the Pioneers. Len Slye found
time to play bit roles and extra parts in Republic Pictures western films. It was not long
before his name would also change. As Roy Rogers, he rode into the hearts of American
movie goers astride a golden palomino named Trigger. "At first, I trained Trigger and
then I met this trainer from Nebraska, Glenn Randall. Glenn was with me for twenty years.
Because I'd be on the road with my guitar, I didn't have time to work with my horse. Glen
came with me and we just worked together on it. I could get Trigger to do just about
anything."
The following years earned him stars on Hollywood's walk of fame for radio, motion
pictures, television, and recording. Rogers' first wife Arlene died after Roy Junior was
born. Later, Rogers married his costar Dale Evans. Together they raised a large family and
eventually settled in the California desert north of San Bernardino.
"We've been here about twenty-nine years. We know a lot of people and have friends
in the church. The museum is right here in Victorville and our home is by the golf course
in a little town called Apple Valley. It's a real contrast from Hollywood. Of course, I
was raised on a farm, so this suits me better anyway. I never was much of a talker. I'm
better off in the sticks than in the city.
"After so many years in show business, I thought it was a good idea to have a
museum for the people. It's stuff that I've saved all my life. I came up during the
depression when we never had anything. Every time I got something, I'd just hang on to it.
When we first opened the museum, I had two tractor trailer loads of things.
"I just couldn't think of burying old Trigger. Too many people loved him. We took
Trigger, Dale's horse Buttermilk and Trigger Junior and had them beautifully mounted.
Trigger is up on his hind legs and he looks just like he did the day before he died.
"I've been interviewed by just about every newspaper or fan magazine down through
the years. I just tell it the way it is or how it's been. I had an ordinary family life,
really."
This article appeared in the Spring 1995 edition of Route 66 Magazine.
