Will Rogers

By Dan Rice

"I never met a man I didn't like"

Will was born on November 4, 1879, in what is now Oologah, Oklahoma. Then it was Claremore in the Cherokee Nation. His full name was William Penn Adair Rogers. His father was Clem Rogers, a successful banker and rancher - even a Cherokee senator. Eight children were born to the Rogers family, but only four made it to adulthood. Will was half Cherokee, and always maintained pride in his ancestry - as well as later being billed the Cherokee Cowboy. Will Rogers' birthplace is now a tourist attraction. His home was built of 10 inch hand hewed cants from indigenous oak, hickory and walnut hardwood. The logs extend past the second story and support the roof. There are two stone chimneys that support four fireplaces. the first floor of the birthplace home is 1,536 feet (48 x 23).

"My ancestors didn't come over in the Mayflower--they met the boat."

"My father was one eighth Cherokee and my mother one fourth Cherokee, which I figure makes me about an eight cigar-store Injun."

Will learned to rope Texas longhorn cattle on his father's ranch - apparently by a freed slave that worked the ranch. Will skills were so excellent with the lasso that he later made the Guiness Book of Records for his famous three lasso trick where he simultaneously lasso'd a horse around it's neck, the rider, and the horse's four legs so that the whole kit and kaboodle went down at once.

Rogers attended Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri from 1897 to 1898. He dropped out in the 10th grade (there is contradictory information here, since clearly he was 19 in 1898 and that is not 10th grade) to become a cowboy. He loved horses (there are dozens of quotes to attest to his devotion, to the point of advocating the horse over the car for transportation) more than anything but he later is said to regret quitting school, and pursued a love of learning all his life. At 21 he took part in a cattle drive to Argentina - looking for the new frontier. Failing to find what he was looking for, later signing on to herd cattle in South Africa. But his decision to become a cowboy, while it didn't pan out as he invisaged, certainly set him on the road to becoming one of America's best loved performers and humorists.

Initially it was Will's incredible skill with the lasso and on horseback that got him jobs in wild west shows and in vaudeville - first time in South Africa for the Texas Jack's Wild West Show, but as he gained confidence and began adding a little wry and homey humor to his routines, audiences started to embrace him as a humorist and homespun philosopher.

In 1904 he appeared at the St. Louis World's Fair, and debuted in Madison Avenue in 1905. For ten years he appeared in vaudeville and making it to the top, the Ziegfield Follies. During his stage career he met and wooed Betty Blake in Novemeber, 1908. Betty and Will had four children, the oldest was Will Rogers, Jr, born in 1911 (and later starting in two films as his famous father - one called "The Story of Will Rogers" 1952). Mary, born in 1913 became a broadway actress. Jim Rogers born in 1915 (and as of writing this still living) became a rancher. The youngest son, Fred, died at two of diptheria. Will said of his courtship of his wife, "When I roped her, it was the star performance of my life".

In 1918 Will Rogers began in the silent movies. "Ropin' Fool", a classic from Roger's successful film career, captures Will's amazing feats with the lariat on celloid. With a smooth transition into the talkies Will went on to become one of the most celebrated movie stars, voted in 1934 Most Popular Male Actor. He starred in 71 films.

Rogers became a syndicated columnist in 1922. Starting in 1930 Will also had a career as a broadcaster, one of the biggest names in radio, passing on timeless wit and observations on human nature - reaching 40 million Americans a week. He started writing a syndicated newspaper column in 1926 called "Will Rogers Says." It tended to show the humorous or ridiculous side of current events. It was for the Saturday Evening Post and they sent Will out as a sort of goodwill ambassador to the world. In this capacity he met with many of the great politicians and leaders of his day, including: Mussolini, the Prince of Wales, and the King of Spain. In all he wrote 2,800 to 4,000 articles (according to different sources). He was a frequent guest at the White House. He wrote six books, traveled around the world three times.

The full text for one of Will's favorite quotes is 'When I die, my epitaph, or whatever you call those signs on gravestones is going to read: "I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I didn't like." I am proud of that, I can hardly wait to die so it can be carved and when you come 'round to my grave you'll find me sitting there proudly reading it.'

Will was an extremely caring human being and his experiences all over the world alerted him to the sufferings of many fellow men. He embarked on a 50 city tour in 1931 to assist the Red Cross in feeding peole hungry during the Depression. He was nominated for senator.

He met with aviator, Charles Lindbergh, during a goodwill mission to Mexico in 1927, an event which fueled his interest in another consuming love - flying. He wrote about the history of aviation, promoted the use of planes in the commercial and military fields. He even traveled around in U.S. mail planes, once sticking stamps all over himself to fly as air mail. Rogers was called the "Patron Saint of Aviation." He was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1977. Ironically Will Rogers died in in a plane crash in Alaska in 1935 with a daring one-eyed pilot named Wiley Post. They were testing the feasibility of flying freight from the U.S. to Asia. The plane lost power soon after take off from Barrow, Alaska, and crashed into a nearby lagoon, killing both men.

Throughout his life, Will Rogers never lost his love of his Oklahoma or California ranches, or his horses. He still rode, roped steers, and played polo. Will had many horses that he cared for - but his favorite as a child was called "Comanche" and his favorite as a grown man was Soapsuds.

"A man that don't love a horse," Will Rogers wrote August 17, 1924, in the New York Times, "there is something the matter with him.

The title image uses a painting of Wyatt Earp by Bob Boze Bell and is reproduced here with kind permission of the artist.

Last Updated on 10/07/06