Foyil, Oklahoma Totem Park
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Panoramic photo by
Louis Davidson
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Foyil, Oklahoma Totem Park |
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Route 66 passes through the small northeastern Oklahoma town of Foyil, which is famous for the nearby folk art creations by Ed Galloway. Imaginatively decorated in Native American themes the structures at Totem Park include the world’s largest totem pole.
Working mostly by himself, Ed Galloway started the Totem Pole in 1937 and finished in 1948. Though sometimes credited as a monument to Native American tribes, Galloway said he built it after he retired so he would simply have something to do. He thought it would be a good thing for youngsters, Boy Scouts in particular, to visit.
The totem pole is constructed of concrete over a scrap metal and sandstone rock skeleton. Sixty feet tall, six stories, 30 feet in circumference, the pole rests on the back of a turtle. Sculpted and brightly painted renditions of spirit lizards, owls, and head-dressed Indian chiefs climb to the pinnacle. Ed built other sculptures on his property, though none as big as the Totem Pole. All are decorated with similar Native American themes. An Indian arrowhead sticks up out of the ground; stylized birds and smaller totem poles are spread across Totem Pole Park.
Ed Galloway (1880-1962) was born in Missouri, fought in the Spanish-American War, and was on his way with his family to California when he took a temporary job in Foyil. He spent over 20 years teaching boys woodworking in the Children Home orphanage in Sand Springs, OK, and retired to property he purchased in Foyil in 1937.
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The United States is one of the most diverse countries on earth, jam packed full of amazing sights from St. Patrick's cathedral in New York to Mount Hollywood California.
The Northeast region is where it all started. Thirteen British colonies fought the American Revolution from here and won their independence in the first successful colonial rebellion in history. Take a look at these rolling hills carpeted with foliage along the Hudson river here, north of New York City.
The American south is known for its polite people and slow pace of life. Probably they move slowly because it's so hot. Southerners tend not to trust people from "up north" because they talk too fast. Here's a cemetery in Georgia where you can find graves of soldiers from the Civil War.
The West Coast is sort of like another country that exists to make the east coast jealous. California is full of nothing but grizzly old miners digging for gold, a few gangster rappers, and then actors. That is to say, the West Coast functions as the imagination of the US, like a weird little brother who teases everybody then gets famous for making freaky art.
The central part of the country is flat farmland all the way over to the Rocky Mountains. Up in the northwest corner you can find creative people in places like Portland and Seatle, along with awesome snowboarding and good beer.
Text by Steve Smith.
