Okla-homey
8/15/2006, 05:23 AM
August 15, 1935 Oklahomans Will Rogers and Wiley Post killed in plane crash
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Will
71 years ago on this day in 1935, beloved actor and humorist Will Rogers died in a plane crash near Barrow, Alaska while flying with his friend and fellow Okie, aviation pioneer Wiley Post. They had planned to overfly the North Pole and were departing on their last leg of that mission when they were lost.
There will be a wreath-laying in commemoration at Will's place in Claremore.
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/2923/rogerspostlastphoto0ys.jpg
Last known photo of Will and Wiley, taken just prior to take-off on the morning of their death, 15 August 1935.
Rogers, born in 1879 in Oklahoma Territory -- 28 years before Oklahoma became a state-- Rogers became an immensely popular entertainer in the early 1900s. An expert rider and roper since childhood, Rogers took at job herding pack animals and transporting them from Argentina to South Africa for use by the British in the Boer War. It was in Africa that he honed his roping skills. He later traveled abroad with a Wild West show. Later, he appeared at fairs and vaudeville shows, sprinkling his riding and trick roping act act with his gentle, folksy humor.
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Monument to Will and Wiley placed near the "Will Rogers-Wiley Post Airport" terminal in Barrow AK. There are stone plinths at the site of the crash, but since no roads lead out there, it was decided to place the main interpretive monument in Barrrow.
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/4742/postrogerscover26gq.jpg
The monument was purchased by funds raised through the sale of these postal covers for .50 each in 1938.
In 1912, Rogers began appearing in musical comedies, and by 1917 he was starring in the Ziegfeld Follies. His folk wisdom won the hearts of the nation. He appeared in a few early films, but silent movies failed to do justice to his verbal talents.
With the dawn of talking pictures in the late 1920s, Rogers became a top box-office draw. His films included Happy Days (1929), A Connecticut Yankee (1929), and Ambassador Bill (1931). In 1930, William S. Paley persuaded Rogers to try radio. Although Rogers was skeptical of the medium and disliked the microphone, his 12-episode show- full of his trademark humor and thoughtful political observations -was a hit.
Later, he returned to radio, hosting Gulf Headliners in the early 1930s. Two of his films which had been finished just prior to his polar expedition with his friend Wiley Post, were released after Rogers' death. Rogers is considered by most entertainment historians to be among the top three most popular stars in Hollywood in the early 1930's.
Rogers declined a nomination as governor of Oklahoma but later served as mayor of Beverly Hills.
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/1489/lastfarewell4pc.jpg
An artist's rendering of Will and Wiley's departure on the that fateful morning in Wiley's heavily modified Lockheed "Sirius." -- normally a land plane, Post had added floats, replaced the factory engine with one more powerful, added a three-blade, variable pitch prop, increased the length of the factory wings and added internal fuel tanks to increase range. Some have opined these mods probably led to the crash -- particularly, a dangerous fuel imbalance caused by a fatal error in fuel tank management enroute that morning. No one knows for sure.
As regular "Good Morning" readers know, Wiley Post was a leading aviation expert in an era when folks were still trying to decide if flying would ever be more than a mere novelty. Post was the first man to fly solo around the world.
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/6497/untitled5kf.png
As you can see, Barrow AK is at the very northern tip of Alaska.
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/4383/insane7zo5bp.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4804/will20rogers1je.jpg
Will
71 years ago on this day in 1935, beloved actor and humorist Will Rogers died in a plane crash near Barrow, Alaska while flying with his friend and fellow Okie, aviation pioneer Wiley Post. They had planned to overfly the North Pole and were departing on their last leg of that mission when they were lost.
There will be a wreath-laying in commemoration at Will's place in Claremore.
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/2923/rogerspostlastphoto0ys.jpg
Last known photo of Will and Wiley, taken just prior to take-off on the morning of their death, 15 August 1935.
Rogers, born in 1879 in Oklahoma Territory -- 28 years before Oklahoma became a state-- Rogers became an immensely popular entertainer in the early 1900s. An expert rider and roper since childhood, Rogers took at job herding pack animals and transporting them from Argentina to South Africa for use by the British in the Boer War. It was in Africa that he honed his roping skills. He later traveled abroad with a Wild West show. Later, he appeared at fairs and vaudeville shows, sprinkling his riding and trick roping act act with his gentle, folksy humor.
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/7892/wiley20post20memorial19oq.jpg
Monument to Will and Wiley placed near the "Will Rogers-Wiley Post Airport" terminal in Barrow AK. There are stone plinths at the site of the crash, but since no roads lead out there, it was decided to place the main interpretive monument in Barrrow.
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/4742/postrogerscover26gq.jpg
The monument was purchased by funds raised through the sale of these postal covers for .50 each in 1938.
In 1912, Rogers began appearing in musical comedies, and by 1917 he was starring in the Ziegfeld Follies. His folk wisdom won the hearts of the nation. He appeared in a few early films, but silent movies failed to do justice to his verbal talents.
With the dawn of talking pictures in the late 1920s, Rogers became a top box-office draw. His films included Happy Days (1929), A Connecticut Yankee (1929), and Ambassador Bill (1931). In 1930, William S. Paley persuaded Rogers to try radio. Although Rogers was skeptical of the medium and disliked the microphone, his 12-episode show- full of his trademark humor and thoughtful political observations -was a hit.
Later, he returned to radio, hosting Gulf Headliners in the early 1930s. Two of his films which had been finished just prior to his polar expedition with his friend Wiley Post, were released after Rogers' death. Rogers is considered by most entertainment historians to be among the top three most popular stars in Hollywood in the early 1930's.
Rogers declined a nomination as governor of Oklahoma but later served as mayor of Beverly Hills.
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/1489/lastfarewell4pc.jpg
An artist's rendering of Will and Wiley's departure on the that fateful morning in Wiley's heavily modified Lockheed "Sirius." -- normally a land plane, Post had added floats, replaced the factory engine with one more powerful, added a three-blade, variable pitch prop, increased the length of the factory wings and added internal fuel tanks to increase range. Some have opined these mods probably led to the crash -- particularly, a dangerous fuel imbalance caused by a fatal error in fuel tank management enroute that morning. No one knows for sure.
As regular "Good Morning" readers know, Wiley Post was a leading aviation expert in an era when folks were still trying to decide if flying would ever be more than a mere novelty. Post was the first man to fly solo around the world.
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/6497/untitled5kf.png
As you can see, Barrow AK is at the very northern tip of Alaska.
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/4383/insane7zo5bp.jpg