GRAB YOUR PARTNER FOR WILD WEST VISIT.

Byline: Priscilla Nordyke Roden Staff Writer

A steady stream of traffic speeds along Interstate 15 through Victorville, a stone's throw from a High Desert icon that represents a different kind of life - one juxtaposed with Hollywood glamour and Christian family values.

Inside the fortlike Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Museum, for all the world to see, is the wholesome life story of one of America's most revered couples and the family they raised.

``This was his love, and it belongs to the people who made him what he was,'' says grandson Dustin Rogers, 24, who helps manage the family museum and Happy Trails Gift Shop.

Since 1967, the museum has played host to people from throughout the world. It took up residence in Victorville in 1977, nine years after its debut in nearby Apple Valley.

Many of the approximately 80,000 visitors a year are people who grew up watching Rogers - and later Evans - gallop across movie and television screens.

It is those die-hard fans who spurred the museum to success. But how long can it last after the people familiar with the Rogers legacy ride into the sunset?

``Unfortunately, Roy and Dale are a dying era. They haven't been on the screen for 40 years,'' Dustin Rogers says.

Known as the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers arrived in Hollywood in 1930 and began a career as a radio singer. Republic Studios signed him to a contract in 1937 and put him in his first film, ``Under Western Stars.''

Over the next 40 years, he starred in 87 films and a television series, often with his wife, actress Dale Evans of Apple Valley.

Together they raised nine children, including five adopted daughters and sons, had 33 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Much of the family history is chronicled in museum displays. For anyone over 40 who remembers watching Roy Rogers at a Saturday matinee or on his television show, a visit to the museum is like a trip back to the Old West.

Although the museum has been updated to include a memorial to Roy, it stands frozen in time.

``This is our family,'' says Roy Rogers Jr., who has become the family patriarch since the death of his father from congestive heart failure two years ago.

Early in his career, Roy Rogers, who was born Leonard Slye, made it his mission to preserve family history.

Today, at the museum, people will see a vast collection of family memorabilia, antiques and collector's items he saved over the years.

Among the items on view are Roy Rogers lunch pails, wrist watches, toy guns, stagecoaches, movie posters, trains and cameras.

Inside the glass cases and displayed in dioramas are the film star's guns, saddles, boots, sequined shirts and trousers, silver belt buckles, and even Trigger, his faithful steed for three decades. Standing alongside Trigger is Roy's dog Bullet, and Buttermilk, the palomino that belonged to his wife.

There is the Dodge flatbed truck Rogers drove from Ohio to California in 1930, the Nellybelle jeep from his television series; Roy's mother's doll collection; a collection of autographed baseballs; and family letters and photographs.

While Rogers was alive, he often greeted visitors in the lobby. Today, lucky fans might shake hands with Rogers Jr. - known as ``Rusty'' - who heads the family business and entertains throughout the country with his own western band.

Recently, posing for cameras outside the museum beneath a statue of Trigger, Rogers Jr. was the image of his dad.

``He looks just like him,'' says Adrienne Zimmerman of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who met the film star years ago when he visited a horse ranch where her husband was a trainer.

Another fan, Ron S. Smith of Newell, Ala., was only sorry he didn't get to visit the museum when Roy was alive. ``I remember when I was a boy, I could see a Roy Rogers movie for a dime and get popcorn for 15 cents. I've been a fan for a long, long time.''

Because at the height of their careers so many of Rogers' and Evans' fans were children, the couples' popularity spanned decades.

But as the years go by, fewer people will remember the significance of the museum, Rogers Jr. says.

``To tell the truth, I don't know how long we can push Roy and Dale (as an attraction). Kids are more sophisticated now. They want entertainment to be interactive.''

Over the past six or seven years, efforts to develop a larger entertainment and retail venue dubbed ``RogersDdale'' has failed to garner financial support, first in Victorville and later in Temecula.

``As for the family, we have really tried to get it going,'' Rogers Jr. says.

Whether or not the project ever materializes, the family will work to keep the museum open to the public.

``Dad was realistic, and he said there will be a time when we might have to think about doing something else,'' Rogers Jr. says. ``He said the time might come when we need to auction off the stuff and get on with our lives.''

But Evans is matriarch - she reminds us of that - and rules the roost, he says. ``Still, she wants to know that whatever decision is made is made by the family.''

For now, and hopefully for years to come, the museum will remain a tribute to a family's enduring love.

Rogers Jr. is sure it will.

``All we have is our family's history, and that's not for sale.''

The facts

--What: Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Museum.

--Where: 15650 Seneca Road, Victorville. Exit I-15 at Roy Rogers Drive.

--When: Open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

--How much: $7, adults; $6, seniors; $6, children ages 13-16, $5 children ages 6-12; free for children under 6. Call [phone].

--What else: Gifts are available through the Roy Rogers Official catalog. Call [phone], or write Roy Rogers Collectible Catalog, 19458 S. La Grange Road, Mokena, Ill. 60448-9316. There's everything from a Best Seller Collection of eight videos including: ``Yellow Rose of Texas,'' ``Mackintosh & TJ'' and ``My Pal Trigger'' for $99.95 to a Trigger Statuette, packaged with a collector's video edition of his final film, ``The Golden Stallion,'' featuring commentary by Roy and Dale and guest appearances by Gene Autry and Pat Buttrum for $49.95.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Museum in Victorville highlights the careers and personal lives of screen legend Roy Rogers and his actress wife Dale Evans.

(2 -- color) Roy Rogers Jr. manages his parents' museum.

(3 -- color) The museum features a gun display, pictured, as well as a new small movie theater.

Gabriel Acosta/Staff Photographer