Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Aug. 15, 2024.
A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
He said he never met a man he didn’t like, so the historians record. I wonder if Will Rogers would still say that in 2025?
On Aug. 15, 1935, humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow in the Alaska Territory.
Rogers, known as Oklahoma’s “favorite son,” was a popular performer, newspaper columnist and social commentator. His humor took him all over the world, and his takes on politics and human nature are repeated even today.
Some might remember Rogers as a Hollywood star, first in silent films and then in “talkies,” and he loved to travel from show to show with Post, his aviator sidekick.
So when their plane went down in northern Alaska 90 years ago today, it instantly became front page news.
“BARROW, ALASKA — An airplane crash at the ‘top of the world’ today had taken the lives of two world-famed figures — the beloved humorist Will Rogers and the aerial world girdler Wiley Post.
“Native runners brought word of the accident to Barrow late last night and Staff Sgt. Stanley R. Morgan, signal corps operator, stationed at this, America’s most northerly white settlement, hired a fast launch and went to the scene.”
An interesting side note:
Staff Sgt. Morgan was a Utahn, born in Payson in 1904, according to Deseret News accounts. He and his wife had a child born at Point Barrow, and was named Barrow Morgan.
Fellow Oklahoman Post achieved his own fame, in 1933 completing the first solo plane flight around the world. It took seven days and 18 hours to accomplish.
Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about Rogers, the time he visited Utah and how folks have remembered him through the years:
“Hotel Utah, 100 years of history”
“America needs the wisdom of Will Rogers”
“Longhorns back on the Will Rogers ranch before long”
“Collection of barbs is fine tribute to Will Rogers’ wit, wisdom”
“Early farmers faced similar struggles and won, Farm Bureau told”
”The Will Rogers Follies: A life in revue”