A Ponderosa Paradise in Oklahoma....
- Jul 22, 2017
- 7 min read
If you thought the Marland Mansion in Ponca City was a sight to behold...well hold on to your britches cause you ain't seen nothing yet!!!
This summer has been an adventure in learning about this great state of ours that we live in. Being a history teacher, I knew that E.W. Marland (The 10th Gov. of Okla.) and Frank Phillips were oil barons who made Oklahoma the great state it is, but never once thought....hmmm wonder where their house is? Well... I wonder no more and it's caused me to ask about others... I mean who knew that we could find such amazing places here... in Oklahoma? I know we keep saying that... but we are from here and just never realized that we could visit interesting places that opened our eyes to such a rich history.
Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips Petroleum Company, had a famous getaway in the hills of Oklahoma that he loved to go to...Woolaroc... hope you enjoy the adventure....
Our adventure started out on Broke summer teacher time... you know...we started out late...as usual. I turned to my hubby, the administrator and smiled... He instantly knew. All he said was, "where to now?" Love that man!
It was a last minute decision that we ran with... what else is new!!
Lisa happened to be in San Diego with the Fireman watching their nephew Jarrett graduate from the Marines. Ooh-rah!!! We love our soldiers who protect this great country and we are sure proud of Jarrett for choosing that life...GO MARINES!!!
Marla called and said let's go to Woolaroc! I just heard something about a rock and thought, why not... She traveled to Lindsay to pick me up and off we went...two broke teachers heading back to Ponca City...no... Pawhuska....no... even father than that.... WHAT!!!
We were already running behind, go figure... and so we stopped in Perry, Oklahoma to get gas and with the look of the pump I just assumed that this was how our trip was gonna go. BUT, one thing I have learned, we all have learned as being teachers... we know how to wing it and we can roll with any situation even if it was a bit shady!!
We had to stop in Guthrie so Marla could transfer some money to her daughter Cortlin who was on a school trip in England at the time. Man this town is so awesome, our original capital, and it is so full of history, but we got no time for Guthrie today! We left Guthrie....drove thru Ponca, on past the Pioneer Woman in Pawhuska....Trust me we were waving at Ree and Ladd, and finally hit the beautiful town of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
The first thing we did was eat...I mean... really... of course we did... We were starving teachers. Marla had heard about this great restaurant that was a treasure to this historical town. She is our research gal. It doesn't matter where we go or what we do, she has all the info and we love that about her!!! Not to mention that she and The Farm Bureau Man (Her husband Thad...not to be mistaken for Ladd) raise cattle. This woman knows her meat!No pun intended.
AND of course she nailed it...
The Murphy's Steak house has been a local favorite since 1946. It's famous for it's HOT HAMBURGER... so we had to try it. Do you like Gravy? Well if you do then this HOT item is a must. We do like gravy, although we decided to get our gravy on the side... WE like it, just not sure we love to be smothered in it...There is a hamburger underneath all those fries believe it or not... It was yummy and we had a great time and our first big laughter of the day... You see... when your a teacher and it's summer break, and little kids are screaming and being annoying... well it might make you miss school.. NOT.... lol It was hysterical and I knew this trip with Marla, like all the others, would be one for the books!!!
Our countdown to the end of summer break was ticking away... God sure has a funny way of reminding us.... LOL
The little girl sure is a cute little thing!
Once our bellies were full, we were ready to investigate this big Rock that was so famous for some reason.... BOY was it ever... Frank Phillips at one time owned 66,000 acres of Oklahoma landscape and he took advantage of the beautiful Osage County, but he never once took it for granted or the inhabitants who lived here. I guess that is what makes his home such a special place.
It cost 12$ for us to enter and explore. The first thing we did was go to the Museum. Frank and his wife Jane had created Woolaroc for a place for their family to escape to, a real country living if you will. He created the museum to house some of the artwork that he collected over time and today it is known to house some of the most beautiful and interesting Western and Native American pieces in the country. Right here in Oklahoma!!
It literally blew our minds!!
Two famous Americans... famous Oklahomans... Geronimo and Will Rogers... Will Rogers, Oklahoma's favorite son. His portrait hangs in a lot of the famous homes here in this state... he was a welcomed visitor and a best friend to all who knew him.... Heck, he has his own bedroom named for him in the Marland Mansion and at Pawnee Bill's house...
The art and history that has been preserved in this museum was extraordinary. We love to learn about our heritage.
We then made our way up the hill to Frank's hideaway... His cabin.... it was more like a mansion to me...
A Man's mansion in the hills of Oklahoma.
We explored the lodge and couldn't believe all the animals we saw on the walls. Frank Phillips imported many of the animals you see. He wasn't much of a hunter which surprised me. I just assumed that he went on safari, but nope... he just looked out the window!!! He and his family entertained in this house that was completed in early 1927 with eight bedrooms--six guest rooms and two separate, connecting rooms for Uncle Frank and Aunt Jane, each with its own bathroom. The ranch and Lodge were used as a place to entertain his friends and to "close the business deal." It was a place where he could hobknob with the rich Easterners, welcome the Osage Natives, and even have a drink with bandits, bank robbers, and train robbers. In fact, they say that his bank was never robbed from or had his cattle rustled... probably because he was friends with them all!! Isn't that awesome!!! He had major card games here in the hills and legends say that lots of money and maybe even a circus or wild west show may or may not have exchanged hands right here!!! How interesting is that!!
We then wandered around the grounds and enjoyed the way that Woolaroc was set up... right on the water. They had beautiful ground and gardens right there in the ROCKS of Oklahoma...
This is the burial place of Frank and Jane Phillips... right here at Woolaroc
Well we spent most of the day at Woolaroc, but then we headed the 14 miles back into Bartlesville to check out the home that Frank and Jane lived in with their children. Of course we are on Summer teacher time...remember?? so by the time we got there it was already closed. Oh well, that's okay... we will just have to come back!!!
We then went downtown and we did find one little shop open. It was called Sweet P's... She had adorable stuff, but she was going out of business. She is retiring... LUCKY LADY!!! She talked about all the adventures she was going to go on... We are envious!!! We then of course had to see the only skyscraper that American architect Frank Loyd Wright created. It's called the Price Building. We had to take the elevator to the top and it was kinda scary. It is small and tight... but it must be done!!! They have a restaurant at the top of the building, but we were still full from our hot hamburger earlier in the day.
on our way out of town Marla turned to me and said, "Hey, we are this close to Kansas... why not?" Oh heck... why not!! So we decided to drive to Kansas. Little did I know that Marla had a trick up her sleeve. She was taking me to Kansas but she was taking me somewhere else too!!
We pulled up and I screamed... I couldn't believe she found it! The Farm August: Osage County House that was used in the Movie that Julia Roberts and Merrle Streep played in about a screwed up family from Oklahoma. Even thought I didn't like the movie personally. I truly loved the house! She found the address on Zillow because it had been for sale some time ago. The Boulanger house started life as a mail-order bride, listed for $2,065 in the Sears Roebuck catalog in 1918. The history of this house and family is quite cool... The "Big house" wasn't the greatest thing that I.W. Boulanger built, he also built a whole town down the road where they had businesses, a school, and even a baseball team called the Oasage Red's... The town burned in 1920's and the Boulanger family moved to Kansas.. Although the house stayed in the family's hands until 1983 where it went through many hands and grew pretty shabby. That is until Hollywood swooped in and saved it. It was for sale a while back, but we didn't see a for sale sign in the yard. Hopefully it has been bought by someone who will treasure it. This was a great surprise!
Our trip finally came to a close as we made it back home... Such a good day... I highly suggest everyone make their way to Bartlesville and see all the history that it has to offer... and if you get an itch... just drive on over to Kansas... why not?? #threebroketeachers
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