Will Rogers Birthplace | |
Location | Rogers County, Oklahoma, U.S. |
---|---|
Nearest city | 9501 E. 380 Rd., Oologah, Oklahoma |
Coordinates | 36°28′10″N95°39′26″W / 36.46944°N 95.65722°W |
Area | 1,536 square feet (142.7 m2) |
Built | 1875 [1] |
Architectural style | Greek Revival [1] |
NRHP reference No. | 70000538 [2] |
Added to NRHP | September 29, 1970 |
Dog Iron Ranch is a historic ranch located about two miles east of Oologah, Oklahoma, United States. The birthplace of humorist Will Rogers, it was donated to the State of Oklahoma by the Rogers family, and is now owned and operated by the Cherokee Nation. The current property comprises 400 acres (1.6 km2) of the original 60,000-acre (240 km2) ranch operated by Clem Rogers, Will's father, a prominent cattle rancher and Cherokee politician. Originally the ranch contained up to 10,000 Texas Longhorn cattle. The present ranch has 50 Longhorns. [1]
Clem Rogers built the two-story Greek Revival house in 1875, four years before his famous son Will was born, and lived there until his wife died in 1890. The first floor is constructed of native oak, hickory and walnut logs. It measures 48 feet (15 m) by 32 feet (9.8 m), covering an area of 1,536 square feet (142.7 m2). Originally the two front rooms were each 16 feet (4.9 m) square, separated by a dog trot that was later enclosed to make a foyer. The downstairs rooms were used as a parlor and a master bedroom that also served as Clem Rogers' office. A lean-to addition comprised the kitchen, dining room and a spare bedroom. The upstairs part over the "front rooms" had two more bedrooms. [1]
Clem Rogers was highly influential in local politics; the house served not only as a family residence, but represented a seat of local political power, often called "The White House on the Verdigris." [1] [a]
The present barn was erected on July 17, 1993, by two dozen Amish carpenters who knew the traditional notch and peg type of construction that was commonly employed in the 19th century. However, the peak roof is covered with asphalt shingles instead of wooden shakes for greater fire safety. The new barn is 48 feet (15 m) by 64 feet (20 m), instead of 50 feet (15 m) by 60 feet (18 m) for economic reasons. The original barn and possibly two replacements had been destroyed by wildfires. The current barn has traditional stalls, and also includes a classroom area usable as an eating area. [1]
The house where Will Rogers was born was moved about a mile [3] in the 1960s to its present site on the ranch due to the building of the nearby Lake Oologah reservoir.
On March 7, 2016, Governor Mary Fallin signed Senate Bill 1570 into law, effective immediately, which put the Will Rogers Memorial Commission, which governed both the Will Rogers Memorial Museum and the Dog Iron Ranch, under the control of the Oklahoma Historical Society. [4] Ownership of the Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch was transferred to the Cherokee Nation on June 12, 2023; [5] [6] it is open to visitors.
The property known as Will Rogers Ranch in Pacific Palisades was purchased by the actor in the early 1930s after Rogers moved to California. It became the Will Rogers State Historic Park (a California State Park) in 1944. [7]
The Texas Longhorn is an American breed of beef cattle, characterized by its long horns, which can span more than 8 ft (2.4 m) from tip to tip. It derives from cattle brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors from the time of the Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus until about 1512. For hundreds of years the cattle lived a semi-feral existence on the rangelands; they have a higher tolerance of heat and drought than most European breeds. It can be of any color or mix of colors.
Rogers County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,240, making it the sixth-most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Claremore. Rogers County is included in the Tulsa, OK metropolitan statistical area.
Nowata County is a county located in northeastern Oklahoma, United States, on the Kansas border. As of the 2020 census, its population is 9,320. Its county seat is Nowata. Their name is derived from a Delaware word, no-we-ata, meaning "come here" or "welcome".
Chelsea is a town in Rogers County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,964 at the 2010 census, a decline of 8.3 percent from the figure of 2,136 recorded in 2000. Chelsea was named after the area in London, England, by Charles Peach, a railroad official who was a native of London. The town was the site of the Chelsea-Alluwe Oil Field, which produced a significant amount of oil from circa 1910 until the early 1920s, before it played out. Will Rogers attended a subscription school on Cherokee Land in Chelsea.
Claremore is a city in and the county seat of Rogers County in northeastern Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,580 at the 2020 census, a 5.4 percent increase over the figure of 18,581 recorded in 2010. Located in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is home of Rogers State University and is part of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area.
Oologah is a town in Rogers County, Oklahoma, United States. Renowned humorist Will Rogers was born on a ranch two miles east of Oologah, although he usually claimed Claremore as his birthplace "because nobody but an Indian can pronounce 'Oologah.'" There has been disagreement about the proper spelling for the town name. The official spelling is now Oologah. It was often spelled Oolagah before statehood, and this spelling appears on some old buildings.
William Penn Adair Rogers was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory, and is known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son". As an entertainer and humorist, he traveled around the world three times, made 71 films, and wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns. By the mid-1930s, Rogers was hugely popular in the United States for his leading political wit and was the highest paid of Hollywood film stars. He died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post when their small airplane crashed in northern Alaska.
The Chief Vann House is the first brick residence in the Cherokee Nation, and has been called the "Showplace of the Cherokee Nation". Owned by the Cherokee Chief James Vann, the Vann House is a Georgia Historic Site on the National Register of Historic Places and one of the oldest remaining structures in the northern third of the state of Georgia. It is located in Murray County, on the outskirts of Chatsworth in northwest Georgia, which has a commanding view of the land around it and of the Cohutta Mountains, about 10 miles (16 km) to the east.
The Verdigris River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. It is about 310 miles (500 km) long. Via the Arkansas, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.
Clem Rogers McSpadden was an American rodeo announcer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District for one full term from 1973 to 1975. Prior to his election to the U.S. House, McSpadden was a member of the Oklahoma Senate between 1954 and 1972. He was the grandnephew of Oklahoma comedian and actor Will Rogers.
The Tulsa metropolitan area, officially defined as the Tulsa metropolitan statistical area is a metropolis in northeastern Oklahoma centered around the city of Tulsa and encompassing Tulsa, Rogers, Wagoner, Osage, Creek, Okmulgee and Pawnee counties. It had a population of 1,044,757 according to the 2023 U.S. census estimates.
Lake Oologah is a reservoir in northeastern Oklahoma. It is located near the towns of Oologah, Nowata, and Claremore. The lake has a surface of 29,500 acres (119 km2) of water and 209 miles (336 km) of shoreline with 11 lake-side parks. The water storage capacity is rated as 552,210 acre-feet (681,140,000 m3). The lake is formed along the Verdigris River, and is a source of water for the Tulsa Metropolitan Area. The purpose of the dam and lake is flood control, water supply, navigation, recreation, and fish and wildlife.
The Sierra Bonita Ranch, founded in 1872 by Henry C. Hooker, is one of the oldest cattle ranches in the United States and the ranch buildings have been designated a National Historic Landmark. It was the first permanent American cattle ranch in Arizona. Hooker bought neighboring ranches until his operation became the largest ranch in Arizona, totaling 800 square miles (2,100 km2), or about 30 by 27 miles. It is located in Sulphur Springs Valley about 27 miles (43 km) north of present-day Willcox, Arizona. The modern ranch is much smaller but is still operational and owned by Jesse Hooker Davis, the sixth generation to live and work on the ranch.
The Rio Grande Ranch Headquarters Historic District is a historic one-story residence located 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Okay in Wagoner County, Oklahoma. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places September 9, 1992. The site's Period of Significance is 1910 to 1935, and it qualified for listing under NRHP criteria A and C.
The Will Rogers Memorial Museum is a 19,052-square-foot (1,770 m2) museum in Claremore, Oklahoma that memorializes entertainer Will Rogers. The museum houses artifacts, memorabilia, photographs, and manuscripts pertaining to Rogers' life, and documentaries, speeches, and movies starring Rogers are shown in a theater. Rogers' tomb is located on its 20-acre (8 ha) grounds overlooking Claremore and Rogers State University.
The Cunningham Cabin is a double-pen log cabin in Grand Teton National Park in the US state of Wyoming. It was built as a homestead in Jackson Hole and represents an adaptation of an Appalachian building form to the West. The cabin was built just south of Spread Creek by John Pierce Cunningham, who arrived in Jackson Hole in 1885 and subsisted as a trapper until he established the Bar Flying U Ranch in 1888. The Cunninghams left the valley for Idaho in 1928, when land was being acquired for the future Grand Teton National Park.
Clement Vann Rogers was an cattle baron and prominent Cherokee politician and judge in Indian Territory. Clem Rogers' parents were both mixed-blood Cherokees who moved to Indian Territory in 1832, several years before the Trail of Tears. Before the American Civil War, Clem allied with the "Treaty Party", a Cherokee faction that supported signing the Treaty of New Echota. When the Civil War broke out, Clem enlisted in the Confederate Army, and served under General Stand Watie. After the war, he became active in Cherokee politics, first elected as a judge in the Cooweescoowee District, then served five terms in the Cherokee Senate. He later served as a delegate to the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention. Rogers was the father of entertainer Will Rogers.
The TA Ranch was the site of the principal events of the Johnson County Range War in 1892. The TA was established in 1882 as one of the first ranches in Johnson County, Wyoming. The TA is the only intact site associated with the range war, with trenches used by both sides still visible and scars on the nearby buildings. The ranch also documents the expansion and development of cattle ranching in Wyoming.
U.S. Route 169 is a U.S. highway that begins in Tulsa southeast of Downtown. The highway runs north into Kansas.
The Pawnee Bill Ranch, also known as the Blue Hawk Peak Ranch, was the home of Wild West show entertainer, Gordon W. "Pawnee Bill" Lillie. Located in Pawnee, Oklahoma, it is owned and operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society. The Pawnee Bill Ranch consists of 500 of the original 2000 acres, original outbuildings, a fully furnished historic home, a modern museum, and a herd of bison, Longhorn cattle, and horses.