b'suit, but it was Rogers himself who stopped the nomination process, saying The (Untold) Story of Will Rogers that while it was a great honor he was not qualified nor did he want the job (Bryan B. Sterling and Frances N. Sterling, Will Original image from the collection of P.W. ButlerRogers: A Photo-Biography, Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas, 1999, pp. 197-198).At one point in his life, Rogers was not only arguably the most famous actor in early post-Silent Hollywood, but he was Virgil Earp, Tom Mix and Will Rogers also arguably the best-paid as well.At a stopover at an Oklahoma railway station, Rogers overheard the young telegraph officer singing and playing his guitar. Deeply impressed by the singer\'s voice, Rogers told the telegraph officer that he should seriously consider work as a professional singer. Encouraged by Rogers, that telegraph officer went to New York as Rogers once did, then went to Hollywood as Rogers once did - and the rest is Cowboy history. The name of that singing telegraph officer was Gene Autry.Rogers loved to converse with people of all races, religions, and creeds. No surprise that his friends were very diverse, from Cowboys like Charlie Russell and Tom Mix, to aviators like Billy Mitchell and Wiley Post, and actors like William S. Hart, the comedian Eddie Cantor (a close friend), and Stepin\' Fetchet. The last two were Jewish and Black respectively, but that made no difference whatsoever to this modest Cowboy from Oklahoma. He could easily keep a conversation up with a little child or a man on the streets as he could with a king or a president.Rogers was a very conservative Democrat from Oklahoma who was a very firm and stern advocate of a strong American military (he certainly would not be welcome in today\'s Democratic Party), particularly a strong Air Force. He loved Aviation, and in the end, his passion for flight would lead to his untimely, tragic death. He was mourned by millions in America and not a few throughout the world when news of the Alaska crash hit the headlines.Maybe I should stop here, before the story is just plain bullet facts, for there was so much more to Will Rogers, so much more. It was Will Rogers who represented America before there ever was a John Wayne, the Old West, and the "new" Hollywood to so many folks worldwide.HIS EARLY LIFEWill Rogers was born William Penn Adair Rogers on November 4, 1879,named not for William Penn but for a Cherokee Chieftain who was Will\'sfather\'s commanding officer in Stand Watie\'s famed Confederate Rifles. Whileit might be romantic to say that Will was born poor and destitute, then rose to riches and fame, that wouldn\'t quite be true. However, while his father Clem became a relatively prosperous rancher in the Oklahoma territory who helpeddraft the Oklahoma State Constitution, he was profoundly affected by that same Indian Removal Act of 1830, enacted by President Andrew Jackson, so bitterly opposed by Davy Crockett, which led directly to the infamous "Trail of Tears." As early arrivals, the Rogers family may have been spared many of the horrors and hardships of the mass exodus that began eight years later which witnessed so many thousands of Cherokee dying of disease, starvation, and heartbreak. They were not however spared from the internecine "civil war" within the Cherokee nation between those who acquiesced to the harsh terms of the treaty and sought accommodation with U.S. authorities and those who resisted the removal act and viewed those who submitted as traitors to the tribe. Led by the firebrand Chief John Ross, these elements sought out those who chose accommodation, burned their homes, and in not a few cases killed them. One of the victims was the grandfather Will Rogers never knew - the quarter-blood Robert Rogers Jr, murdered by the followers of Ross.Clem Rogers was not even four years old when this tragedy occurred. By the time he turned 21 he was already doing quite well as a rancher with a herd of cattle and what was then a sign of wealth and influence in the Indian Territory two Black slaves. continued on page 46ArizonaRealCountry.com January 2021 45'