EDMOND — Why is it that in the face of something completely original, my head is filled with a spate of clichés? “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” “I don’t know art, but …” Odd ducks defy description and Ed Galloway was an odd duck. His legacy is the Totem Pole Park.
Born near Springfield, Mo., in 1880, he had little formal education. After military service, Galloway went to work for the railroad near Bushyhead, Okla. Talented as a wood carver, he had a studio in Springfield.
One of his pieces came to the attention of Sand Springs developer Charles Page. Page was involved with a school for fatherless boys and needed someone to teach woodworking and serve as a role model for the students.
Galloway taught at the school from 1911 until 1936. In the summer, he and his wife Villie often invited students to come camping on 20 acres the Galloways owned near Foyil.
In 1936, Galloway began building a stone house on the property. Many of the rocks had been gathered by boys on their summer excursions. Although Galloway wasn’t a mason, he was good at figuring things out and finished the home in a year.
It was then that he began his major opus — a tribute to the American Indian. His goal — the largest totem pole in the world.
Using a framework of steel and stones, he added concrete, one bucket at a time, carving as he went. When finished, the largest of the structures he built stood 90 feet tall. It took 28 tons of cement, 6 tons of steel and 100 tons of sand and rock and took 11 years to complete. More than 200 carved pictures, including 9-foot-tall standing portraits of Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph and an un-named Comanche chief, cover the totem.
Galloway didn’t stop there. A number of other structures — which also are called totems, more for convenience than accuracy — are scattered throughout the grounds. One, a giant arrowhead, represents the Five Civilized Tribes. Fish, birds, reptiles — all types of designs are incorporated into his work. Some pieces, like the picnic table and chairs, are functional; most are simply fanciful works of a creative mind.
Galloway’s wife encouraged him to build a small museum where he could exhibit his woodworking and other projects. Called “The Fiddle House,” it contains about 300 violins he created — each from a different type of wood. Many are beautifully inlaid with floral patterns or other designs. His pièce de résistance is an inlaid picture of Oberhofen Castle in Switzerland, which he copied from a postcard. He used 1,933 individual pieces to make the picture and create a decorative frame featuring flowers, dogs, ducks and American Indians.
Galloway’s woodworking displays his fine craftsmanship. His totems, with their untutored, uninhibited exuberance, must be classified as folk art. That’s not to be considered a denigrating term, just a defining one.
Once, when asked about the secret of a successful life, Galloway answered that one must follow the Ten Commandments and always use imagination. Galloway died in 1962. His imagination is evident everywhere in the Totem Pole Park. He was a man who not only marched to a different drummer, but he also fiddled in an entirely different orchestra.
The Ed Galloway Totem Pole Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Though there are larger totem poles now, his remains the largest concrete totem pole in the world.
The Totem Pole Park is located northeast of Claremore, 4 miles east of Historic Route 66 on Highway 28A. Visitors are welcomed from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12-4 p.m. Sunday — other times by appointment by calling 918-342-1127. Admission is free but donations are cheerfully accepted as are purchases in the small gift shop.
ELAINE WARNER is an Edmond resident.
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