ROGERS — Many visitors and locals often ask the question, “Was Rogers named after Will Rogers?” The answer is no.
Will Rogers was a famous humorist and rope-trick artist who achieved worldwide fame. When the town was founded in 1881, it was named after a Frisco Railroad executive, Captain C.W. Rogers. However, the city does have strong ties to Will Rogers because he married a very popular local girl, Betty Blake.
Betty Blake has been called Rogers’ leading lady, and was well known and well liked long before she married the famous entertainer. She was born in 1879 at Silver Springs (Monte Ne) where her parents owned a lumber and grist mill. Betty was the seventh of nine children, and her father died when she was 3. Betty’s widowed mother, Amelia Blake, sold their property and moved the family to Rogers in 1882, just one year after the town was founded.
The Blake home in Rogers was on East Walnut Street, just a couple of blocks from downtown. Here, Betty attended Rogers’ schools, grew up and worked at several jobs including a sales clerk in Stroud’s Mercantile, a compositor at the Rogers Democrat newspaper and as a railroad telegrapher. She was very talented and played several musical instruments and was a popular actress in local productions at the Opera House (upper floor of the Dixieland Shoes building).
Betty was stricken with typhoid in 1899 and lost all of her hair. She went to visit her sister in Oologah, Okla., and while recuperating she met Will Rogers. They were attracted to each other, and corresponded off and on for eight years while Will traveled around the country performing in wild west shows.
Betty was fond of Will, but at first resisted his proposals of marriage because she did not consider show business a suitable career. Finally, she agreed to marry him after he assured her they would settle down on a ranch in Oklahoma after a final tour.
The happy couple was married Nov. 25, 1908, in a small ceremony at her mother’s home on East Walnut Street in Rogers. Will and Betty honeymooned in New York where Will was working in vaudeville. It was supposed to be the end of Will’s show biz career, but Betty soon came to realize Will’s unique talent and began encouraging and supporting his performances. Will was an extremely talented roper, and was even in the Guinness Book of World Records for throwing three lassos at once: one caught the running horse’s neck, the other would loop around the rider and the third swooped up under the horse to loop all four legs. One job led to another and Will Rogers went on to become one of the most successful and beloved performers of the 1920s and 1930s.
As Will’s popularity and career soared, Betty was busy being a mother and homemaker, raising their four children, often staying at the Blake home in Rogers while Will was on the road. When Will and Betty were in town, Will would often be seen out in the front yard demonstrating his rope tricks to the local kids.
Will and Betty Blake Rogers were a loving and devoted couple with Betty being the quiet force behind the scenes. Will did amazing rope tricks and was a popular performer, but he gave Betty much of the credit: “The day I roped Betty Blake was the best catch of my life.”
Sadly, Will’s career was cut short when he died in a plane crash in Alaska on Aug. 15, 1935. Will was flying with his friend, famous test pilot Wiley Post, when they were both killed. At the time of his death, Will Rogers was considered the most popular man in America.
After Will’s death, Betty continued to promote her husband. She wrote his biography and was instrumental in the development of the Will Rogers Memorial near Will’s birthplace in Claremore, Okla.
Betty Blake Rogers died on June 21, 1944, and was buried next to her husband in Claremore.
(Data from various articles on the Rogers Historical Museum’s website by Gaye Bland and others, the 1907 and 1908 Rogers Democrat and the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture website.)
James F. Hales is a local author and historian. His column appears monthly in the Rogers Morning News.