The "Are You Old Enough To Remember Cowboys & Indians On Saturday Morning TV? Story

It was an ordinary day.  A Saturday morning some time in the early 1950s.  8:00 a.m. and I'm watching Roy Rogers on "Covered Wagon Theatre" on Lancaster's Channel 8.  My parents' little black and white television was located at the bottom of the stairs that led to the second floor of our semi-detached house at 929 North Queen Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  We lived in the last house on N. Queen St., a half-block from the Lancaster Train Station...every boy's dream house.  During the school year, Saturday morning was the only day of the week that I could watch my favorite shows on TV being I was in elementary school at the time.  

Roy and Dale

Roy, with his horse "Trigger" was my favorite show which usually ran for an hour every Saturday morning throughout the year.  I loved watching Roy capture the bad guys while riding on his horse "Trigger" with his wife Dale Evans close behind him some days.  Roy was born Leonard Franklin Slye on November 5, 1911 and was one of the most popular Western stars of his era.  He was known as the "King of the Cowboys" and appeared not only on TV but on radio as well as in the movies where he appeared in over 100 films.  In many of his TV shows, he had his wife close by as he rode his Golden Palomino with his German Shepard dog "Bullet" closeby.  His show was broadcast on radio for nine years and then on television from 1951 through 1957.  Throughout his reign on TV he usually had a sidekick with him.  Guys with names like Pat Brady, Andy Devine, Gabby Hayes or Smiley Burnette rode by his side as he upheld the laws of the West.  Roy's name was actually Leonard Franklin Slye who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.  But, who ever heard of a western cowboy named Leonard?  So, we all knew him as Roy Rogers.  Roy "Len" went to school in McDermott, Ohio until his junior year of high school when his family moved to Cincinnati were his father worked at a shoe factory.  Wasn't long after that Len quit school and went to work with his father at the shoe factory.  In the early 1930s the family moved to California where Len found work with his father in construction.  At the age of 19 he played guitar, sang and yodeled on radio in Inglewood, California.  

Roy and his horse Trigger

Wasn't long after that he became a member of the Rocky Mountaineers.  In 1933, Len and his friends Nolan and Spencer formed the Pioneers Trio with Len on guitar, Nolan on string bass and Spencer as lead vocalist.  The following year Hugh Farr joined the group and they became known as the "Sons of the Pioneers."  They became famous on radio shows across the United States.  He first appeared in Western films in 1935 in a Gene Autry movie.  Three years later he took the stage name of Roy Rogers and appeared in the movie "Under Western Stars."  He became a matinee idol and a competitor with Autry as the nation's favorite singing cowboy.  He then appeared in a John Wayne movie which helped his career. In 1932 he bought a palomino foal and named him "Trigger". He eventually became the top western movie star from 1939 to 1954.  In 1944 he met a girl named Dale Evans when they were cast together in a film.  In 1949 they were part of the "Hollywood Christian Group" along with Billy Graham.  Roy and Dale's famous theme song, "Happy Trails" was written by Evans which they sang as a duet.  The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show began to air on ABC.  In 1968 Roy licensed his name to the Marriott Corp. which converted their restaurants into Roy Rogers Restaurants.   Roy died of congestive heart failure on July 6, 1998 in Apple Valley, California.   He was buried at Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Apple Valley, as was his wife Dale three years later.  I'll never forget those Saturday mornings at 929 N. Queen Street in Lancaster when I watched Roy on his horse and later with his wife Dale.  He was one of my favorite TV cowboys that will never be forgotten.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.