Totem Pole Park

Totem Pole Park
World's Largest Totem Pole
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Stages of Restoration - Ed Galloway - Fiddle House
Join the "Friends of the Totem Pole"

Click picture for larger image (73k_jpeg)

Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park is located ten miles north of Claremore, Oklahoma, off historic Route "66" highway and four miles east of Foyil on highway 28A. It was the creative genius of Ed Galloway who developed the park as a monument to the American Indian. The centerpiece of the nine acre park, "the world's largest totem pole", rises from the back of an enormous turtle.

The nine acre park also includes Galloway's eleven-sided "Fiddle House" that previously housed his hand-carved fiddles. Artifacts made by Ed Galloway and visuals of the park development are on display in the museum. Throughout the park are various sizes of colorful totems, displaying the Indian Folk Art.

Picnic areas can be enjoyed by travelers in the beautifully kept grounds during daylight hours, and the parking is plentiful. The Fiddle House Museum and Gift Shop is now open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The public is encouraged to visit.

Stages of Restoration of the
World's Largest Totem Pole

The folk art restoration was a project of the Kansas Grassroots Art Association whose membership live near the Lawrence, Kansas, and the Kansas City area. Members of their group painted on the totems during Labor Day holidays and Memorial Day weekends.

1989 Click picture for larger image (145k jpeg)	1993 Click picture for larger image (97k jpeg)
1994 Click picture for larger image (117k jpeg)	1996 Click picture for larger image 72k jpeg)

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Ed Galloway
Creator of the World's Largest Totem Pole

Ed Galloway gained national fame as one of America's premiere folk artists with his unique style of monumental sculpture.

Nathan Edward Galloway was born in 1880 in Missouri and developed his carving skills as a child, creating mother-of-pearl buttons and small wooden items. He gained much of his inspiration after enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1901 and serving in the Philippine Islands. It was there that he was introduced to the intricacies of Japanese and Far Eastern art. Many of the alligators and other tropical animals he saw and battled while in the Philippines were later prominent features of his work.

Returning to Missouri after his tour of duty, he created massive sculptures from tree trunks, incorporating human figures with fish and reptiles.

Galloway's unique style caught the eye of Sand Springs founder and philanthropist Charles Page in 1914. The discovery led to a long relationship between the two, beginning with Galloway's employment as a manual arts instructor at the Sand Springs Home.

Over a span of 20 years, Galloway taught the boys how to build furniture, tools, wagons and a myriad of other items in the Home shops.

In 1937, Galloway moved his family to a small farm near Foyil and embarked on an ambitious three-dimensional Totem Pole. It took Galloway from 1937 to 1948 to build a 90-foot totem pole made from 28 tons of cement, six tons of steel, 100 tons of sand and rock. His tribute to the American Indian features 200 carved pictures, with four nine-foot Indians near the top each representing a different tribe. Ed built his masterpiece on Indian land that was allotted to an Indian boy by the name of Famous Frazier in 1914.

He lived in the park until his death in 1962. The park is now owned and operated by the Rogers County Historical Society. The Foyil Heritage Association assists with fund raising and yard maintenance.

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Fiddle House

Early Day Photo of Ed Galloway
Displaying His Fiddles
Click on picture to see larger image (91k jpeg)

Restored Fiddle House
Click on picture to see larger image (92k jpeg)

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JOIN THE "FRIENDS OF THE TOTEM POLE"

Click here and follow this link to the pledge form page to contribute your tax-deductible Totem Pole donation or pledge.

Thank you for your support, Please encourage your club or organization to include the Totem Pole in their budget. Call 918-342-1127 or email jcary3@aol.com to arrange a special event at the Totem Pole.

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If you have any suggested updates or corrections,
please e-mail the Rogers County Historical Society jcary3@aol.com.

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This Page Last Updated 09 October 99 by Marilyn McClain

This page has been accessed () times since 13 September 1999