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ROB MCCLENDON: NOW AFTER WILL ROGERS TRAGIC DEATH IN A PLANE CRASH IN
BARROW, ALASKA, IN 1935, OKLAHOMANS WANTED TO DO SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR ITS
FAVORITE SON.
THAT'S WHY THEY COMMISSIONED IN THE HEIGHT OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION TO
BUILD THIS MUSEUM OVERLOOKING THE BEAUTIFUL GREEN HILLS OF
NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA RIGHT HERE IN CLAREMORE.
OUR COURTENAY DEHOFF TAKES US IN FOR A CLOSER LOOK.
[MUSIC]
ANDY HOGAN: HE COULD NAIL PEOPLE.
HE COULD TAKE SOMEBODY THAT THOUGHT THEY WERE A LITTLE TOO IMPORTANT AND
HE'D JUST BRING 'EM DOWN TO LEVEL.
COURTENAY DEHOFF: ONE-THIRD HUMOR, ONE-THIRD HUMANITARIAN, AND ONE
THIRD HEART, WILL ROGERS IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS OKLAHOMA'S FAVORITE SON;
AND THE MUSEUM THAT HAS A HORSE-EYE VIEW OVER THE CITY OF CLAREMORE, HONORS
HIM DAILY.
ANDY HOGAN TAKES US ON A TOUR OF THE MUSEUM.
ANDY: ANYHOW THIS ROOM IS SET UP, THIS ROOM HERE.
COURTENAY: AND THE LIFE OF THE LEGENDARY WILL ROGERS.
ANDY: WILL ROGERS OF COURSE BEING BORN, LIKE ANYBODY COULD BE BORN
RIGHT OUT HERE, HE WAS NOT A POOR MAN.
WILL WAS NEVER A POOR MAN, BUT HE WAS COMMON, HE WANTED TO BE COMMON.
HE WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO APPEAR COMMON.
HE WASN'T A PUT-ON.
WHAT YOU SAW WAS WHAT YOU GOT.
HE HAD MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
HE HELPED PEOPLE; HE GAVE AWAY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
HE WAS QUITE A PHILANTHROPIST, AND HE WAS THE KIND THAT DIDN'T WANT
A SPLASH MADE OF IT.
COURTENAY: BUT HE DID MAKE A SPLASH IN EVERYTHING ELSE HE DID.
ANDY: HE TAUGHT PEOPLE TO LAUGH AT THEMSELVES.
LIKE I SAY, HE PERFORMED IN FRONT OF SEVERAL PRESIDENTS.
HE APPEARED AT THE WHITE HOUSE, SPENT THE NIGHT IN THE WHITE HOUSE WITH
CALVIN COOLEDGE WHEN HE WAS PRESIDENT, AND ALSO WITH FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT.
BUT HE COULD TEASE THOSE PEOPLE, AND THEY REALIZED, YOU KNOW, THAT HE WAS
MERELY TEASING THEM.
HE SAID, I'VE TEASED THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE OF THE WORLD; I'VE TEASED THE BIG
MEN AND THE BIG MEN WILL TAKE TEASING.
HE SAID, SOMETIMES A LITTLE MAN THAT THINKS HE IS KIND OF BIG, DON'T TAKE
TEASING TOO WELL.
COURTENAY: THE MUSEUM HONORS WILL ROGERS AND HIS FAMILY ON THE OUTSIDE; AND
ON THE INSIDE, THE WONDERS OF THE MOST POPULAR ENTERTAINER OF HIS TIME
ROPES IN TOURISTS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD.
ANDY: THE MUSEUM NOW IS LOCATED ON TWENTY ACRES THAT WILL BOUGHT, BACK IN
1911.
HE BOUGHT ALL THE LAND HE COULD.
HE BOUGHT LAND IN OKLAHOMA, HE BOUGHT LAND IN CALIFORNIA.
HE SAID YOU KNOW ONE TIME, BUY ALL THE LAND YOU CAN.
THAT'S A GOOD THING TO SPEND YOUR MONEY ON BECAUSE THEY AREN'T MAKING
ANY MORE OF IT.
COURTENAY: THE ENTIRE WORLD MOURNED WHEN ROGERS WENT DOWN IN A PLANE WITH
FELLOW OKLAHOMAN, WILEY POST, IN POINT BARROW, ALASKA, A TRAGIC DEATH AT
THE HEIGHT OF HIS POPULARITY.
THEY CLIMBED INTO THE CABIN OF THEIR PLANE, THE WINNIE MAE, WAVED THE LAST
GOODBYE TO THE MANY FRIENDS WHO HAD GATHERED TO BID THEM GODSPEED, AND
DISAPPEARED INTO NORTHERN SKIES A FEW DAYS LATER HOLLYWOOD WAS STUNNED BY
NEWS OF THEIR DEATH.
COURTENAY: YET, HIS LEGACY LIVES ON.