ED GALLOWAY'S TOTEM POLE PARK

Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park is located 3.5 miles east of Route 66.

Nathan Edward Galloway was born in 1880 in Missouri and developed his carving skills as a child. After serving in the U.S. Army in the early 1900s, he was introduced to Japanese and Far Eastern art while stationed in the Philippines. After returning to Missouri, he began creating massive sculptures from tree trunks where he incorporated human figures with fish and reptiles.

After spending 20 years teaching woodworking at the Children Home Orphanage in Sand Spring, he retired to this property in 1937.

The works here were made between 1937 and 1962. The large totem pole is without question the most impressive. Standing 100 feet tall, it took Ed 11 years to complete and required 28 tons of cement and 6 tons of steel for the structure. The work is covered with nearly 200 engravings, topped with life-size figures of four Indians, each representing a different tribe. After Ed Galloway's death in 1962, the Totem Pole Park was abandoned. It was not until the 1990s that a restoration was undertaken by the Rogers County Historical Society, which had purchased the park. Here and there, colorful totem poles are displayed, showing the diversity of Indian folk art. The store in the Fiddle House serves as a museum.