The smell of horses and hay permeated the marble-floored galleries at Christie's in Manhattan Friday as potential bidders previewed items including the preserved remains of movie cowboy Roy Rogers' famous horse Trigger. The auction house is selling items from the now-closed Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Missouri, next Wednesday and Thursday. Unlike the fine furniture, paintings and jewelry that Christie's is famous for, the centerpiece of this auction is a stuffed and mounted horse rearing on its hind legs. It also will feature another type of horsepower – Rogers' 1964 Bonneville convertible adorned with collectible silver dollars, its door handles and gear shift replaced by silver-plated pistols. The car is estimated to draw $100,000 to $150,000. The golden palomino Trigger is expected to fetch $100,000 to $200,000. Other items for sale include: Rogers' and Evans' performance outfits; the preserved remains of Rogers' German Shepherd dog, Bullet; about 60 pairs of cowboy boots; the Rogers family dining table; and the Jeep “Nellybelle” from the Roy Rogers TV show. Rogers began his career in the 1930s in a cowboy music group, Sons of the Pioneers, and later became an idol to American children through his many western films as well as a popular TV show that ran in the 1950s. Rogers and his wife Evans both died in 1998. Michel Bettigole, 70, a prospective buyer who attended the preview, called Rogers one of his heroes and said he grew up watching him chase down bandits on the big screen. “But there was never any violence,” he said. “He always shot the gun out of the bad guy's hand. It was good morals.” Hundreds of items will be offered for sale, many of them with estimated prices in the low hundreds. Hand-drawn music for his TV show's theme song “Happy Trails” has a pre-sale estimate of $300 to $500. So does a grouping of two Rogers' guitars.
