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Roy and Dale
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Happy Trails
to You |
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Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It’s
the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here’s a happy one for you.
Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin’ until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we’re together?
Just
sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you ’till we meet again.
Happy trails to you until
we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin’ until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we’re together?
Just
sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you ’till we meet again.
Written and Recorded by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans |
Beginning in the late Forties, there were no greater influences on youngsters, boys and girls alike, than was the Cowboys
of the time. They were our hero's, chasing the bad guys, standing up for law and order, riding magnificent horses, often singing
as they crossed the painted deserts in pursuit of right and justice. Some of the Cowboys of those days actually changed the
course of a young persons life, giving them direction and purpose. There were many cowboys back then that we loved, however,
there were three that stood head and shoulders above the rest in our adulation. Here is a short tribute to those three Cowboys
that we loved best.
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Roy Rogers
"The King of the Cowboys"
Born November 5, 1911
Died July 6, 1998
Appeared in 11 films from 1935-1938
Starred in 88 films from 1938-1975
Starred with wife, Dale Evans on T.V. weekly show from 1950-1956
Horse was Trigger
"Happy Trails To You."
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| Roy Rogers and Trigger |
There were many more famous Cowboy's and shows to come. Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Bananza, Have
Gun Will Travel, The Lone Ranger and Death Valley Days were all extremely popular and watched by millions. Sargent
Preston of the Yukon was another off shoot from the famous Cowboy shows as well, but it is generally acknowledged that
our three most favored Cowboys were the best to ever ride off into the sunset.
| The Rifleman 1958 |
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Gene Autry
"America's Favorite Singing Cowboy"
Born September 29, 1907
Died October 2, 1998
Appeared in 93 films
Appered in 91 Episodes of The Gene Autry Show 1950-1955
Starred in 39 Episodes of Death Valley Days
Horse was Champion
Even as "The King of Cowboys" Roy Rogers and "America's Favorite Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry were giants of the movie,
recording and T.V. in the forties and fifties, there was another cowboy that took America by storm. He was, by many accounts,
the most popular cowboy ever, of any era. He was the man in black who wrote the white stallion, Topper....he was Hopalong
Cassidy, simply known as "Hoppy."
Hopalong Cassidy
"Hoppy"
Born June 5, 1985
Died September 12, 1972
Starred in 66 films from 1935-1948
Recorded 95 Radio Shows from 1948-1951
Starred in 52 T.V. Episodes of "Hopalong Cassidy" 1949-1951
Horse was Topper
| Wanted: Dead or Alive 1958 |
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| Paladin, Have Gun Will Travel |
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| Gunsmoke 1955 |
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| Maverick 1959 |
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| Zorro ( cowboy?) 1957 |
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| Test Pattern |
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| Rawhide 1959 |
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| Lone Ranger & Tonto 1950 |
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| 1953 Admiral Color Television |
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In 1948, television was still in infantsy. Every show appearing on T.V. at that time was "live." There were no
video tape pre-recordings or delayed programming, so what you saw, when you could see it at all, was happening live.
There was only one channel.
If you sat down to watch T.V. in 1948, it had to be after 4 o'clock, because that's when T.V. programming started
for the day. If you turned on the T.V. before that, you would see a black and white "test pattern" screen. ( See
the photo of an early test pattern below.)
At 4 o'clock, programming would begin with the Howdy Doody Show and continue until the late news came on, usually
at 11 P.M. that evening, then programming would end with the playing of the Star Spangled Banner.
In later years, as more and more programming was added, T.V. could be seen from morning till night. Morning programming
included The Romper Room and Captain Kangeroo. Most day time programming was repeats of the evening
before, and many shows were shown several times through out the day. Programming still ended early, usually by midnight.
(Of course today, television can be seen 24 hours hours a day, 7 days a week on hundreds of channels.)
It was because of this lack of program availability that inspired one very resourceful Cowboy, "Hoppy", to convince
programming officials to play his movies in front of a T.V. camera, thus making Hopalong Cassidy the first show that was not
aired live during those earliest years of television. America finally had something other than Howdy Doody to watch
in the afternoon and soon Hopalong Cassidy became the biggest attraction on T.V.
Hoppy once went to a hospital where a young boy labored in coma. When Hoppy spoke to him and took his hand, the
boy opened his eyes. The story was in all the major newspapaers across the country, so at one of his first
public appearences in California, more than 100,000 people showed up to catch a glimpse of him, begging for him
to reach out and touch their children. Some reports had Mothers literally throwing their children towards him.
To this day, Hoppy is credited with positve influences that gave children of the day a role model for that which was good
and just. Perhaps that is why he is considered the most popular Cowboy of all time. His love and message to his
fan's were always positive and from his heart.
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