Roy Rogers Was Born 115 Years Ago—And His Family Story Was Far More Heartbreaking Than Fans Knew

At the movies and later on television, Roy Rogers rode in on Trigger and set things right, and then he and Dale Evans sang us out with “Happy Trails.” The King of the Cowboys was born Leonard Franklin Slye in Cincinnati 115 years ago this week, on November 5, 1911, and for millions of children he was the steadiest man in America.

What those children did not know was how much grief was waiting at home. Roy and Dale raised a big, blended family of birth, adopted, and foster children, and in 13 years they buried three of them. How they carried that, and why Roy could never bring himself to bury his horse, tells you more about the man than any of his pictures.

How Did Roy Rogers Meet Dale Evans?

Roy had already known heartbreak before Dale came along. His first wife, Arline, died on November 3, 1946, of complications just days after giving birth to their son, Roy Jr., known to everyone as Dusty. Roy was left with a newborn and two little girls.

Dale Evans had been his leading lady in a string of Republic Westerns, and on New Year’s Eve 1947 they were married at the Flying L Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma, according to the Roy Rogers biography on Wikipedia and the Associated Press. Dale became mother to Roy’s children at once, and the family kept growing, through birth and through adoption. “They had always loved children,” their daughter Dodie told the Choctaw Nation’s newspaper, Biskinik. Dodie, who is Choctaw, was adopted at seven months old.

The first child Roy and Dale had together would change both of their lives.

What Happened To Roy Rogers’ Daughter Robin?

Robin Elizabeth Rogers was born on August 26, 1950, with Down syndrome. In that era, parents were often advised to place such children in institutions. Roy and Dale took her home. She was frail, and she died on August 24, 1952, two days before her second birthday, after complications from mumps, the AP reported.

Dale poured her grief into a small book written in Robin’s voice, Angel Unaware, published in 1953, and gave the royalties to charity. For a couple whose fans thought of them as cowboy heroes, it was a remarkably public act of honesty. It would not be the last time they needed that kind of courage.

What Happened To Debbie And Sandy Rogers?

After Robin’s death, the Rogerses adopted more children. Among them was Deborah Lee, born In Ai Lee in Korea on August 14, 1952, and a boy named John David, nicknamed Sandy. On August 17, 1964, Debbie was riding a church bus when it crashed on Highway 101 near San Clemente, striking seven vehicles. Eight people were killed, and Debbie, 12, was one of them, according to the 1964 AP report reprinted on Find a Grave.

The next year brought another knock on the door. Sandy had joined the Army, and in November 1965, while stationed in Germany, he died at 18 after choking, the AP reported. Dale wrote about each of them, in Dearest Debbie and Salute to Sandy. Roy, never one for speeches, put his faith in a single sentence. “In the Bible, it doesn’t say you’re going to get by without having troubles,” he once said, in remarks the AP quoted in his obituary.

Their surviving children have shared what home was really like with their famous parents, as we wrote in Roy Rogers’ children reveal what America’s favorite cowboy was like.

Why Didn’t Roy Rogers Bury Trigger?

1965 took one more member of the family. Trigger, the golden palomino who had carried Roy through all those pictures, died on July 3, a day short of his 31st birthday. Roy had him mounted, and Trigger stood in the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum for decades, first in Apple Valley, then Victorville, and finally Branson, Missouri.

Some fans found that strange. Roy never did. “So many people loved him through the years, that I just didn’t have the heart to put him in the ground,” he said, as the AP recalled. Dusty put it more bluntly to Salon in 2010. “Dad just couldn’t put him in the ground and let the worms eat him. He was one of the family.”

Roy Rogers died in his sleep at home in Apple Valley on July 6, 1998, at 86, with his family around him. “What a blessing to have shared my life together with him for almost 51 years,” Dale said, calling him “a wonderful human being.” She joined him in 2001. After the museum closed, Trigger was sold at Christie’s in New York for $266,500 to RFD-TV, according to Horse Illustrated.

Dusty, who grew up in the house with Trigger and lost three of his siblings before he turned 20, told Salon what was hardest about watching it all go. “I can walk by Dad’s clothes and still smell him,” he said, “and that’s the hardest part of letting go.”