Trigger on the Auction Block

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Christie's of Manhattan is preparing to auction off a significant piece of my childhood. When Roy Rogers' famous Palomino, Trigger, died in 1965, the cowboy actor had him stuffed. Trigger subsequently spent more years entertaining tourists while dead than he ever did while alive. Roy and Dale had him on display at a gift shop at their ranch in California, and after the death of the cowboy couple, he was moved to the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Missouri. Now that the museum has closed, enter Christie's.

The world famous auction house estimates that they will be able to peddle the horse carcass for somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 when he goes on the block nest week. From there it will probably only be a matter of weeks until he is hauled out into America and becomes another roadside attraction. My guess is that Trigger will probably wind up in Arizona where a dead horse would undoubtedly qualify as high art.

Roy preceded Dale in death. If Trigger brings in $200,000, the estate could have probably pulled in a cool million for Roy. What was Dale thinking?

But more importantly, where is Gabby Hayes? Inquiring minds want to know!