Clem Rogers in State of
Sequoyah Centennial Exhibit

Rogers County was named for Clement Vann Rogers, who was a member of the Sequoyah statehood convention in 1905 and the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention two years later.       A photo and information about Rogers is in a Cherokee National Museum exhibit to be displayed through Oct. 5 at the Cherokee Heritage Center. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday from 1-5 p.m.       The current exhibit, one of the Museum’s rotating exhibits, shows how “passionate the Five Civilized Tribes were for maintaining control of their people’s future in government health and economy in the Indian Territory,” according to Mikel Yantz, curator. “The Sequoyah Convention had a huge influence on the convention that would establish the state of Oklahoma. The constitution, seal and leaders of the Sequoyah Convention were all used for Oklahoma.”       The exhibit is a learning tool for Oklahomans and visitors to learn about the tribes — Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw and Seminole and the role they had in the formation of Oklahoma. In fact, not many know the five tribes were for the creation of a separate state known as the State of Sequoyah.       Yantz said the exhibit has numerous photographs of Indian Territory at the time of the 1905 convention as well as people who had major roles in the convention and the Sequoyah constitution.       Clem Rogers was born Jan. 11, 1839 near Westville, Indian Territory. His parents had moved from Georgia to Arkansas Territory in 1832, then to Westville. Educated in the Cherokee Nation, he married Mary America Schrimsher in 1858 and pioneered a ranch and trading post in the Cooweescoowee District about 15 miles northwest of the present Claremore.       Clem Rogers was a district judge and served five terms in the Cherokee Senate. After his wife’s death in 1890, he moved to Claremore and was active in local government, banking, business and investments. He served as the town’s first treasurer.       He died Oct. 28, 1911 while visiting his daughters in Chelsea and is buried in the Chelsea cemetery.       Their home still stands two miles northeast of Oologah and is the centerpiece of the Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch, open to the public 365 days a year.       More information about the Sequoyah Exhibit is available on the Cherokee Heritage Center website or by calling 888-999-6007.