Trigger was a 15.3 hands palomino horse made famous in American Western films
with his owner and rider, cowboy star Roy Rogers.
Pedigree Trigger was born in San Diego,
California. Though often mistaken for a Tennessee Walking Horse, his sire was a
Thoroughbred and his dam a grade mare who, like Trigger, was a palomino. Movie
director William Witney, who directed Roy and Trigger in many of their movies,
claimed a slightly different lineage, that his sire was a "registered"
Palomino stallion, though no known Palomino registry existed at the time of
Trigger's birth, and his dam was by a Thoroughbred and out of a "cold-blood"
mare. Horses other than Golden Cloud also portrayed "Trigger" over the years,
none of which was related to Golden Cloud, the two most prominent of which
were palominos known as "Little Trigger" and "Trigger Jr.". Though Trigger
remained a stallion his entire life, he was never bred and has no descendants.
On the other hand, Roy Rogers used "Trigger Jr."/"Allen's Golden Zephyr" at
stud for many years, and the horse named "Triggerson" that actor Val Kilmer led
on stage as a tribute to Rogers and his cowboy peers during the Academy Awards
show in March 1999 was reportedly a grandson of "Trigger Jr."
Film career Golden Cloud made an early appearance as
the mount of Maid Marian, played by Olivia de Havilland in The Adventures of
Robin Hood. A short while later, when Roy Rogers was preparing to make his
first movie in a starring role, he was offered a choice of five rented "movie"
horses to ride and chose Golden Cloud. Rogers bought him eventually in 1943 and
renamed him Trigger for his quickness of both foot and mind. Trigger learned 150
trick cues and could walk 50 feet on his hind legs. They were said to have run
out of places to cue Trigger. Trigger was ridden by Rogers in many of
his motion pictures, becoming much loved by the youthful audience that saw him on
film and in Rogers' 1950s television series with his wife Dale Evans, who
rode her trusty buckskin Quarter Horse Buttermilk.
Trigger became the most famous horse in film entertainment, even having his own
Dell comic book recounting his exploits. Roy Rogers made many personal
appearances with Trigger in tow. More than once Rogers escorted Trigger up 3-4
flights of stairs at hospitals to visit with sick children, according to his
autobiography "Happy Trails." Death and legacy
After the original Trigger died in 1965 at Rogers Hidden Hills, California
ranch, Rogers arranged for Everett Wilkensen of Bischoff's Taxidermy in Los
Angeles, CA to preserve/mount the horse. The hide was professionally stretched
over a foam likeness of Trigger, and the resulting mount was put on display in
the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum when it opened in Apple Valley,
California in 1967. The mount was later moved with the museum to first
Victorville, California in 1976, and then to Branson, Missouri in 2003.
At some point, a 24-foot replica of a rearing Trigger was produced to sit atop
the Roy Rogers Museum in Victorville. The 1300-pound replica could be seen
from the freeway and served as a landmark until the museum closed and
moved to Branson. When the fiberglass replica of Trigger was being made,
Rogers was approached by the owners of the Denver Broncos. Rogers allowed
another statue to be made and then broke the mold. "Bucky the Bronco", Trigger's
twin, stands above the south scoreboard of the Denver Broncos stadium.
After the closing of the Victorville museum in 2009, its contents were placed
at public auction on July 14–15, 2010, at Christie's auction house in New York
City. Trigger's preserved taxidermy remains sold for $266,500 to television
channel RFD-TV, which plans to start a Western museum. Bob Tinsley, a
Victorville developer who had built Roy Rogers' home in nearby Apple Valley,
bought the fiberglass replica in April 2010. Tinsley's plan is to make the
statue a part of historic Apple Valley Village. He explained, "I just couldn't
see letting him go anywhere else." Selected filmography
"The Adventures of Robin Hood" San Fernando Valley
Lake Placid Serenade Don't Fence Me In
Along the Navajo Trail "My Pal Trigger"
Melody Time The Golden Stallion
"Son of Paleface" See also
Buttermilk Wonder Horses
References Citations
Bibliography External links
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum Trigger at the Internet Movie Database
Trigger at Find a Grave Auction information at Christie's