Let's visit the birthplace of Will Rogers.

This actor, and political humorist made a great impact on this country with his ready wit and down to earth ways.

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Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Entrance to the boyhood home of Will Rogers. Will provided an endowment to maintain the ranch as a working cattle ranch into perpetuity.

Click on this photo of the historical marker plaque to enlarge it .

Will Rogers was born in a log cabin near Claremore, in Indian territory, now Oklahoma. Just a short drive northeast of Tulsa Oklahoma. The home has been restored and is open for tours.The tour is self-guided and tells us about his family and homelife as well as his career.

His father, Clement Vann Rogers was a well to do rancher who lost much of his property during the Civil War. This veteran of the Civil War went back to work to rebuild what he had lost and reconstructed his home partly log cabin and partly frame. He welcomed travelers through the Territory and his home hosted many of the pioneers going west or north toward Kansas or south toward Texas.

Will Rogers Cradle in the Bedroom

The antique furnishings in this cabin are beautiful. The photos below show most of the rooms in the house. The upstairs with the bedrooms were not open to the public.

Living Room

A closer view of the piano

Two views of the dining room

The table is the same in both photos

The ranch is stocked with a large variety of farm animals such as he grew up with and a few more exotic types as well. The ranch has a full time caretaker living on the ranch as provided for in Will Rogers endowment. The photos below are of some of the animals on the ranch.

Guinea Fowl, Sometimes called Guinea hens

Guineas and Bantam chickens

It's October so I'll be ready for an Oklahoma winter.

A real beauty! But not Will Rogers horse.

The back porch was where this peacock wanted to be and he could not be enticed to come off and strut for us.

Interesting information about Will Rogers

Will was his mother's only surviving son and when she died when he was ten years old, Will was devastated. He went to live with an older married sister when his father remarried a year later. He spent his years growing up with a horse and a lariat. He continually practiced new and more difficult rope tricks. Will finally quit school and began to travel, He and a young friend headed for Argentina where they wanted to see the Gauchos. There was a misunderstanding about shipping schedules and they were stranded for a while and his friend became homesick. Will spent his last money to help the friend get back home but he continued his journey by working his passage to London, where he watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and explored the area. He found work to pay his passage to Argentina. After studying the Gauchos he so admired and seeing the sights in Argentina he was broke again.

Finally he got a job taking care of cattle being shipped to South Africa and found his way to a Wild West Show there. He learned the rudiments of show business and found his niche. His skill with a rope gave him an edge. He worked for a circus in Australia and New Zealand then returned to the USA. He started with a Wild West show at the World's fair in St. Louis. Then on to Madison Square Garden.

His first acts were simply rope tricks from horseback. Then he was encouraged to begin introducing his tricks and began to receive good feedback from his humorous comments. This was all the encouragement he needed. He was headed for vaudeville. One of Will's roping tricks has never been duplicated by anyone to date.

Will was hired to do a show in the Ziegfield Follies. Because many guests returned night after night, Will needed new material for each night's show, his wife suggested he read the daily newspaper for material. He found this a significant source of material, commenting on the follies of the "big" men in and out of government.

While working there he accepted a contract to star in a couple of silent movies. He moved his family to Beverly Hills. Then Will decided to produce his own movies. This was a disastrous move and he went back to New York to earn enough to pay off all the debts involved in his production company. He began taking speaking engagements and writing a weekly syndicated column for newspapers and magazines. After a two year tour doing a vaudeville show with a quartet of singers, Will took on a lecture tour. He also began a daily column, producing over 2800 such columns. He flew to Russia and wrote about life there. Then in 1929 he made his first talking film. He was an instant hit.

He made his fortune lampooning politicians of all parties. His insights into and exposure of political chicanery made him at once loved and feared by those who were in politics. He was nominated as "favorite son" for president but declined to participate in the political process. Those politicians which requested his support were never sure whether he was a supporter or not after one of his shows, although they usually won reelection after his appearance.

Will loved travel and he loved to fly. He was one of those responsible for making flying an acceptable form of travel in the USA. By 1933, he was the number one male attraction at the box office, ahead of Clark Gable. His untimely death in an seaplane accident occured in inclement weather while he was touring Alaska with his pilot, Wiley Post, shocked the American people and sent them into mourning. He had kept them laughing through the worst economic depression they had ever known. His generosity to those in need was also noted at his death.

Will Rogers Museum

The Will Rogers Museum is located in Claremore, Oklahoma, USA, a short drive from the Ranch and boyhood home. It is worth the drive to see it. It highlights some of his more memorable quotes and is a source of books, movies and other memorabilia from his short, dynamic life.

This lake was not here when Will Rogers lived here but the lake area was part of the original ranch. This photo was taken from behind the barn looking through the corral.

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