Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park consists of eleven objects and one building on 14 acres (57,000 m²) in

Rogers County Rogers County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,240, making it the sixth-most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Claremore. Rogers County is included in ...

, in northeastern

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. The park is ten miles (16 km) north-east of

Claremore Claremore is a city and the county seat of Rogers County in Green Country or northeastern Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,580 at the 2020 census, a 5.4 percent increase over the figure of 18,581 recorded in 2010.U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

and Foyil. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on March 30, 1999. The park is now owned and operated by the Rogers County Historical Society. The park's main

totem pole Totem poles ( hai, gyáaʼaang) are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually m ...

is billed as the "World’s Largest Concrete Totem Pole."Covington, Hannah
"Childhood friends, artists bring color back to historic totem pole,"
''Tulsa World'', 30 July 2015; Accessed 30 July 2015.

History and creation

The park was constructed by Ed Galloway (b. 1880 in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

; d. 1961 in Foyil, Oklahoma). A

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

veteran who had served in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, he began carving monumental sculptures from tree trunks when he returned to the United States after his military service. In 1914, his work attracted the interest of

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

-based philanthropist

Charles Page Charles Page (June 2, 1860 – December 27, 1926) was a businessman and important philanthropist in the early history of Tulsa, Oklahoma. After his father died when Page was an 11-year-old boy in Wisconsin, he left school early to try to help sup ...

, who employed him as a manual arts teacher at the Children's Home orphanage in

Sand Springs, Oklahoma Sand Springs is a city in Osage, Creek and Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A western suburb of Tulsa, it is located predominantly in Tulsa County. The population was 19,874 in the 2020 U. S. Census, an increase of 5.1 percent fro ...

. Upon his retirement in 1937, Galloway moved to a small farm near Foyil,"Ed Galloway - Creator of the World's Largest Totem Pole"
''Rogers County Historical Society'', Accessed August 4, 2015. located 10 miles (16 km) north-east of

. He soon began work on a totem pole, which he built using modern building materials, including six tons of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

, 28 tons of

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

, and 100 tons of

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

. In 1948, Galloway completed the totem pole, which had a completed height of approximately 90 ft (27 m). At its base, the totem pole is 30 ft (9 m) wide, and it rests on the back of a

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

, referring to a Native American creation story about the world."Totem Pole Park,"
''TravelOK'', Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. Accessed July 30, 2015. The entire totem pole is decorated with approximately 200

bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

images, which include brightly colored Native American portraits, symbols, and animal figures. The park also features Galloway's eleven-sided "Fiddle House," which is supported inside and out by 25 concrete totem poles. It previously housed his hand-carved

fiddles A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, ...

, handmade furniture, and bas relief portraits of all of the US Presidents up to

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. Many of the items in the Fiddle House were stolen in 1970 and never recovered. The park also contains four smaller concrete totems, two ornate concrete picnic tables with animal-form seats, a barbecue, and four sets of animal-form gateposts. Galloway lived at and worked on the park every day up to his death in 1962 of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. Some say that he hoped to use his work to educate young people about Native Americans, but others say that he thought the park would be a good place for youngsters,

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are ...

in particular, to visit.

Renovation

In the decades following Galloway's death, the sculptures began to deteriorate from weather and neglect. In the 1990s, the Kansas Grassroots Art Association led an extensive restoration effort. The outdoor sculptures were restored and repainted. The Fiddle House was brought back from the brink of collapse, and adapted as the Fiddle House Museum and Gift Shop. Further restoration on the main totem pole's lower 20’ was done in the 2008-2009 timeframe. Work on the upper section was begun in mid-June 2015, and completed by mid-August 2020.

References

External links

Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park
- Rogers County Historical Society
Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park
- Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park
Roadside American Report on Ed Galloway's Totem Pole ParkTotem Pole Park info, photos and video on TravelOK.com
- Official travel and tourism website for the State of Oklahoma {{authority control Buildings and structures in Rogers County, Oklahoma Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma Tourist attractions along U.S. Route 66 Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in the United States Outdoor sculptures in Oklahoma Art museums and galleries in Oklahoma Museums in Rogers County, Oklahoma Roadside attractions in Oklahoma Concrete sculptures in the United States 1948 sculptures Totem poles in the United States Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Rogers County, Oklahoma