Named after a Cherokee leader, Colonel William Penn Adair, William Penn Adair “Will” Rogers was born on November 4, 1879, at his parents’ Dog Iron Ranch in the Cherokee Nation (somewhere near Oologah, Oklahoma, well before Oolagah was even a place). He was the youngest child of Clement and Mary Rogers. Clement was a Cherokee senator and judge. He was instrumental in writing the Oklahoma Constitution. Rogers County, Oklahoma was named after Clement. Mary was a descendant of a Cherokee chief. She had eight children, four would die, leaving Will Rogers with three older sisters. His mother died when he was 11. He dropped out of school in the 10th grade to be a cowboy. Will Rogers learned how to use a lasso from a freed slave. He would go on to …show more content…
He would write more than two million words which have been repeated throughout time. This included the “Daily Telegrams” which appeared in over 500 newspapers. Will Rogers also became a natural on the radio using his off the cuff humor and charm to cover any story. He molded opinions during the 1930’s. Starting out in silent pictures in 1918, Will Rogers would star in 50 films. When sound was added in 1929, he went on to make 21 talkies, winning top box office honors and becoming Hollywood’s highest paid actor. In 1934, he won most popular actor. Rogers was an avid traveler, but that came to an end on August 15, 1935, when Will Rogers and Wiley Post’s plane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska. Will Rogers was buried in Los Angeles, California, but later was moved to a memorial his wife had built in Claremore, Oklahoma. His writings, sayings, and movies live on. There are many places named in his honor, the Will Roger Institute, Will Rogers Memorial Museum, the USS Will Rogers (a nuclear submarine), Will Rogers State Historic Park in California, Will Rogers Turnpike, Will Rogers World Airport, and Will Rogers Gardens in Oklahoma City, thirteen public schools in Oklahoma, OU’s student union is named after him, and home of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, the Will Rogers