by Tom Blair
Columnist

I usually look closely at various forwarded e-mails from people, especially if they have a bunch of statistics, unknown facts and questionable statements. It’s easy to go to Snopes or fact vs. fiction sites to check things out.

I did take a good look when I got an e-mail about the Roy Rogers museum being closed and everything auctioned off. The Roy Rogers.com site is still up, but the Roy Rogers Museum in Branson has closed its doors forever, and the contents of the museum were sold at a public auction.

Roy Rogers had told his son that if the museum ever operated at a loss, he should close it and sell the contents. He complied. Below is a partial listing of some of the items that were sold at auction.

Roy’s 1964 Bonneville convertible sold for $254,500.

A collection of signed baseball bats (Yogi Berra, Enos Slaughter, Bob Feller, and others) sold for $2,750. A signed photograph by Don Larsen taken during his perfect game in the World Series against The Dodgers on Oct. 8, 1953, along with a signed baseball to Roy from Don, sold for $2,500. Two fabulous limited edition BB guns in their original boxes with numerous photos of Roy, Dale, Gabby, and Pat sold for $3,750.

One set of spurs sold for $10,625 (Roy never used spurs on Trigger) and a life-size shooting gallery sold for $27,500.

The Bible they used at the dinner table every night sold for $8,750, and one of his several guitars sold for $27,500.

Nellybelle (that cool Jeep) sold for $116,500; a fabulous painting of Roy, Dale, Pat, Buttermilk, Trigger, and Bullet sold for $10,625.

A black and white photograph of Gene Autry with a touching inscription “From Gene to Roy” sold for $17,500.

A Republic Productions poster bearing many autographs of the people that played in Roy’s movies sold for $11,875.

Dale’s horse, Buttermilk (whose history is very interesting) sold below the presale estimate ($30-40K) for $25,000. 

Bullet (their stuffed dog, with a presale estimate of $10-15K) sold for $35,000. He was their real pet.

One of many pairs of Roy’s boots sold for $21,250; Trigger sold for $266,500; his saddle and bridle sold for $386,500. Roy and Trigger made 188 movies together

Unlike so many of today’s alleged heroes, Dale & Roy taught us patriotism and honor; we learned that lying and cheating were bad, and sex wasn’t as important as love.

Tom “Road” Blair
Website: www.tomroadblair.com