b'Rogers continued from page 45Rogers himself said his father was "pretty well-fixed" (Will Rogers, The Autobiography of Will Rogers, editedWill Rogers was born into a fairly affluent Cherokee by Donald Day, Peoples\' Book Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1949, p. 5). The events of the Indian Removalfamily. Rogers was immensely proud of his Indian Act and its consequences, especially the murder of his birth dad, stayed with him throughout his lifetimeheritage, often telling banquet attendees "My folks didnt (Ibid., Sterling & Sterling, p. 5). The bitterness, the wounds that never healed of the events of the "Trailcome over on the Mayflowerthey met \'em at the boat."of Tears" and the Cherokee Civil War haunted the Rogers family from generation to generation. Its instigator, President Andrew Jackson was particularly reviled and cursed by the Cherokee. 90 years after thevery scary visit to the ranch one evening while Clemand his wife Babe, and as a young boy, he spent much forced removal, Will Rogers was asked to speak at theRogers was away. According to Betty Rogers: of his free time at their cabin on the Rogers ranch, Democratic Party\'s annual Jackson Day dinner, andespecially when his father was away.in one of his less humorous remarks, addressed the"Of all the outlaws, the dark and sullen Cherokee topic of Andrew Jackson in his folksy manner but a tadBill was the most desperate and the most dreaded.Rogers learned at a very early age to be racially tolerant more bluntly than his usual ways: He came from Fort Gibson and was a cruel andand thus, be respectful of others. As he would write (in vicious killer. One night when Will was home onthe vernacular of the times) in later life, "Darkies raised "They call it a Jackson Day Dinner. I made the mistakevacation from one or another of his numerousme. I wasn\'t only raised among Darkies down in the of my life. I went there with a speech prepared aboutschools, he and a couple of ranch hands were eatingIndian Territory but I was raised by them. And Lord, Jackson, telling "how he stood like a stone wall" andsupper. "Uncle" Clem was away from home. TheI was five years old out at the ranch before I ever knew here it wasn\'t that Jackson that they were using as andoor slowly opened and Cherokee Bill walked intothere was a white child" (Ibid).alibi to give the dinner to. It was old "Andy" Jackson.the dimly lighted room. He pulled out a chair, sat Well, to tell you the truth, I am not so sweet on olddown at the table, and said, "Willie, I\'m going toIf there was one thing Clem Rogers did that tookAndy. He is the one who run us Cherokee out ofhave supper with you." No one made a move or saidhis son\'s mind off his mother\'s untimely death, Georgia and North Carolina. I ate the dinner on him,a word. Cherokee Bill didn\'t want to talk and theit was a little trip he made with Will to the 1893 but I didn\'t enjoy it" (Ibid., p.4). boys were too frightened to make a sound. WhenChicago World Fair. The Buffalo Bill Wild West Cherokee Bill got up to leave he said, "I want a goodShow was in town, and Clem took Will to the show. The young Rogers would like to say that he was bornhorse; mine is leg-weary. Take good care of him andWill loved the show and loved seeing Buffalo Bill, in a log cabin, but that "log cabin" was anything butI\'ll be back and get him someday." but the one thing that had him mesmerized was the a rudimentary cabin. It was a two-story "log cabin"featured trick roping of Mexico\'s Vincente Oropeza. white house ranch home overlooking the VerdigrisWhen the outlaw had galloped off, the boys went outOropeza was said to be the greatest roper in the River. Rogers was immensely proud of his Indianto see which horse he had chosen. Cherokee Bill knewworld, and all that Will had learned from "Uncle" heritage, often telling banquet attendees "My folksa good horse when he saw one and had picked theDan Walker paled in comparison to the crinoline didnt come over on the Mayflowerthey met \'em atbest pony on the ranch (naturally it was Will\'s - myroping and all of the other intricate tricks Oropeza the boat" (Ibid., p. 1)! note). Early one morning a few weeks later when thepulled off. As a result of this experience, Will was boys went to the corral, they found that Cherokee Billhooked on roping, and his schoolwork, such as it Will Rogers was born into a fairly affluent Cherokeehad been there during the night. His horse was gonewas, suffered as a result.family. Clem Rogers, having fought on the losing sideand Will\'s horse tired and lame from hard riding was during the Civil War, returning to the Indian Territorystanding in the corral with the others. It was not longConcerned about Will\'s future, an exasperated to find his home burned to the ground, his slavesafterward that Cherokee Bill was caught and hanged"Clem Rogers sent his wayward youngest son to the and his cattle gone, was a resilient man. Together(Betty Rogers, Will Rogers, University of OklahomaKemper Military Academy in Booneville, Missouri. with his wife Mary America Schrimsher Rogers, of aPress, Norman and London, 1989, pp.31-32). There Will, just barely sixteen, found that as much prominent German-American-Cherokee family, Clemas he loved the uniforms, he hated the discipline of rebuilt everything from scratch, andThe notorious outlaw-turned- the military academy. He shared a mutual dislike of by the time Will, the last of the eightlawman who betrayed Cherokee Billthe rigid structure of military academy and a shared children was born, he was a force to bewas the part-Cherokee himself Ikewanderlust of going out on his own as did a future reckoned with, both in the CherokeeRogers. It is highly likely, thoughvery close friend, the famed Western artist Charlie Nation and in Indian Territory politics.there is no record this writer hasRussell, who too wanted to seek out a new life in the come across, that he was related toOld West and whose desperate parents had sent him Being ambitious himself, Clem RogersClem and Will Rogers. Ike Rogersto a military academy in the vain hope that it would hoped his son would want to followhimself was gunned down byalso instill some discipline into young Charlie.in his footsteps, so he encouraged theCherokee Bill\'s vengeful brother young boy to seek out the educationseveral years later. Rogers would chaff for just two years under the harsh he didn\'t have. School and Will Rogersconditions of Kemper until, without notifying his were like oil and water. They didn\'tWhen at 10, Will\'s beloved motherfather, he fled from the military academy to a family mix too well. Rogers discovered at anMary died, he felt even more alonefriend\'s ranch south in Texas. As he would later put it, early age the joy of riding and roping,in the world. He drifted even more"I spent two years at Kemper, one in the guardhouse the cattle drive, the (then) openover the next few years, eschewingand one in the fourth grade" (Ketchum, Will Rogers Oklahoma prairies. Rogers himselfa proper education in pursuit ofand his Times, p.44)was born in the Indian Territory nearthe things he excelled at - sports, Claremore, Oklahoma, just a crow\'sriding, and other outdoor activitiesFor the next several years Rogers worked at various straight-line flight 40 miles southincluding a penchant for roping,ranches and participated in several trail drives. Rogers from Coffeyville, Kansas - where thewhich he initially learned under thewould briefly return home, to a warm reconciliation Daltons committed their fatal bank- tutelage of a Black Cowboy workingwith his father, and a chance meeting with a young robbing blunder that took place duringfor Clem Rogers, a former slavegal of 17 at the Claremore train depot (whom, after a the young Will\'s preadolescent years.alternately known as "Uncle Dan"period of unusual shyness, he wooed singing "Hello Both the Doolin-Daltons and the Cookor "Big Dan Walker" (Richard M.My Baby, Hello My Honey, Hello My Ragtime Gal") Gang committed their depredationsKetchup, Will Rogers and his Times,who would forever change his life, but for the time not far from the Rogers home. In fact,American Heritage Publishingbeing he realized he wasn\'t cut out to stay on a ranch, according to Will\'s wife Betty, the mostCompany, New York, 1973, p. 37;the wanderlust had gotten to him. Intrigued by an notorious member of the Cook gang,Crawford "CherokeeSterling, Bryan & Frances, Willoffer to rope steers in Argentina, 21-year-old Will "Cherokee Bill" Goldsby, himself just aBill" Goldsby Rogers, A Photo-Biography, pp. 9-10).Rogers went off to see the world.couple of years older than Will, paid aThe young Rogers loved Dan Walker 46 January 2021'