Kemper Military School

"Clem Rogers had not given up on his determination to have Will acquire an education. He still believed Will could get some good out of schooling if only a school could be found that would hold his interest. After a good deal of thought Clem decided on Kemper Military Academy at Boonville, Missouri. The school had a fine reputation and in those days many well-to-do ranchmen sent their sons there, not only for the academic training the school offered, but also that they might acquire poise, learn obedience, manliness and how to be orderly in personal appearance. There were the sons of many prominent families at Kemper when Will Rogers went there, among them Burton Mudge, son of the president of the Santa Fe railroad; Alden Nickerson, whose father was president of the Mexican and Central railway; Norris Beebee, son of a well-known Boston leather manufacturer; R. D. Williams, son of a judge of the Missouri Supreme Court, and many others. Will arrived at Kemper on January 13, 1897, wearing full cowboy regalia, a short Stetson hat with a braided horsehair cord, red bandana handkerchief around his neck, a richly colored vest and high-heeled red-top boots with noisy spurs. He must have looked strange to the Kemper boys, clad in their trim uniforms. One of the first boys Will saw was John Payne, also part Cherokee, whom he had met and known at Tahlequah when their fathers went there to the Cherokee Council, years before. "Why hello, John," Will drawled, beaming because he had found someone from home, "they got you here, too?" "Yes," laughed John, "I'm servin' time same as you.""

"At one time there was a strike at Kemper. Some of the cadets felt that the officers were pulling the strings a little too tight and urged their schoolmates to strike. About two-thirds of them finally walked out, Will Rogers and John Payne among the number. In speaking of it later, John Payne said: "Will and I figured we might as well join them because, after the first month of school, we had got into so much mischief that they had taken away all our privileges, anyhow. We all went down town and stayed until our money gave out and we had to start rustling for ourselves. Will said 'The Boss (Clem Rogers) won't send me any, but I can get some money from my sister Sallie.' But before he could ask for it, we got so hungry that we finally appointed a committee to treat with the school heads and we went back. There wasn't any compromise. They skinned us good!""

"When the blue grass began to spring up on the campus, and the new leaves budded and the birds came back, Will and Ben Johnson would stand out in the sunshine with their arms around each other, talking of home and of how soon work would start on the range. There the colts and calves would be coming through the branding season, and the ponies would be shedding and growing sleek and fat, and everyone would be getting ready for the round-up. It was a call that both longed to answer; a call that Will Rogers would soon answer, for he was restless and wanted to wander around like a pony with its bridle off. He was tired of Kemper; tired of struggling with its rigid military routine with little change or variety, ten months in the year. The newness had worn off and he was ready to push on. He had talked a great deal to Bill Johnson, a boy who came from a ranch near Canadian, Texas, in the panhandle. Bill was a good scholar and a crack mathematician, but he was also a real Westerner who had been raised in the cattle country. "Why don't you go out to Perry Ewing's ranch at Higgins, Texas?" Bill asked Will Rogers one day, "You'll like it out there. The Ewings are fine folks and they'll let you stay. They've got a boy named Frank who's a good one. He don't like school any better than you do. Why don't you go out there?""

"And so one night Will Rogers ran away from Kemper. He was through with schools forever. For years he had been irked by their routine to which he could not adapt himself, and now he was determined to lead the free life he loved so well. Back at Kemper the janitor brought Will's trunk down to his room and John Payne silently packed Will's things so that they could be shipped home. They had all liked Will Rogers and were sorry to see him go."