Roy Rogers museum hits the trail

The museum of the late Roy Rogers and Dale Evans will be moving to a new home in Branson, Missouri.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Victorville, California, will be closing its doors, partly because of a dwindling numbers of visitors, but the collection will stay intact and move to a new location in Branson, Missouri.

The museum was founded by movie and TV star Roy Rogers, known as "King of the Cowboys." He died in 1998, and his wife and frequent co-star Dale Evans died last year.

Their son, Roy "Dusty" Rogers, Jr., who runs the museum, had been considering shutting the doors of the fort-like building along Interstate 5 for the past year as fewer aging fans came to visit. The collection has little that might appeal to non-fans -- it includes hundreds of personal family photos, and such things as old bowling trophies won by Rogers.

But it also includes Rogers' famous horse, Trigger -- stuffed. Alongside him is Evans' horse, Buttermilk, and the family's German shepherd.

They are expected to appear in their new home in Branson in April of next year, but visitors will be able to see them in Victorville until March.