In July 1913, when the 33-year-old Will Rogers was at Spokane's Orpheum Theater for a week headlining a vaudeville tour, he showed a reporter what kind of money he was making: A check for a cool million.

Well, not exactly.

Let's allow Will tell the story, as related in the July 2, 1913 edition of The Spokesman-Review:
"I went out with the other acts to play a show at an insane asylum benefit one afternoon ... When we got to the asylum, the attendant told us one of the harmless patients believed himself to be manager of the program. The patient came along and looked us over. He decided to pay me right away and drew out an old blank check which we had found somewhere. He then inquired my name and wrote me a certificate for $20,000. Then the show started and I didn't see him again until we were about to leave, when he came around and paid everyone off. I told him he had already squared with me, but he insisted he liked me better since my stunt, and insisted I take a check for a million."

Rogers was flattered that the man liked his lariat-twirling stunt so much.

"That sort of proves something or other," Rogers drawled.