LEARN ABOUT WILL | willrogers – Will Rogers Memorial Museum
will rogers was the american cowboy philosopher.
will rogers was the #1 radio personality, was the #1 movie box office, was the nation’s #1 most searched public speaker, was the #1 most widely read newspaper columnist, wrote books, traveled the the world and donated generously to charities around the world. will rogers was loved by all.
William Penn Adair Rogers was born on Election Day, November 4, 1879, in a seven-room, log-walled house known as the “White House on the Verdigris River” in Indian Territory.
His parents were Clement Vann Rogers and Mary America Schrimsher Rogers.
they lived on a sprawling frontier ranch near what would later become oologah, oklahoma. Will Rogers’ human nature, wisdom and humor were nurtured on the vast frontier ruled by the Cherokee Indians.
By the time of his birth, the pain of civil war and the rigors of frontier conquest had dissolved the challenge of carving civilization on the rich and bountiful plains.
Clement Vann Rogers, Will’s father, was a Cherokee senator and judge who helped write the Oklahoma constitution. Clem, successful in farming and banking, founded a river-fenced ranch that stretches for miles and is home to thousands of Texas longhorns.
Mary America Schrimsher Rogers, mother of Will, a scion of a Cherokee chief, easily mastered modern society, music, literature, etiquette, and good humor. mother of eight children, mary rogers understood righteousness under god’s laws and performed countless works of charity.
The Rogers family was loving and close. four children died while three older sisters inspired the young. the ranch families were eager to help a smart child grow into a sensitive adult and build a meaningful life. rogers famous “white house on verdigris river” was more than home. it was a meeting place for commerce, government, and community social events. there was sadness at funerals, but joy at parties, weddings and baptisms. When he wasn’t learning on his mother’s lap, Will Rogers was at the range as a hard-working cowboy. he never lost the lessons of a loving mother, the lonely frontier, the hard work of ranching, or the community of sharing life’s bounty. Taught by a freed slave how to use a lasso as a tool to work Texas longhorn cattle on the family ranch, Will Rogers mastered the lariat to perform rope tricks on the world’s stages.
From living among Indians and blacks, he brought lessons in brotherhood that came from understanding the pride of minorities. Will Rogers’ masterful rope tricks would enter the Guinness Book of Records, while his words of brotherhood and human kindness would be written on the hearts of mankind. Hard-earned lariat skills will earn Rogers employment as a roper in Wild West shows and on the vaudeville stage. His life lessons, visions of humanity and kind spirit were translated into wit, jokes and observations that revealed great human dimensions. Will Rogers’ humor and folksy observations were appreciated by audiences around the world. he proved to be a visionary, well-informed, and just plain clever philosopher. he told the truth in simple words so everyone could understand.
