Rogers County Historical Society

Changes are being made in real time thanks to the Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant Program.

ARROWHEAD TOTEM (constructed pre-1955)

"The Arrowhead you see has been dated through photographs to have been built by Galloway around 1955. Although it is clear that Mr. Galloway intended that one side of the 18-foot arrowhead to be a monument to the Five Civilize Tribes and tribes of the Great Plains on the other, it’s unfortunate we have not been able to positively identify the portraits at this time.

"Although it was clear that Galloway could easily identify figures on the Arrowhead when he was interviewed in 1962, for the most part, these distinctions have been lost on authorities half a century later."

"Totem Pole Park Audio Tour," written by Tim Brown, commissioned by Dr. Carolyn Comfort and the Rogers County Historical Society.

"So this is a large arrowhead flanked on one side by Oklahoma’s Five Civilized Tribes, the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole, and on the opposite, Western Tribes. Important figures from four distinct plains tribes look out from the top of the large totem and representations of the Omaha, Kickapoo, and Mandan tribes have been identified, as well."

Turner, Erin. "Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park." Are We There Yet: Preservation of Roadside Architecture and Attractions, April 10-12, 2018, Tulsa, Oklahoma. https://www.ncptt.nps.gov/blog/ed-galloways-totem-pole-park-2/

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A 2022-2023 Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant was used to make some of these documents available. Oklahoma Preservation Grants are provided by the Oklahoma Historical Society.