A surprising and fun stop just off Oklahoma’s Route 66 is Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park. Galloway created the sculptures between 1937 and 1962 as a monument to Native Americans. There are twelve structures including eleven totem poles and one building.
Galloway is quoted as saying, “All my life I did the best I knew… I built these things by the side of the road to be a friend to you.”
The indigenous motif speaks to the history of Oklahoma which was known as Indian Territory before it became a state in 1907. Galloway believed the original inhabitants of the land should be honored and remembered.
The sculptures mimic totem poles by the Haida and Tlingit tribes in Alaska. The Fiddle House building is 11-sided and said to be modeled after hogan forms in Navajo culture.
Specific chiefs, leaders, and warriors have been identified in the portraits. Sitting Bull (Hunkpapa Lakota), Quanah Parker (Comanche), Chief Joseph (Nez Perce), and Geronimo (Chiricahua Apache) are at the top of the large totem, facing north, south, east, and west respectively.
Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park
Main/Large Totem
Touted as the world’s largest concrete totem pole, the Large Totem is 90 feet tall and 18 feet in diameter. You can walk into the totem and view painted murals of mountain-and-lake scenes, bird totems, shields, and arrow points. Completed in 1948, it took eleven years to build.
The totem sits on the back of an enormous sandstone turtle which the Plains tribes thought of as the Earth itself. It features over 200 hand-sculpted bas-relief portraits and creatures.
Arrowhead Totem
The large 18-foot arrowhead just south of the Large Totem has dedications to the “Five Tribes” of Oklahoma – Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole. However, these tribes never wore warbonnets. Galloway was inspired by postcards and National Geographic magazines.
Tree Totem
The Tree Totem is thought to be the last thing Galloway built before his death. The story goes that his wife Villie poked fun at him saying the only thing he had yet to make was an actual tree. It has tribal portraits, a possum, squirrel, and several different bird species.
Holes at the top allow it to act as a birdhouse.
Fireplace Totem
This totem functions as a chimney for the barbeque pit. It has two stacked bird figures on each side.
Gate Totems
The Totem Pole Park has four sets of gate totems – The Fish-Arch Gate on the west end of the property, stone gate posts in front of the home, the Double-Gate Totem by the Arrowhead Totem, and the massive bird posts near the Fiddle House.
Fiddle House
Used as Galloway’s studio and showroom, the Fiddle House was built in 1944. Prior to his work with cement, Galloway was a woodworker. His early sculptures were carved out of tree trunks. Later, fiddles were the form he used to practice inlay techniques. He created over 300 fiddles in his lifetime.
The Fiddle House now acts as a museum and gift shop. Approximately 100 of his surviving fiddles are on display. When we visited, they were repainting the exterior walls.
Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park also includes two sets of concrete picnic tables, a birdbath, and a lioness. For more information about Galloway and each of the totems and their constructions, check out the Rogers County Historical Society.
What a commitment this gentleman made to honor the original inhabitants of the land in Oklahoma! The show of restoration is promising to preserve his hardwork and art form.