William Allen Rogers (U.S.)

Born May 23, 1854 - Springfield, Ohio
Died October 20, 1931 - New York City

Rogers was a painter, illustrator, writer, cartoonist and engraver. His mother was an artist and at age 14 he was drawing cartoons for a Dayton, Ohio newspaper. He was a member of the Society of Illustrators, the Salmagundi Club (a founder) and the Guild of Free Lance Artists, New York.

From 1870 to 1877 he was an engraver and artist in various cities for “Life Magazine”, “St. Nicholas”, “The Century”, “The Washington Post”, “Harper’s Weekly” and finally the “New York Herald” for 19 years following Thomas Nast. He was the author of: “World Worthwhile”, “Danny’s Partner”, “A Miracle Man”, “American’s Black and White Book” - - one of his two volumes of cartoons. His illustrations appeared in Samuel Adams Drake’s “Heart of the White Mountain”.

In 1877 he joined the staff of Harper’s Weekly magazine as Western Artist Correspondent. They sent him to cover President Hayes’s visit to Minnesota in 1878. He left for the Dakota Territory without authorization from Harper’s, tempted by the stories of the western plains. He took the train to Bismarck, then spent three weeks at Standing Rock Agency, 65 miles south of Bismarck. Some of his most famous illustrations resulted, including “Indian Dance After Distribution of Rations” and “An Indian Chief Having His Hair Dressed”. On the way back he sketched in Fargo and via a riverboat he went to Winnipeg where he stated “from the 19th Century I dropped as from the clouds, into the 17th or 18th”. In 1879 Harper's sent him to Colorado and New Mexico, along with A. A. Hayes. They went by rail to Pueblo, Colorado, then by buckboard to a cattle ranch where he proved to have poor talent at drawing animals. They descended in a silver mine bucket while visiting Leadville and they viewed the Santa Fe Trail. He apparently made another trip to the Dakotas in 1890, sketching the genre of wheat fields that had replaced the buffalo. As mining artist he went west to Cripple Creek, Colorado in 1883 to cover the discovery of gold there. In 1896 he made “Sketches in Santa Fe”. In 1898 he covered the Omaha Exposition including the accompanying Indian Congress, continuing on to Oregon and California before returning via the southwest. He made six western trips over 21 years. On a visit to New Orleans he made watercolor sketches of Jackson Square, Canal St. and the Sugar Exchange, which were reproduced in Harper's in 1899-1900. Thereafter he would work primarily as a newspaper cartoonist, following Thomas Nast at the “New York Herald” for 19 years.

Because of one of his anti-German cartoons in World War One he was decorated by the French as “Chevalier of the Legion of Honor” in 1921. His friends included many civic and government officials such as Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland.