Will Rogers with an Airplane

Will Rogers, Famous Humorist

Genuine Curteich-Chicago Postcard
Mid-Continent News Co., Oklahoma City, Okla.

This postcard is unused.

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William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American cowboy, vaudeville performer, humorist, social commentator and motion picture actor.

On August 15, 1935 he and aviator Wiley Post left Fairbanks, Alaska for Point Barrow, Alaska. They were a few miles from Point Barrow when they became uncertain of their position in bad weather and landed in a lagoon to ask directions. On takeoff, the engine failed at low altitude, and the aircraft, uncontrollably nose-heavy at low speed, plunged into the lagoon, shearing off the right wing, and ended up inverted in the shallow water of the lagoon. Both men died instantly.