2020 Will Rogers Medallion Award Annual BanquetThe Medallion Award is named in honor of Will Rogers, who was an “American stage and film actor, vaudeville performer, cowboy, humorist, newspaper columnist, and social commentator.” He was born November 4, 1879, in Oklahoma and died in an airplane crash August 15, 1935, near Point Barrow, Alaska. Killed with him was aviation pioneer Wiley Post, who was piloting the plane.
Rogers was a prolific author, writing dozens of articles and books. He was an even more prolific screen actor, appearing in 36 silent films and 21 “talkies” between 1918 and 1935.
At the banquet, “Killing Pat Garrett, the Wild West’s Most Famous Lawman – Murder or Self-Defense?” by David G. Thomas received the Medallion Award for best 2020 Western Biography, Third Place.
