Imperial Valley press., 1932-09-20
Continued from Page p
Chapter III
EARLY STAGES

Wv YILL ROGERS is distinctly pro-
W. duct of the Southwest. His
W father, Clem V. Rogers, owned
horse and cattle ranch and was a men,
Der of the convention that drafted the
present constitution of the state of Ok
lahoma. Thus Will Rogers was born
with legitimate interest both in polo
ponies and politics.
Will was born November 4, 1879, in
Oolagah, United States Cherokee Ind
ian Territory, and as he describes the
event today. hfty-two years later, 1T
was very private affair"
OF his forbears he says that they
were just an old Texan family, and not
bad American stock. My father was
part Cherokee Indian and SO was my
mother
Bpth his grandmother and great
grandmother were full-blooded Chero-
KEGS, although somehow Will Rogers
mother was called Mary Schrimpsher,
plainly not an Indian name.
Over his grandparents Will Rogers
wakes mildly enthusiastic.
Course their folks way back didn't
come over on the Mayfower-they were
just standing there when it docked. As
a matter of fact, the biggest mistake my
ancestors made was lettin' them land.'
Will was christened William Penn
Adair Rogers and for all his hamboy-
antly poetic name, most of his boyhood
and early manhood was passed on his
fathers ranch where he became an ex.
pert cow-puncher and lariat thrower
What little schooling he obtained was
at the William Hassell School at Ne,
osho, Missouri, and at the Kemper Mil.
itary Academy at Bonneville, Missouri
The latter institution he attended fol
part of two tesms.
His horse sense which since has made
him famous could not be confined tc
the four walls of school room anc
if his hand was bit unsteady in read
in, writin', and 'rithmetic, he was ar
expert cow-hand.
Being gifted with an unlimited fund
of good nature and a sense of humor
he was always the center of an admir-.
ing group of cowboys who rocked with
laughter at bis incessant flow of jest:
and yarns.
Coupling his knowledge of cattle
and horses, Will Rogers soon found
himself successively in the Argentine
in New Zealand and in Australia. One
of his early hobbies consisted in work.
ing out unusual and difficult feats with
his lasso, and while engaged in such at
tempts he was in the habit of cracking
jokes at the expense of himself and his
pals. Before long he found he could
afford Others amusement as we'll as re.
creation for himself. Thus, when he
returned to this country he was soon
doing his stuff in public with Colonel
Zachary Miller's Wild West Show on
the pike at the St. Louis Worlds Fair
in 1904.
Ultimately Zach Miller's show came
to New York and it was then that Will
Rogers first burst out into the sensation.
al print which has since travelled every
where with him. The Wild West Show
was holding forth one night in the now
demolished old Madison Square Garden
when steer broke loose, jumped ovel
the rails and before anyone realized it
was charging furiously at the audience
Here was a situation made to order
for the master of the lariat, and at that
crucial moment up jumped Will Rogers
His lariat went spinning through the
air and the enraged beast tumbled over
Such Wild West entertainment was
juicy fare for the morning papers and
so widespread was the publicity at.