Monument: Will Roger's Last Polo Match

Lake City, Washington

Will Rogers, "the cowboy philosopher," one of the most popular celebrities of the 1920s and '30s, was know for his folksy sagebrush commentary. Most folks couldn't imagine the self-styled old cowpoke riding a fancy, upper-crust polo pony, but that's where he was on August 6, 1935. Nine days later he was dead, killed in an airplane crash in Alaska.

Because Rogers' polo match was the site of his "last ride" on a horse, it was considered to be historically important, worthy of a memorial -- and Rogers' wealthy friends could afford to erect a good one. It was unveiled next to the polo field in 1938, an impressive stone pillar decorated with a full-size bronze polo mallet and helmet, and a larger-than-life portrait of Rogers' head. It refers to "this little patch of ground" as the most "hallowed" spot for a Will Rogers memorial, "where the kindly, chuckling, hard-riding cowboy played his last game of polo before he went roaring to his last round-up."

The polo field disappeared years ago under the sprawl of adjacent Seattle. The monument is currently in its third location in the neighborhood, and was last restored in 2005.