Will Rogers

Will Rogers once said, “I never met a man I didn’t like.” The most popular man in America


was undoubtedly Will Rogers. The glib mouthed cowboy an trick rope performer was a


spokesman and supporter of the common man and his monologues made them laugh as well as


think.


    William Penn Adair Rogers was born on November 4, 1879, in Indian Territory. He inherited Cherokee bold from both his mother and his father. Rogers’ father was a successful rancher, his V-shaped spread was one of the most profitable ranches in the territory. After his mother died when he was ten, his father was left to raise Rogers and his two sisters alone. Rogers was, according to his father and his father’s standards, wild and irresponsible. Rogers learned to love


ranch life. His closest companion, Uncle Dan Walker, patiently showed Rogers how to throw a


rope. Rogers became quite an expert with a rope. He was also quite an adept wrangler and


cowboy. After the tenth grade, Rogers dropped out of school and eventually left home over


conflicts with his father before he was twenty. He enjoyed travel, using his cowboy skills and


rope twirling to earn a living as he traveled around the country. Rogers eventually signed up for a wild west show where he became enormously popular because of the complexities of his trick roping and riding.


    After an eight year courtship, Rogers asked Betty Blake to marry him. The couple spent their honeymoon traveling around the country with another wild west show. They were on the road for several years, some of which Rogers was cast in one of the most sophisticated and popular


shows in New York, Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic.


    The Rogers’ later moved to California, where they bought a large, non-working ranch. Rogers then began making silent films, using his roping skills and became extremely popular in that medium as well. During this time he met a young...