America's Cowboy: The Story of Will Rogers

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To search for the Our American Stories podcast go to the iHeartRadio app to iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Most everyone over the age of 50 has heard the name Will Rogers. His quotes ring is true today as they did in the 1930s. Congress opens with a prayer and closes with an investigation. Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. Make crime pay.

Become a lawyer. Here to tell the story of Will Rogers is Tad Jones, the executive director of the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma. But first audio from Lux Radio Theater. You'll be hearing a lot of it over this hour.

Let's get into the story. From Hollywood, the Hollywood Radio Theater. Starring Jane Wyman and Will Rogers Jr. in the story of Will Rogers. Ladies and gentlemen, your producer, Mr. Irving Cummings. Greetings from Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen. If a vote were taken for the most popular American of all time outside of public office, I'm sure Will Rogers' name would head the list.

His keen perception, gentle humor and simplicity made him one of the most beloved men of our time. Tonight playing his original role in the story of Will Rogers, we have the perfect choice, Will Rogers Jr. And as his co-star in this humorous drama from the Warner Brothers Studio, their glamorous Academy Award winner, Jane Wyman in her original role of Mrs. Rogers. Now, Will didn't become Will Rogers just overnight. You've heard of the Trail of Tears. The Rogers family came over a few years earlier. They had a deal to get some property.

So they were what was called the early settlers. So that was Will's granddad that came over. Clem, Will's dad, was very involved in everything in northeast Oklahoma and was a very prominent Cherokee citizen. He was a judge in the area and also a Cherokee senator.

When Oklahoma was becoming a state, Clem Rogers was one of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention for the creation of Oklahoma's state. Willie, how'd you get here, son? You ought to know, Pa. You sent me the money to come home. Well, that's right.

I did, didn't I? Well, it's good to see you, son. Now, if you'll excuse me, I got some news for the folks here.

Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, as senator of the Cherokee Nation, it gives me great pleasure to tell you that we've just smoked a pipe of peace with these congressmen from Washington. And in the not-too-distant future, Oklahoma shall become the 46th state of the union. So the county we live in and where the memorial is and where Will is born is called Rogers County, but it wasn't named after Will Rogers. It was named after Will's dad. He was married to a lady named Mary America Scrimsher.

Both of them were about a quarter Cherokee. Also, he served in the Civil War, and he served with a gentleman in the Civil War named William Penn Adair. And when Will Rogers was born, that's where his name came from, William Penn Adair Rogers. He liked to joke that he was born on election day, November 4th, and he said his name was William Penn Adair Rogers. And that's where he came from.

And he said his mom had nothing better to do because women weren't allowed to vote, so she just stayed home and had him. Will Rogers adored her. Clem and Mary America had a number of children, and unfortunately, only four of them lived to adulthood. Three of them died when they were young. And Ma died when I was 10.

But his three sisters really loved on Will and spoiled him, and that's kind of who raised him. And who's this little boy? Well, that's me. All of these are me. Each one was taken when I started a new school. You must have run out of schools early.

No, ma'am. Those schools, they kept cropping up like mushrooms. Will's dad was a very hard worker. He did not care much for Will's work ethic, which wasn't much. Will did not do very good in school, and he went to a number of schools all over northeast Oklahoma and into Missouri, and just didn't have much luck. This one here is Paul's last flame, Kemper Military Academy. I was there for two years, one in the guard house and one in the fourth grade. His dad even tried to get him in the military academy to try to get him through the war.

To try to get him some discipline. Well, Will wasn't there very long and earned 150 demerits. So he left the military academy. He liked to joke. I think it was that he didn't pass the fourth grade McGuffey reader. But Will was highly intelligent.

Make no mistake. I mean, he was an avid reader. He knew things. He had a great memory. His thing, he had so much energy. He just loved to joke.

Kind of was a class clown. He learned to rope by a former slave named Dan Walker. And so Dan Walker worked at the ranch, and he taught Will Rogers how to rope.

And that is what Will loved more than anything. And so Will roped at the ranch all the time. And when he was at school, he roped the kids, and he roped the girls. He wanted to be a cowboy.

He just wanted to rope. And an opportunity came for him to leave the ranch and go out to Higgins, Texas. And he worked as a ranch hand out there for several months. Then came back to the ranch, and his dad ended up giving him the ranch for a couple years. Will Rogers called it the Dog Iron Ranch. But that is not what Will Rogers wanted to do. He didn't want to be a businessman. You know, it could be a cowboy. But when you're running the ranch, that's a different responsibility. So after three years of that, Will Rogers said, you know what, I'm not too excited about this.

I think I'm going to leave and go and be a cowboy in Argentina. He'd heard that there were no fences in Argentina. We're in here, and this was Indian Territory. It wasn't Oklahoma at the time. So Will Rogers was not born in Oklahoma. He was born in Indian Territory. And grew up in Indian Territory.

And in 1901, sold it back to his father and said, I'm going to Argentina with a friend of mine just to be a cowboy, what they called a Gaucho. When we come back, more of the story of Will Rogers here on Our American Stories. Folks, if you love the stories we tell about this great country, and especially the stories of America's rich past, know that all of our stories about American history, from war to innovation, culture, and faith are brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College. A place where students study all the things that are beautiful in life, and all the things that are good in life. And if you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their free and terrific online courses.

Go to hillsdale.edu to learn more. bonus bets instantly that's code timer only at draft kings sportsbook an official sports betting partner of super bowl 57 21 and over in most eligible states but age varies by jurisdiction void in ontario eligibility and deposit restrictions apply see draftkings.com sportsbook for details and state-specific responsible gambling resources gambling problem call 1 800 gambler in new york call 8778 hope and wire text hope and y 467369 bonus issued as bonus bets opt-in required for odds boost bet type and amount limits vary eligibility and terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com football terms this february xfinity flex is unlocking premium entertainment for you to try every single week no strings attached celebrate during black history month with shows like unsung the decades snuggle up during valentine's day with a lifetime movie club pick like harry and megan a royal romance or crank up the action with godfather of harlem from mgm plus get down and funky with the classic soul playlist from i heart radio easily discover new free content each week across the best streaming app say free this week into your xfinity voice remote so you're in the garage working on your car and you need the valves you bought last week you look in the cabinets and on the shelves but the parts are never in the right place ebay motors has the car parts you need over 122 million of them all in one place and all at the right prices find parts for everything from your classic coupe to your brand new truck at ebaymotors.com let's ride and we return to our american stories and our story of will rogers with tad jones the director of the will rogers memorial in claremore oklahoma when we last left off will rogers looking for direction had decided to head south south to argentina to become a cowboy rejecting a life of running his powerful father's ranch let's get back to the story here again is audio from luxe radio field sit down willie glad to have you back son and i hope your foolish days are over but pa ain't you kind of tired with all this to doing certainly not i found it very stimulating well you've been gone for two years i'm interested to learn what you've accomplished well so will and his buddy took off they thought they'd just go to new orleans and then make their way down to argentina but it wasn't that easy they had to take some boats to go to new york and then over to london and finally got to argentina well when i got down there life wasn't near the glamorous thing that they thought it was going to be so will's buddy came back home will roger was by himself in argentina virtually dead broke he wrote some letters back to his dad which was first published letters in the newspaper when the when uh the family when he got some letters back the family published it in the claremore progress and people got to kind of keep up with will rogers mainly because of his dad was well known in the area and there's his son was kind of well known and so he probably didn't know what was happening but kind of his first foray being in the newspapers so what was will gonna do with his life he's stuck in argentina first he has no money and there was a big cattle run that was going to south america big boat and so will jumped on the boat to take all the cattle to south africa and got to south africa got the cattle off still wasn't sure what he's going to do with his life it was broke in south africa and he saw a sign for texas jack's wild west show this was the game changer for will yes sorry folks the original santa fe jack in his wild west show the greatest assembly of prairie daredevils ever gathered under one tent you'll see honey girl kate you'll see chief big horse of the untamed apaches and the one and only cherokee kid the foremost roping artist in the world the wild west show was looking for somebody that could do what was called the big crinoline which is the big rope trick uh with a you know a huge rope that you rope with and will rogers happen to know how to do the trick and he could do a lot of other tricks too so now his first foray into show business did it for a little while and then uh decided he was ready to go and try to make his way back to the states and he went to he got a letter from texas jack recommending him as a great performer he went to australia and new zealand and was in a some wild west shows there and then came back to the united states and came back home well i worked a lot of ranches paw met a lot of fine people gotten some practice with my rope i even had an offer to go with a big roundup if that's your ambition that aimless drift in life there's no use my even talking to you sent me 100 bucks pa don't seem like you're getting your money's worth out of this conversation i ain't with the roundup i'm here but are you any different than when you left oh you and me have been making this same mistake for 20 years you wanted me to be clem rogers boy and i've just stampeded away from it i might do better as just plain will rogers why not give it a try so will had when he was here uh he ran into a lady at the train stop and uh she was there he was working at the train stop and or he went to pick something up at the train stop and there was a lady there named betty blake will rode into my life just after the turn of the century oklahoma was still indian territory and oliga one of the few cow towns had boasted a railroad if it weren't for that railroad i wouldn't have been there at all my sister's husband dave was a station master and i'd come for a visit i saw will tie his horse outside the station just another saddle weary drifter and then he wandered into the baggage room and when he went to pick up his guitar in his long underwear he saw her and immediately fell in love and he was so nervous he took off and left his stuff there for eight years will rogers tried to get betty to date him and marry him and she just wouldn't have that much to do with him because will didn't have you know a stable life will was all over the place and traveling and wasn't going to make a lot of money she was from a very well-to-do family from north west arkansas in the rogers arkansas area and uh so she really didn't think much will but will just kept after her kept after and send her letters and and uh in those kind of things to try to let him let her know that he really appreciated her well will then start went to new york uh started doing uh or he went with a a wild west show to new york and was doing this show in new york and this is where his big break in the the states came so they were in madison square garden doing a wild west show he was just one of the troop and a uh a bull got out of the arena and went into the crowd and the story is that will rogers got his rope got up there roped it and brought it out um and got and saved people's lives well you know there might have been there's some other stories supposedly that might have happened but the one that the newspapers went with was you know cow puncher from oklahoma uh saves the crowd you know will rogers so now so he's front page news and people up there you know in new york they want to see you know what's this uh this cowboy from oklahoma so all of a sudden will is a little bit famous and people want to see him so he gets picked up to be in vaudeville you know those are all the trick you know the jugglers and the comedians and different things and will went in there just to be a trick roper so will got into vaudeville and started doing trick roping and uh during this time he's still courting betty and eventually convinced betty to marry him betty yes will what would happen if i was to quit gallivanting around and settle down what would you like to have happen well i haven't any money that isn't important i love you betty ever since i first saw you i i haven't had always say ain't well i ain't been able to think straight about nothing except that i love you is that important oh it's awfully important then you'll marry me yes will golly moses i feel like hollering well why don't you so she moved up to new york and they started having a few kids so he ends up having four children one child died in infancy unfortunately his son fred stone died when he was just two so will rodders now is doing the follies he's very popular and then uh one time he missed a rope trick and he made a joke and people laughed and he was kind of offended by that you know he's a professional professional roper you know you don't laugh at the professional roper even though he grew up joking and trying to make people laugh but this was his you know his serious business i was having a pretty bad time myself but nothing i'm sure to what he was going through he couldn't blame the audience for laughing at it mighty nice of you to laugh at me of course ain't no use to pretend i ain't nervous here tonight because i sure am uh you know horses are smarter than humans you never heard of a horse going broke betting on people well when he came off the stage they kind of told me you know you know the people laugh they like that you ought to do that a little bit more so he started writing jokes and would miss rope tricks on purpose so he could tell the joke you know he'd mess up and go i got both my feet in but one you know or whatever the joke might be and so now they're laughing at him and he was liking that so now you know it added a little bit to his show but then you know there were other rope triggers that were showing up and so he was such an avid reader that betty told him he said you know you want to start talking about the news of the day i see where they got a new governor back in my home state of oklahoma he's a real fine governor too and the folks back there sure love it especially some of the folks who've been spending their time behind bars you see this governor's been sending out a lot of pardons and uh kind of getting the warden sort of worried anyway he sent out so many that one old boy sent him back an answer why shucks governor he said thanks for the pardon but they ain't caught me yet and we're listening to the story of will rogers as told by tad jones the director of the will rogers memorial in claremore oklahoma and again special thanks to lux radio theater hearing excerpts throughout this piece when we come back more of the story of will rogers here on our american stories so draft king sportsbook an official sports betting partner of super bowl 57 has all the super bowl action new customers can bet just five dollars and get 200 in bonus bets instantly plus all customers can get in on the super bowl 57 excitement with draft king's happy hour super boosts download the draft king's sportsbook app and use promo code timer new customers can bet five dollars on super bowl 57 and get 200 in bonus bets instantly that's code timer only at draft king's sportsbook an official sports betting partner of super bowl 57 21 and over in most eligible states but age varies by jurisdiction void in ontario eligibility and deposit restrictions apply see draftkings.com sportsbook for details and state-specific responsible gambling resources gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER in new york call 877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY467369 bonus issued as bonus bets often required for odds boost bet type and amount limits vary eligibility and terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com football terms this february xfinity flex is unlocking premium entertainment for you to try every single week no strings attached celebrate during black history month with shows like unsung the decades snuggle up during valentine's day with a lifetime movie club pick like harry and megan a royal romance or crank up the action with god father of harlem from mgm plus get down and funky with the classic soul playlist from i heart radio easily discover new free content each week across the best streaming app say free this week into your xfinity voice remote so you're in the garage working on your car and you need the valves you bought last week you look in the cabinets and on the shelves but the parts are never in the right place ebay motors has the car parts you need over 122 million of them all in one place and all at the right prices find parts for everything from your classic coupe to your brand new truck at ebay motors.com let's ride and we return to our american stories and our story on will rogers with tad jones the director of the will rogers memorial in claremore oklahoma when we last left off will had finally found relative stability as a professional roper let's return to the story curtain rises on act three of the story of will rogers starring jane wyman as betty rogers and will rogers jr in the title role yes will had a brand new career he just went out on the stage and kept talking never knowing what he was going to say until he said it and always surprised at the success it brought him in a few years will was a headliner a star and what people seemed to love most was to hear will talking about politics and congress and then one day the united states secret service ordered him to washington the request of president wilson they took a trip to baltimore the show did and the president united states woodrow wilson came in the audience and will was super nervous i mean the president's there he's really come to see will because he's heard about this guy that makes political jokes which wasn't a thing that happened much you know mark twain did a little bit but his was kind of biting when mark twain joked about it a little more serious will was doing it in a funny sense and so now the president's in the audience and will was so nervous they literally said had to grab him push him out on stage so you got to do your show and he got out there he did his aw shucks thing you know and roped and talked about how nervous he was and then he told started telling his jokes and he made a joke about trying to catch poncho via but they couldn't get him because when they would try to start to go south aboard they got caught up in all the red tape and you know people were looking around to see what the president would do and the president laughed and that really helped will rogers he said now you know if the president's going to laugh at me it's okay and will never said anything to make people mad i mean that was i think that's what endeared him to everybody you know you never hear him say negative things about any any people he'll joke about the institution you know congress has this and the presidency has this but the individual he always said nice things about you know that's such an impressive thing i know i've said a lot of things about washington mr president if i've offended you in any way i'm sorry i didn't ask you here to censor you mr rogers for a long time i wanted to thank you for your war work and everything else that's mighty nice of you mr president and to be perfectly honest i've always wanted to see the master of the verb ain't i've heard you've had several offers to write how is it i've never seen you in print why mr president as an ex-college professor you ought to know that i can't put two words together without making them come out wrong that may be but from the quotes i've heard your meanings come out pretty right mr rogers will if i may now i feel like i can cross my legs you you say for people the things they'd like to say but can't quite express and in helping them think things through you're also making them laugh that's a rare gift that's why i think you should write as well as speak whether you like it or not will you become a voice from the heart of the people our country wants to hear it more often and so he did that and earned respect from people all over the country and so now there's a new medium that's showing up and it's the movies this is just silence but will rogers was invited to be in a movie they filmed it in new york and they said you know what you need to move out to hollywood and make some more of these will went on to make 50 silent movies then in 19 that was 1919 when they moved out there in 1922 here comes the radio also in 1922 he started writing a weekly article for newspapers and in 1927 he also started writing a daily column you know peck it out he wasn't a great type as he would peck his daily column hand it to the western union kid by five o'clock and they would go and send it out to western union all the newspapers you know he'd be out of move you know doing a movie he'd take a break run over here type out his daily column and uh you know and then send it out so just incredible you know that he could write stuff that was always interesting too i mean just you know here in germany they got a fella named hitler he began in a beer hall and he'll give the whole world a hangover before he's through so the whole thing as i see it all over the world is that the little nations has just got no business being little how you can do that every single day is uh you know you're looking at 365 days a year roughly times you know what is that seven eight years how many daily columns is that that you spit out you know in weekly columns too there were longer and he had joked in 1928 about running for president he called the anti-bunk party and he had this presidential run that he was doing it was in the light it was in life magazine it was just really cute but anyway the talkies came in and this is where will's movie career started to blossom i mean will it was his talking they got it the silent movies you know you just had to act and he did have some funny commentary but talkies is what happened that really got in the movies so he really is this world figure in the 30s of course the great depression hit in uh in 29 with a stock market crash and will was there as his comforting voice for the country you know again daily talking spell back i did a newspaper piece on george washington how proud he'd be of his country if he'd lived to his 200th birthday i guess i didn't know what i was writing about old george was around today i bet he'd sue us for calling him father yeah maybe you don't make no sense well but you sure make a fellow feel better even if he is on his way to the poorhouse i think one of great characteristics too is his empathy i mean he said you know you until you understand from another person's perspective you know where they're coming from and that's what he did i mean he saw for instance there was a herbert hoover was president and he wanted to give a talk about some relief that he wanted to do during the great depression it's it was i think it was 1930 and he needed an audience to listen to his speech and so you can't imagine doing this today but he asked will rogers to be his intro on the radio so will rogers did that you know he joked in the radio deal about you know when i was asked to do this i had to ask some people about it and i feel whatever negative it just you know wasn't enough um i i'm kind of particular i said who do i who's gonna be the other speaker who else is on the who else is on the uh bill with me and he said well i'll uh he said uh how would uh mr hoover do so i looked into mr hoover's record and uh inquired of everybody and uh after i had uh kind of thrown out about two-thirds of what the democrats said about him why i figured that i wouldn't have much to lose by appearing with mr hoover so you know i got nothing to lose i'm going to go here and i'm going to talk well in that speech it became a famous speech we call it bacon beads limousines where he said here we are in a country with more wheat more corn more money in the bank more cotton more everything in the world there's not a product that you can name that we haven't gotten more of it than any country ever had the face of the earth and yet we've got people starving we'll hold the distinction being the only nation in the history of the world that ever went to the poorhouse in an automobile we're going to be the only country in the history of the world that's going to go to the poorhouse in an automobile and it was a very heartfelt um speech you know there was a little humor in it but not much it got into a very serious tone and he also talked about the goodness of the american people you know yes things are tough yes things are tough but we're going to give and help people in our communities and we can do that and he he talked about the big boys that got him into this mess which is kind of funny i mean there were the richest people in the world loved will roger i mean henry ford thought will should run for president and will thought henry ford should be given be given the keys to congress and solve all the issues because he was such a good businessman you know so it was a very poignant speech and after after his talk then herbert hoover got on and gave his well you know like 10 to 1 whatever the numbers were people that wanted you know copies and transcripts of will speech versus the president's speech and we've been listening to tad jones the director of the will rogers memorial in claremore oklahoma more of the story of will rogers when our american stories continues draft king sportsbook an official sports betting partner of super bowl 57 has all the super bowl action new customers can bet just five dollars and get 200 in bonus bets instantly plus all customers can get in on the super bowl 57 excitement with draft king's happy hour super boosts download the draft king sportsbook app and use promo code timer new customers can bet five dollars on super bowl 57 and get 200 in bonus bets instantly that's code timer only at draft king's sportsbook an official sports betting partner of super bowl 57 21 and over in most eligible states but age varies by jurisdiction void in ontario eligibility and deposit restrictions apply see draftkings.com sportsbook for details and state-specific responsible gambling resources gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER in new york call 8778 hope and wire text hope and y 467369 bonus issued as bonus bets often required for odds boost bet type and amount limits vary eligibility and terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com football terms this february xfinity flex is unlocking premium entertainment for you to try every single week no strings attached celebrate during black history month with shows like unsung the decades snuggle up during valentine's day with a lifetime movie club pick like harry and megan a royal romance or crank up the action with godfather of harlem from mgm plus get down and funky with the classic soul playlist from i heart radio easily discover new free content each week across the best streaming app say free this week into your xfinity voice remote so you're in the garage working on your car and you need the valves you bought last week you look in the cabinets and on the shelves but the parts are never in the right place ebay motors has the car parts you need over 122 million of them all in one place and all at the right prices find parts for everything from your classic coupe to your brand new truck at ebaymotors.com let's ride and we return to our american stories and the final section of our story on will rogers with tad jones the director of the will rogers memorial in claremore oklahoma you've also been hearing historical audio from lux radio theater featuring will's son will rogers junior playing his father and jane wyman playing will's wife betty when we last left off will had become a guiding voice during the great depression and virtually inescapable whether on radio in print or film it was because of this that he was called the most dangerous man in america but will was anything but he was different let's return to the story we start yet again with lux radio theater it's it's been my life a lot in life to play the fool and to make people laugh i've kidded an awful lot of big men but i've had mighty few complaints i guess that's the sign of a big man i've i've tried living my life so that whenever i quit i'm ahead i've been an awful lucky fella i've been all over the world i've met kings and rickshaw boys senators and farmers more people and most people had meet in 10 lifetimes and i never met a man i didn't like his famous line is i never met a man i didn't like and that's exactly true didn't care what kind of what race you're from your religion you know treated the the kings and the common man the same he was a man that i think is maybe the greatest role model citizen that we have we have great role models like in politics like abraham lincoln and george washington and these kind of people but as a as a citizen a good person that treated people right his credibility was just through the roof because he you know he he was so genuine it was all him i think he never talked negatively about people they joke about the institution he would joke um about different things but when it came to people he always treated with respect and even if he thought he hurt somebody's feelings you know he would apologize and that's so rare because in comedy today you know if you're not really gigging them and you know almost making them mad and then our personalities today are such that you know you hear something you don't like and your immediate reaction is to get angry and why are they thinking that way and and will saw you know everybody's perspective so well so ingrained in him yes he liked to joke but it was a calming way and also in a way that showed empathy towards what people are going through and even in his movies there were scenes of you know they were about the great depression some of them and you know where he's cutting uh his stock stock certificates into little paper men you know that because they were worthless um but i'll tell you my my all-time favorite though is one he does right in front of calvin coolidge so there i think it's one of the dams in in arizona that was being dedicated we had this video of it and calvin coolidge is there and will rogers there to give a talk and with calvin coolidge there um he said will said you know calvin coolidge one of my great presidents he goes he didn't do nothing but that's what we wanted done and it just gives this great laugh and i just i love it because it cuts to calvin coolidge he always kind of frowned a little bit but he goes he didn't do nothing but that's what we wanted done i thought man that's just such a witty funny quote you know with the president you know sitting right there and everybody laughing at it so anyway oh will what's that plane doing over there that's old wiley showing off his new ship i forgot to tell you honey he's dropping in tonight for supper not just for supper while he's like paw he doesn't drop in unless he has something on his mind well maybe we have been kind of figuring on a little trip up to alaska why way up there well you see honey when i was a kid i flunked a geography exam and ever since then i've had a hankering to go up there and find the right answers look if you don't want me to read the letters you get from washington then don't leave them open on the dining room table what letter well for instance the one about the appropriation bill for alaskan defense huh so we had a good friend or are you a friend they weren't great friends but they had known each other and a guy named wiley post he was a one-eyed pilot out of oklahoma an amazing character himself landing his airplane right in range of our cameras harry go tell that bonehead he just costs us a barrel of money who is that spendthrift tom oh some half-wit aviator they hired to fly the film to the laboratory one of your oklahoma boys part indian you're in that full plane you're costing us a young fortune what's your name son me wiley post us cherokees are a long way from home aren't we always you are mister he lost an eye in the oil patch of texas and just a short period of time in his life four or five years he taught himself how to fly he found the jet stream uh he created the very first pressurized air suit that was you know basically the beginning of the space air suit he was the first person to fly around the world him and uh and another co-pilot and then he was the first person to fly around the world by himself with just you know basically a plane and a compass i mean just an incredible feat and you've heard everybody's heard of charles limberg and most people haven't heard of wiley post but wiley post got two ticker tape parades in new york city because it was flying around the world so an incredibly respected pilot so he wanted to fly to alaska and find a mail route to russia and will rogers loved to travel so they got to talking while he needed somebody to fund his trip will rogers wanted to travel and see the world so he said man i i want to take a little go with my fellow oklahoman let's go to alaska so they piled in a plane in august there's a plane that wiley kind of built himself he put pontoons on it the whole time will rogers still writing his daily columns talking about politics and the people that he met and these kind of things so they fly to alaska they're starting to head to point barrow it's august 15th 1935 and again this year will rogers was number one movie star in the world they get lost in the fog while he finds a lagoon to land in and there were some anyone in uh eskimos that were there and he asked them you know directions to point barrow and they said you know you're not that far away you know just about 12 miles away so as the plane started to take off and turn the engine died and because the plane was built the way it was it was very nose heavy so it immediately went straight down and it killed both men instantly in the lagoon the whole world went into mourning um you know just every newspaper was a headline about will rogers and wiley post that died the movie theaters went dark the radios turned off congress went out of session and everybody was just couldn't believe that will rogers their best friend that was in their house that they were listening to and reading about had just died and it was very very difficult on the country and so the president and others they created a commission to what are we going to do to honor will rogers congress actually passed two million dollars in funding to do something for will but it was vetoed by president roosevelt not that he didn't have any respect for him but it was there in the great depression and there wasn't a plan for the money they were just doing it and and that was his reasoning you know and so but the oklahoma legislature stepped up in 1937 created this commission and in 38 they built the will roger memorial and will roger was originally buried in california but the crowds that came the memorial after it was built were so huge that they eventually moved will rogers here in 1944 and that's where will and betty and three of the children are buried here at the memorial in claremont amazing amazing character you know it learned by school of hard knocks you know he just grew up in tough area and learned how to you know how to do it and uh he did i mean he wrote a million words in his weekly articles his daily articles um wrote his own stuff and today you see your conan o'brien's or whatever there's all these writers around them and all they're doing this to you know get the best jokes and all that will did even to stand up in vaudeville and the follies everything was will rogers will rogers never came back from that flight and yet in a sense he never left us there's a statue of will rogers at the memorial museum in claremore oklahoma it says will rogers 1879 1935 and the simple legend i never met a man i didn't like and a terrific job on the production by monty montgomery and a special thanks to ted jones the director of the will rogers memorial in claremore oklahoma and my goodness this is a quintessential american story born in oklahoma before it was oklahoma and a cherokee and of course he dies with a fellow oklahoman and a fellow cherokee they say when buddy holly died it was the day the music died and when will rogers died it was the day the laughs died there was never one like him before there would never be one like him again the story of will rogers here on our american story so This February, Xfinity Flex is unlocking premium entertainment for you to try every single week, no strings attached. 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