Subdeacon Joe Posted July 2 Posted July 2 July 17, 1944. Dale Evans stands barefoot on a dusty Los Angeles soundstage, taps the heel of her Gibson guitar twice for invisible count-off, and belts the first verse of a song she wrote on butcher paper while frying eggs for her son the night before. Nobody knows the tune yet—“Happy Trails” is still a scribble—but Republic Pictures suits lean in like prospectors hearing gold under shale. Three decades earlier she was Frances Octavia Smith, a shy red-haired farm kid who eloped at fourteen so she could escape cotton rows and taste city air; the marriage lasted less than a harvest, but the freedom stuck like prairie burrs. She waited tables in Memphis through the Great Flood of ’27, sneaking onto WMC radio after closing shifts to sing jazz standards under a fake name because minors weren’t allowed on the late-night frequency. A program director finally asked her real handle; she invented “Dale Evans” on the spot—“Dale” after a favorite cowboy serial, “Evans” because the script needed symmetry. The new persona unlocked doors. She became Chicago’s “Queen of the Air,” cashing twenty-five-cent requests while studying arrangement theory by transcribing Benny Goodman solos at half speed. Hollywood followed, and so did heartbreak: studio press agents wanted a glamor doll, so she performed vocal warm-ups inside a mop closet to avoid gossip scribes who mocked her Oklahoma vowels. Yet she weaponized those vowels, turning rustic honesty into a brand. When wartime producers begged for a duet partner to tame Roy Rogers’ rambunctious fan base, she brought her guitar, one coffee-stained lyric sheet, and the nerve to insist on equal billing. Roy nodded once and never looked back. November 29, 1952. A stiff breeze lifts the canvas walls of a makeshift tent hospital in Seoul, and Dale—clad in USO khakis stitched with a hidden pocket—slips harmonicas and peppermint sticks to wounded infantrymen who think she’s there only to croon. Between sets she scribbles prayer notes for mothers back home, then mails them from a Taiwan layover because Pentagon censors can’t track foreign postmarks. Returning stateside, she discovers her newborn daughter Robin has Down syndrome. Studio publicists urge silence; instead Dale writes the bestseller “Angel Unaware,” funneling royalties into scholarships for special-needs kids long before the term existed. She and Roy adopt four more children—two mixed-race, two war orphans—defying sponsors who warn it could “confuse Middle America.” She shrugs, records a Christmas special emphasizing family is chosen, and ratings jump twelve points. In 1969 she testifies before Congress, slipping a harmonica to a bored page boy and telling senators that inclusive playgrounds cost less than wheelchairs. During breaks on the “Roy Rogers Show” she sketches prosthetic-saddle designs so kids with cerebral palsy can ride horses; ten prototypes later, a San Bernardino ranch teaches therapeutic riding nationwide. At seventy she earns her pilot’s license, flying rescue dogs from hurricane zones because “trail bosses don’t retire, they reroute.” She dies at eighty-eight with boots by the bed and a half-finished lyric about Martian cowgirls grazing red-dust skies—a reminder that imagination’s horizon always shifts. The Friday after her funeral, children at a Phoenix rehab center strum borrowed guitars and shout her unfinished chorus. The staff hears something familiar: two heel taps, and a melody that still promises happy trails. #cowgirl #happytrails #trailblazer #usousa #texas dale evans hidden stories queen of the air roots angel unaware legacy roy rogers duet origins cowgirl innovation tales 4 10 Quote
Subdeacon Joe Posted July 2 Author Posted July 2 4 hours ago, Pat Riot said: Definitely a Sweetheart and a Great Lady. As the saying goes, "Praise Dale!" 4 Quote
watab kid Posted July 3 Posted July 3 she was a looker too , my memories of her are all with roy but she exuded american wholesomeness - i did not realize she was french 2 Quote
Sedalia Dave Posted July 3 Posted July 3 (edited) The world could use a bunch more like Dale and Roy. They lead by example by investing their own time and money rather than demanding that others do so. Edited July 3 by Sedalia Dave 2 Quote
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted July 3 Posted July 3 My wife and I met Dale and Roy when we first moved to California. We bought a house in Ontario while I was still in the Corps and we drove up to Utah to visit our folks. On the back we stopped in Victorville and went to the museum and met Dale at the front door. She was the nicest person you could ever imagine. Someone asked if her husband was around and she said "Yes. He's out back somewhere playing Roy Rogers." 3 1 Quote
Alpo Posted July 3 Posted July 3 9 hours ago, watab kid said: i did not realize she was french Where do you get that from? Her name was Frances, but that's the only thing of "France" about her. She was born in Texas. French? 1 2 Quote
Rye Miles #13621 Posted July 3 Posted July 3 She was married at 14 and had a child at 15, her husband left her, the rest of the story below: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Evans 2 Quote
watab kid Posted July 5 Posted July 5 On 7/3/2025 at 7:38 AM, Alpo said: Where do you get that from? Her name was Frances, but that's the only thing of "France" about her. She was born in Texas. French? i was joking sir , but i guess i missed my mark , Quote
Alpo Posted July 5 Posted July 5 9 minutes ago, watab kid said: i was joking sir , but i guess i missed my mark , Either you missed it or I missed it. Quote
watab kid Posted July 5 Posted July 5 47 minutes ago, Alpo said: Either you missed it or I missed it. well if you missed it i used the wrong inflection of my voice - i knew she was a texan , she does not even look remotely french , so it was me not you , Quote
Alpo Posted July 5 Posted July 5 I'm about half deaf. That might be why I missed the inflection in your voice. Quote
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