Recently, I ventured up Route 66 from Tulsa to Foyil and then on Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park. The park was built by a retired shop teacher, Ed Galloway during the period 1937 to 1961. The signature piece is the 90 feet totem above. It is built of sandstone, with a concrete skin, reinforced with steel and wood. And as you can see it is decorated elaborately. After Galloway’s death in 1961 the park went into slow decline until the Rogers County Historical Society and the Kansas Grassroots Arts Association  restored it in the 1990’s.

Here is the other side. You can see that Galloway has the totem sitting on the back of a turtle. The turtle is a natural sandstone outcrop on the site that the artist incorporated into the structure. This also shows a little better the  decorations.

I am not sure what the symbology of the snake in the mouth is about.

Some examples of the Native American decorations.

The inside of the first floor is open and is also decorated. There seems to be lots of discussion about the difference between biggest totem pole, largest, tallest, etc. I am not worried about it.

Here are a couple more totems. That are yet others. There is also a visitor center/gift store and a short nature trail.

Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park is a great Route 66 attraction and is in very good shape. Check out the this National Park Service site for more information.

I am linking to Our World Tuesday 

Here is a blog post I made of the park six years ago when son Logan visited with me.