b'He Never Met A Man He Didnt LikeThe (Untold) Story of Will RogersPART 1 By Alan RockmanHE EPITOMIZED WHATWill Rogers\' birthplace was in Oologah, Indian WAS BEST AND GOODTerritory, just 40 miles south of Coffeyville, Kansas. ABOUT AMERICA TO THEHe was a thirteen-year-old pre-adolescent still living WORLD IN THE FIRSTin the area when the Daltons made their notorious THREE DECADES OF THE- and final - raid on the banks in Coffeyville, but 20TH CENTURY. whether or not it made an impression upon Rogers A n Indian Cowboy who first cut his teeth ridingis not known. What DID make an impression on young Will was a scary, nighttime visit made by the and roping the range on his father\'s Oklahomanotorious killer "Cherokee Bill" Goldsby of the Cook ranch, the young boy grew to be a restless teen,gang several years later.and at the turn of the 20th Century joined a Wild West Show whose head was the adopted son of oneWill had some relatives who were famous in their of the closest pards of Buffalo Bill Cody, arguably theway. Tiana Rogers, a relative of his father Clem\'s, was King of the Wild West shows. Returning home, theSam Houston\'s second, common-law wife during young man got into the Vaudeville circuit, starring onthe "big drunk" time he spent out in the Cherokee Broadway as a Cowboy "trick rider" and comic. HisNation. And his Aunt, his mother\'s sister Martha, reputation was such that within a couple of years ofwould become the grandmother of another famous roping and riding his horse on stage, he was offeredCowboy actor. You see, Martha Schrimsher Gulager, a prestigious position in the famed "Ziegfeld Follies."Will\'s aunt was the grandmother of Clu Gulager, He left Broadway, moved to Hollywood, branched outwho portrayed Billy the Kid on "The Tall Man" and to movies, and for a time he would become the biggestDeputy Sheriff Emmet Ryker on "The Virginian." box office star in Hollywood, starring in both "silent"This made William Martin (Clu) Gulager and Will and "talkies" movies. first cousins. Clu Gulager himself is part-Cherokee, and Clu was his Cherokee nickname that stuck with The man wasn\'t just an ordinary trick rider, comic,him throughout his still ongoing acting career.or Cowboy actor. He was a "triple threat" in acting,On his 1893 trip to the Chicago World Fair, stage, and yes, as a writer whose wit captivatedWill\'s eldest son, Will Rogers Jr. who very muchWill loved seeing the Buffalo Bill Wild America. He became quite known by rich and poorresembled his dad and was a fairly good roperWest Show, but the one thing that had him for his folksy wit and wisdom which he wouldhimself would become a U.S. Congressman from parlay every morning for a decade in the biggestCalifornia, a decorated World War II veteran, amesmerized was the featured trick ropingnewspapers in the country - not bad for a boy whonewspaper publisher, and a moderately successfulof Mexico\'s Vincente Oropeza. fled high school. One of his most famous sayingsactor portraying his father in the movie "The Story of was "All I Know is What I Read in the Papers"Will Rogers." Will Rogers Jr. would retire to Arizona, which was often changed to "All I used to knowsettle in Tubac, and die here. He is buried in theWild West show touring British South Africa in the I read in the papers" (P.J. O\'Brien, Will RogersTubac cemetery. wake of the Boer War. Texas Jack, by the way, was none Ambassador of Good Will, Prince of Wit and Wisdom,other than Texas Jack Omohundro Jr. The adopted son (self-published), 1935, p. 121; Will Rogers, TheLike his close friend the artist Charlie Russell,and namesake of Buffalo Bill\'s stage partner and friend Autobiography of Will Rogers, edited by Donald Day,Rogers attended a military school his father, likeTexas Jack Omohundro.People\'s Book Club, Chicago, Illinois, 1935, p. 118). Russell\'s, sent him to, and like Russell, he hated it so much that he ran away, back to his ranch and hisBefore he became famous Rogers would ride ranges He would more often than not open up his dailydisappointed father. and share rope tricks with audiences of another soon-columns with that saying or a derivative of such - to-be-famous Cowboy by the name of Tom Mix."All I Know I Read in the Papers." HisQuite unusual for a Cowboy is the fact name was Will Rogers, and he was anWill disliked firearms, stemming fromReturning home, Rogers was hired on Broadway to Indian Cowboy from the prairies ofan accident he had during a break frombe their token Cowboy, just told to ride and rope Oklahoma. He was America\'s "Cowboymilitary school when while showing offon stage but his folksy wit and his skill at crinoline Philosopher" beloved by millions ofhis rifle skills to friends and family theroping caught the attention of the famed Florenz Americans in good times and bad andgun discharged, grazing his foreheadZiegfeld, and he became a major star in the renowned mourned by so many throughout theand leaving him scarred for life. "Ziegfeld\'s Follies." Eventually, he became a bigger star world who never even knew the manthan the famed producer but he never forgot how he first hand when he died in that tragicRogers learned his famous rope tricksgot his start, and when Ziegfeld died, almost broke, it air crash. from a Black Cowboy working onwas Will Rogers who paid the funeral bills and took his father\'s ranch. He would latercare of Ziegfeld\'s widow, the actress Billie Burke.Think you know Will Rogers? hone his skills watching the Mexican Guess Again. rope champion, Vicente OropezaHe was, for a short time, the Mayor of Beverlydemonstrate his world-famousHills, California.Although he was only 1/32 Cherokee,roping skills in the Buffalo Bill Wild he was extremely proud of his NativeWest show at the Chicago World\'sRogers almost became President of the United StatesAmerican heritage, often commentingFair in 1893. in 1932. He was much more popular with Americans about it in the papers, at lectures, Texas Jackthan Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the entire and dinners. Omohundro Jr. Leaving home just barely past his teens,delegation of his home state of Oklahoma unanimously Rogers signed on to join the Texas Jackvoted for his nomination. Others were ready to follow 44 January 2021'