Alaska

Will Rogers was asked by his friend Wiley Post if he wanted to fly with him to Alaska as Wiley worked on a new mail route. Will could not resist the opportunity and the two left for the Alaska Territory in August on 1935. On August 15, 1935, Will and Wiley died in a tragic plane accident looking for Point Barrow. Will absolutely loved the beauty and the people of Alaska as he continued to write his daily column as they traveled throughout the territory.

“This Alaska is a great country. If they can just keep from being taken over by the U.S. they got a great future.” Daily Telegrams, August 13, 1935

“Well, we had a day off today and nothing to do, so we went flying with friend Joe Crosson, Alaska’s crack pilot…In a Lockheed Electra we scaled Mount McKinley, the highest one on the American Continent. Bright sunny day and the most beautiful sight I ever saw.” Daily Telegrams – August 14, 1935

"Well, all I know is just what I read in the papers, and I tell you these little towns and cities in Alaska have mighty fine little papers. They take all the big news and whittle it down till you can read it and understand it.” Weekly Articles - 1935

“Plenty food and always has been and will be. They can always get that in, but it’s houses they need right now and Colonel Hunt in charge realizes it. You know after all there is a lot of difference in pioneering for gold and pioneering for spinach.” Will’s last few sentences of his Daily Telegrams on August 15, 1935, the day Will and Wiley died.