"Welcome to The Roy Rogers - Dale Evans Museum. We've had a lifetime of Happy Trails full of love, laughter, and sometimes sorrow. Everything we've ever done is right here for everyone to see. For nearly as long as I can remember, I thought about having a museum. I've always liked to save things. No matter what came my way, whether it was a letter from a boy or girl movie fan or from a President, or a nice shotgun or an old-time telephone, I stuck it in the basement, or the garage, or in drawers at home. Dale would say, "Honey, when are you going to empty those drawers?" I'd put everything in a box and call the van & storage company to come pick it up and keep it for me."

In 2003, we moved from our museum in Victorville CA., to our new location in Branson, MO. Our place isn't really a typical museum - it's personal - things that Roy & Dale have done, and the kids and the family and Trigger. All the stuff Roy had saved - tools his dad had when he was little, some of his mom's scrapbooks, pictures from the early days of the Sons of the Pioneers, all sorts of things that meant something to Roy and Dale. You know, Trigger is one of our most popular exhibits. He is mounted like so many people remember him - rearing up on his hind legs.

As you walk past all the glass cases and displays in the Museum you will see the old battered car that took my family out of Ohio to the promised land of California. There's Pat Brady's Jeep Nellybelle, and pictures of Gabby Hayes when he was a serious young actor. There's Dale wearing fancy hats for her first photo session, and Roy in overalls standing next to his first horse, Babe. You'll become a part of Roy and Dale's memories of the good times and the bad times and the hard times.

"Dale and I like to think that it will be a place for people to come have fun and learn about our lives, and also to remember what America was like so many years ago. We're happy to share a glimpse of our lives together with you, and we invite you to come on in, take a look, and spend some time."

"The Sons of the Pioneers were becoming such a hot commodity that a new outfit named Decca Records wanted us to go with them and do some recording on the West Coast. We signed a deal that guaranteed us a penny for every record we sold, and went for our first studio session in August 1934. We recorded "Way Out There," "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," "Moonlight on the Prairie," and "Ridin' Home." Pretty soon, Liberty Pictures cast us in a cowboy movie called "The Old Homestead.

"Early directors feasted on the West because it offered everything audiences wanted: fast action, wondrous scenery, moral lessons, bad guys to hiss, fair ladies in distress, and manly men to admire. It is impossible to imagine what American movies would have been if there hadn't been a lore of the Wild West to inspire them."

"Soon after The Roy Rogers Show went on the air, Roy's likeness began appearing on Post cereal boxes, advertising such prizes as cardboard reproductions of the Double-R Bar and lapel pins with portraits of Trigger and Buttermilk. Roy's endorsements began the year after he was crowned King of the Cowboys in 1943. He lent his name to every kind of child's toy imaginable, including cap guns and quick draw holsters, child-size guitars, rings, badges, lassos, and musical hobby horses."*

*Edited excerpts from "Happy Trails, Our Life Story"

Right out front is the larger-than-life Trigger, a reminder of the famous couple who have devoted their lives to making young and old happy by keeping the spirit of the American West alive. Housed inside the exhibit walls are memories and treasures of two life times and all they love - a permanent reminder of a simple and innocent time when many Americans dreamed of living the King of the Cowboys' exciting adventures.

You'll find family photos dating back to Roy and Dale's childhood, colorful costumes, parade saddles, memorabilia from the silver screen and television, artifacts from Roy's real-life safari adventures, fan mail, comic strips, Roy and Dale's Remington collection, tributes to his friends and sidekicks, and much, much more!