Under a portico on the south side of the Will Rogers Memorial Museum are several plaques commemorating him. This bronze plaque tells the story of Rogers' involvement in this Cherokee organization. The inscription reads:
Pocahontas Club
OUR MOST ILLUSTRIOUS MEMBER
November 4, 1879 - August 15, 1935
Oklahoma's Favorite Son. He is now a legend. He once said, "...there is nothing of which I am more proud
of than my Cherokee Blood."
At age nineteen he became a member of his first organized club, the Pocahontas Club, which began
on June 29, 1899, at Doctor A.J. Lane's home in Oowala, Indian Territory. The Cherokee girls and boys of
the neighborhood were charter members of that early social club. Throughout the years, when Will came
home to Claremore, his Pocahontas Club friends were quick to drop everything and gather for a ham and
bean dinner and a stomp dance. He always said his favorite food was beans and corn pone from home.
In 1927 a picture was taken of Will, wife Betty and the entire membership.
Fourteen days after his death, on August 15, 1935, the Club passed a resolution to "always honor
Will Rogers on his birthday." We have always given tribute to Will in our own way, with a memorial service,
always sweet and always simple, in keeping with the day's program. We continue our tradition of
forming a circle and pass a basket of fall foliage at the base of the rotunda statue at the Will Rogers
Memorial. We then proceed to the tomb to lay a wreath in Will's memory. We close by singing
"BLEST BE THE TIE", our Club song.
'AFTER ALL THERE IS NOTHING IN THE WORLD LIKE HOME.
YOU CAN ROAM ALL OVER THE WORLD, BUT AFTER ALL, IT'S WHAT
THE PEOPLE AT HOME THINK OF YOU THAT REALLY COUNTS." (Will's signature)
Dedicated by the Cherokee Women's Pocahontas Club
Claremore, Oklahoma
November 4, 2004
The oldest, continuous Cherokee Women's Club in the world, organized June 29, 1899