Oklahoma History Center Reflects On Loss Of Historic Will Rogers Ranch In California Wildfires

California wildfires have burned 56 square miles forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate. The fires destroyed more than 10,000 structures including a historic property with Oklahoma ties. 

The late Will Rogers built a ranch in California and became one of the country's most recognizable figures in cinema in the 1930s. His great-granddaughter found out this week the ranch was destroyed.  

“This time it got us,” said Jennifer Rogers-Etcheverry, the great-granddaughter of Will Rogers. “My heart is broken for the community.”  

Oklahoma History Center executive director Trait Thompson reflected on the news.

“When we lose our history, it can’t ever come back,” Thompson said. “Our history is so important.”  

Oklahomans remember Will Rogers as “Oklahoma’s Favorite Son.” He grew up in Claremore Oklahoma and he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career.  

“He was a certified movie star,” Thompson said. “He truly was a man of the people. He was the number one box office star in the 1930s. He traveled all over the world, but [the ranch] was his respite. It was his place to come home.” 

The Rogers family donated the ranch in 1944 to the state of California as a museum to honor his life. 

“That home and that ranch really was Will Rogers which makes the loss all the more devastating because it's a piece of Oklahoma’s favorite son that we’ll never get back again,” Thompson said.  

Rogers-Etcheverry said she would soon travel to Los Angeles to see the reality with her own eyes. 

“We were fortunate to get quite a few things out of the house,” she said. “It’s very hard, but what even more difficult are the homes of the neighbors. I have so many friends who lost their homes and businesses,” Rogers-Etcheverry said. 

Rogers-Etcheverry and Thompson’s empathy rests with those whose lives have been reduced to ashes. Southern California will try to rebuild and write a new chapter in history. 

“Our thoughts and prayers are obviously with all of the people who are impacted by this,” Thompson said.