Dale Evans aka Marilee

When I was seven I got a Dale Evans' outfit and a Roy Rogers' doll. I still have part of the Dale Evans' costume, but all else is lost. On Saturdays, my sister, my cousins and I would go to the Queen Theatre in St Stephen to the Matinee. Most often the main feature would be a cowboy movie; Durango Kid, The Lone Ranger, Gene Autry and my favourite Roy Rogers! I loved Roy and his beautiful Palomino horse, Trigger. Dale Evans was the only cowgirl we ever saw on the big screen. How I wanted to be her. To be married to Roy Rogers and riding beside him on my pinto pony named Buttermilk.
Roy was handsome, kind and fearless. And he sang. Sometimes he sang with his cowpokes " The Sons of the Pioneers" and sometimes he'd sing a duet with Dale. At the end of every movie to the tune of "Happy Trails" Trigger would rear up on his hind legs, Roy would wave his cowboy hat and ride off into the sunset....

I found this quote while I was searching for the name of Dale Evans' horse. I like to think I emulate the cowgirl spirit...

" 'Cowgirl' is an attitude really. A pioneer spirit, a special American brand of courage. The cowgirl faces life head-on, lives by her own lights, and makes no excuses. Cowgirls take stands; they speak up. They defend things they hold dear." Dale Evans