These 10 Americans All Died in Tragic, But Entirely Avoidable Accidents

Will Rogers

Will Rogers was by the mid-1930s one of the highest-paid film stars in Hollywood, a wit noted for his homespun adages and commentary, a widely read syndicated columnist, a sage political observer, and one of the most recognized men in the United States. He was a former cowboy and rodeo star, demonstrating roping skills which amazed his audiences. Rogers’ fame extended to Europe, and during his career, he performed around the world, including Asia. He once ran a mock campaign for President. He was a radio star, a film star, a highly regarded and attended lecturer, a widely read writer, and internationally loved.

Rogers was famous for acerbic comments regarding politics and politicians, skewering those of both political parties, and claimed that as a member of no organized political party, he was a Democrat. One observation he made during his own mock campaign for President in 1928, in which he promised that he would celebrate winning by resigning, remains relevant. He ran his campaign by writing both questions and answers in Life Magazine and to a question asking how voters should consider a candidate’s image he wrote, “I hope there is some sane people who will appreciate dignity and not showmanship in their choice for the presidency.”

In 1935 Rogers was an aviation fan, having observed the progress being made by Europe during his trips there. He was a friend of Charles Lindbergh, and in 1935 he began visiting Wiley Post, another famed aviator, at the airport in Burbank where Post was modifying an airplane. Post was combining the wing from one Lockheed aircraft with the fuselage of another, seeking a long-distance seaplane which would be suitable for flying mail from the United States to Russia, using a water landing at various stops.

Rogers was interested in Alaska, still largely frontier at the time, as a possible source of material for his lectures and newspaper columns. He asked Post if he could accompany him to Alaska, writing columns along the route, and Post agreed. In early August the pair left for Alaska, making several stops across the then US territory. On August 15 they were bound for Point Barrow from Fairbanks when inclement weather forced Post to touch down to ascertain their whereabouts. Upon taking off again the airplane crashed and both men were killed.

The loss of one of America’s most skilled and admired aviators and its arguably most beloved celebrity in the same accident was a shock which roiled the public. Rogers was eulogized across the nation in newspapers, magazines, newsreels, and radio broadcasts. Aviation experts still argue over what caused the fatal accident, but the public mourning over the death of Will Rogers was beyond debate. He is memorialized across the United States.