Happy Birthday To Will Rogers, Oklahoma's Favorite Son

The man who may have been the world's first multimedia star was born on this date in what would eventually become Oklahoma.

William Penn Adair Rogers, better known as Will Rogers, was born 137 years ago on November 4, 1879 on a ranch in Oologah, Indian Territory.

Rogers would later joke that he called Claremore his hometown because, as he put it, only an Indian could say Oologah.

Will's parents, Clement Vann Rogers and Mary Schrimsher, were of Cherokee descent. The house they built was near the bank of the Verdigris River, about three miles east of the town of Oologah. It became known as the White House on the Verdigris, due to its size and the social stature of Will's father. 

Learn more about the Will Rogers Memorial and Birthplace museums

Will learned to ride horses and use a lasso while growing up on the ranch. He would use those skills traveling the world in wild west shows, on Vaudeville and in movies. He became a star on radio and wrote regular columns for dozens of newspapers.

The house where Will was born remained in the Rogers family until the early 1960s. It was moved to the top of a bluff about a mile west, because the waters of Oologah Lake would eventually cover its original location when the dam was completed at the end of that decade.

The original location of the birthplace was exposed by the drought in the summer of 2013, showing stone foundations, pieces of ranching equipment and even horse shoes.

7/3/2013 Related Story: Drought Reveals Remains Of Will Rogers' Birthplace

Will was fascinated by aviation at a time when air travel was still a novelty. He died in a plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska on August 15, 1935. His friend and fellow Oklahoman Wiley Post was at the controls and also died in the crash. 

Will's birthplace now is a working ranch and museum with free admission.