Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Trigger Medres
During my lengthy broadcasting career, there were many opportunities to meet famous people, from singers to actors to politicians. At the top of that list would be Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.
Those of us who grew up in the 50s remember watching Saturday morning westerns that featured Mr. Rogers and Mr. Autry. Both WDEF TV and WRGP TV in Chattanooga carried the telecasts.
Roy Rogers starred with his wife, Dale Evans, and we can’t forget Pat Brady with his famous jeep, Nellybelle. The Sons of the Pioneers would join in with a closing western song, maybe “Cool Water” or “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.”
Mr. Autry starred with his sidekick, Pat Buttram, who brought a lot of laughs to the program in a setting known as “Melody Ranch.” Mr. Buttram later starred in the popular TV show, “Green Acres.”
There was Mr. Rogers' horse, Trigger, his German shepherd, Bullet, and Mr. Autry’s beautiful horse, Champion.
This writer was honored to meet both of these childhood television cowboy stars.
I was doing the afternoon show on WDOD in 1966, and as the program was ending, General Manager Bill Nash came in the control room, told me to get my small cassette recorder and a three by five card and go with him. In a few minutes we were to meet Roy Rogers, “The king of the cowboys.”
Although I can’t remember the exact date, “Hello Chattanooga” by David Carroll documents Mr. Rogers was in Chattanooga, Sept. 9, 1966, at the Moccasin Bend Gun Club for a skeet tournament.
On the way to the club, Mr. Nash told me to write down a short station ID on the card and he said I’d have just a brief time for Roy Rogers to read and record it. Right before Mr. Rogers did his practice round to shoot the skeet, we went into a side room and made the tape that lasted less than a minute.
The famous cowboy did the liner in one take. He asked me a couple of questions about Chattanooga and said thank you. We went outside to watch the “king of the cowboys” shoot. During his practice, Mr. Rogers didn’t miss a single skeet.
That was certainly an unforgettable evening, although I was too young to realize what an impact Mr. Rogers’s life was making on our society.
In the spring of 1972, this writer received orders for Vietnam and was sent to the Oakland, California transfer station. While waiting for final orders, a group of us went to see the Oakland A’s. We got off the bus, were ushered into a large room and were greeted by Gene Autry in his full cowboy outfit, hat and all. The singer and western TV star took the time to visit with each of us, asking where we were from.
I told him Chattanooga, and his immediate response was “Chattanooga Choo Choo, one of my favorite songs.” Mr. Autry was so down to earth; I don’t think any of us realized who we were talking to. The conversations lasted less than an hour, and as Mr. Autry left the room, he thanked us for our service and told us to enjoy the baseball game. (A few hours later I learned President Nixon had changed my new duty assignment from Vietnam to Frankfurt, W. Germany.)
I called my father and told him about meeting Mr. Autry. He shared his experience of seeing Mr. Autry and Mr. Buttram in the early 1950s at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium. My father said there was an overflow crowd. Dad said he thought the Gene Autry party spent the night at the downtown Read House, as fans had flocked to the hotel to get pictures and autographs.
Roy Rogers died July 6, 1998, and Gene Autry passed away a few months later, Oct. 2, 1998, but we’ll never forget Gene Autry singing “That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine” and Roy Rogers' famous sign off, “Happy Trails to You.”
These memories were made over 50 years ago, and, to my knowledge, there were no pictures made at either event. I did preserve the station identification recorded on my small cassette recorder, which was a Christmas present from my dad. Click here to listen.
Gene Autry