Will gets new kick out of aviation
Will’s first cross-country flight with Roscoe Turner, 1933
Clement Vann Rogers
“CHELSEA –– I got the real kick of my life out of aviation today. Left western Kansas and flew down to Oklahoma and landed right on the old ranch I was born on. First machine was ever in here. When I was raised here, I never thought there would be anything faster than a horse get in there.
I ask you and plead with you again, you luncheon clubbers, will you please paint the name of your town on top of your building? I will pay for the paint if you will do it. We were lost today, and all the towns of Kansas had no names we could make out till we got to Bartlesville, Okla., who had their name out.
Are you ashamed of your town?
Yours, Will Rogers” …Daily Telegram, Tuesday, May 1, 1928
Will Rogers Chronology shows him landing at the home place and visiting that night with his sisters’ family, Tom and Sally McSpadden, and visiting his nephew Gunter Lane, father of Doris “Coke” Meyer of Claremore. The Lanes lived in the home of Will’s sister Maude Lane until 1929 when they moved to Bartlesville.
Imagine Will’s thrill if he could see planes dropping down out of the sky over the ranch home on Aug. 17 when more than 50 pilots of vintage aircraft, new and homemade planes, ultralights and helicopters taxi down the 2,000 foot grass strip, stepping out at the front door of the house where he was born.
Pilots from a four-state area showcase their planes and renew friendships with kindred aviation enthusiasts as they pay tribute to Will Rogers and his friend Wiley Post.
Planes start landing about 8:30 a.m. and continue throughout the early part of the morning. Spectators can get a close-up look at the planes and visit pilots.
Born to a landed Indian Territory Cherokee family, Will Rogers rose to fame and fortune on stage and movie theater. He was aviation’s biggest booster of his time. Flying allowed him to visit his Oklahoma kinfolk often. Ironically he perished in a plane crash — Aug. 15, 1935.
Unveiling of a monument by Hollister Monument to Will Rogers father, Clement Vann Rogers, will highlight the Aug. 17 honor to Will and Wiley. A huge stone emblazoned with a likeness of Clem Rogers and a legend of from his birth to death is near the ranch house.
An Oklahoma Centennial project, the monument is on the grounds of the house he built for his family in 1870, He was a successful farmer-rancher, served as a judge and Cherokee senator, negotiated with the Dawes Commission and was elected the eldest delegate to the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention in 1907. Rogers County was named in his honor.
After his wife’s death he moved to Claremore where he was active in local government, banking, business and investments. He was Claremore’s first treasurer.
Other family members in unveiling the monument will join descendants of Rogers, including Doris “Coke” Meyer, his grandniece, and the oldest living grandchild of his sisters.
On a more somber note, a wreath-laying ceremony will be on Friday, Aug. 15, anniversary of the Alaskan plane crash that claimed Will and Wiley.
Lt. Gov. Jari Askins will speak and join family members in placing the wreath at the family tomb.
Fly-in weekend activities include:
Friday, Aug. 15
10:30 a.m.: Wreath-laying at family tomb in the sunken gardens, Will Rogers Memorial; Reception following, Memorial Lodge
Flyover by Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Kirby
Saturday, Aug. 16
2 p.m.: Will Rogers Memorial Commission quarterly meeting, Will Rogers Memorial Museum Administration Office
3 p.m.: Will Rogers Heritage quarterly meeting, Will Rogers Memorial Museum Administration Office
Sunday, Aug. 17
Will Rogers -Wiley Post Fly-In
Will Rogers Birthday Ranch Oologah (Airport Identifier OK37)
8:30 a.m.: Planes start to land on grass strip, adjacent to Will Rogers’ birthplace
Entertainment by “Gaylord Family”
9 a.m.: Dedication of Clem Rogers Monument
Presentation of colors by Civil Air Patrol youth group
National Anthem by Mary West of Oologah
Unveiling by Rogers Family
Breakfast by Darlene’s Café of Oologah available for purchase
Giveaway: Pedal John Deere tractor; open to children ages to 12
(must be present to win)
Free and open to the public (bring your lawn chair)
Fly-In sponsored by Cherokee Casino-Will Rogers Downs
For information call 918-341-071