Baron Fruit—Oil and Natural Gas Icons
Additional Information - The Men
Tom Slick: Wildcatter To The End
As Oklahoma oil millionaires go, Tom Slick’s story at first sounds rather typical.  After
early failures in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, Slick moved to Oklahoma determined to try again.  Although he was later remembered as “King of the Wildcatters,” his constant disappointments
originally earned him the moniker “Dry Hole Slick,” a name he would recall with amusement
years later.  There was nothing amusing about it in 1912, as it became more and more difficult to
secure the financial backing necessary to drill yet again.  Still following instincts that had yet to
be proven correct, he chose an unlikely area near Cushing and managed to acquire drilling rights
from the landowners there.  Normally word that someone was buying up rights like this would
have brought in a rush of other speculators, but “Dry Hole’s” reputation insured he was left quite
to himself as he began to drill.  When Slick did finally meet with success, it was one of the biggest strikes in Oklahoma’s
petroleum history.  The belated rush of potential competitors hoping to tap the Cushing pool from
adjoining areas found every “horse and rig” in Cushing rented, every mule or unbroken horse in
the area rounded up and placed under armed guard, and every notary qualified to approve new
leases suddenly “on vacation” for an indefinite period.  Slick had bought the time he needed to
secure his operations in the area.  His initial strike was followed by years of success in the Cushing area.  It was the first of
many such discoveries for Slick, and by 1917 he was not only a multi-millionaire but had a town
named after him as well–the city of Slick about ten miles southeast of Bristow. Unlike many of
his peers, Slick preferred anonymity to adoration and generally kept to himself except for his
regular poker games with a handful of friends.  He was an enigma to the end, never taking great
advantage of his wealth but working himself mercilessly until an early death at 47 in 1930.  He
could be seen almost any day right up to the end wearing workingman’s clothes and driving
his old Dodge pickup through the mud to monitor an existing site or to seek a new one. Few
wildcatters wore the title so well.
Bits & Pieces:
• Although Slick, Sr. was not particularly noted for his philanthropic endeavors, his son, Tom
Slick, Jr., continued and expanded his father’s oil empire and began spreading the wealth in a
rather unorthodox fashion.
• Like many of the wildly successful oil and gas men, Slick Jr. gave away far more than he
spent.  His philanthropy, however, had a decidedly different flavor than most.  He founded
several foundations, pursuing as one logo states, “the mysteries of human consciousness” in a
variety of ways.  He was also a devout crypto zoologist, supporting hunts for Bigfoot as well
as other creatures rare or legendary.  Rumors abounded that he also assisted in the escape of
the Dalai Lama from Tibet in 1959 when the Chinese army poured in hoping to crush cries
for Tibetan independence. Despite such diversity, the common thread seems to be Slick
Jr.’s goal of a better understanding of ourselves and our world, and the desire to eliminate
ignorance and war of all sorts.
• A movie, Tom Slick: Monster Hunter, is supposedly in the works, with Nicholas Cage
playing Slick Jr., but its status is unknown at the time of this writing. Slick Jr. died in 1962 in
a plane crash resulting from what some still consider a “mysterious explosion.”
For Further Discussion:
(a) Explain the title of this article.
(b) What were two nicknames Slick carried at different periods of his life and what did each
mean?  Were they appropriate?
Frank Phillips: Making the Most of Things
Frank Phillips was born in 1873 in a log cabin in Nebraska.  His family endured
depression, drought, and a grasshopper plague of Biblical proportions before moving to Iowa in
hopes of a more successful farming experience.  Frank finished his formal education in a oneroom school and at the age of 14 gave up the 10 cents a day he
was earning digging potatoes and left home to make his own
way.  He’d be “making his own way” in nearly every sense of the
expression for the rest of his life.
Flashy striped pants, spats, and the stylin’ headgear drew
him into the wonderful world of barbering, where his quick wit
and easy charm served him at least as well as his adeptness in the
technicalities of the trade.  Before long he was even selling his
own magical hair tonic made from rainwater.  Many men go bald,
he explained, but he’d never seen a hog without hair.  Logically,
then, it must be the rainwater.  That he was able to sell his elixir
long after going bald himself is a testament to his skills as a
salesman.  That he thought of it in the first place and marketed it
aggressively and successfully for decades suggests he was quite
the businessman as well. When Frank fell in love with and married Jane Gibson, her father–a successful banker–
noticed both of these traits in his new son-in-law.  He arranged a test of sorts, asking Phillips to
sell a half-million dollars worth of bonds to finance a new coliseum in Chicago.  Not only did
he sell them while no one else seemed to be able to give the bonds away, but he did so in record
time, traveling half the country and getting investors excited about giving him their money.  It
wasn’t long before Frank was quite secure in the banking business in Creston, Iowa.  When he
began to hear about the kind of money changing hands in Indian Territory, however, and the
wild, new, unpredictable oil business, Frank knew exactly where he wanted to be.  He and Jane
moved to the brand new town of Bartlesville, where the burgeoning petroleum business required
a new approach to banking.  Frank provided it.
Dealing with the huge numbers and high risks of a fledgling but titanic industry meant
taking risks. That was fine with Frank as long as they were educated risks.  Phillips learned the
oil business quickly, and before long he was drilling wells of his own with limited success.  In
the meantime, his brand new First National Bank was serving not only oil men, but other classes
often left behind by traditional institutions.  Frank wasn’t careless, by any means, but neither
did he turn away any solid-looking client, whether they were traditional farmers, established
ranchers, Indians or even outlaws.  That First National was the only bank in the territory never
robbed suggests Frank’s policies had fringe benefits as well.
Despite his love of the oil business, Frank and his brothers almost left the field altogether
to focus on banking.  They sold most of their
rights but were unable to unload an untested
section in Osage Indian Nation.  When the
Osage Indians were later found to be sitting
on one of the most profitable oil fields in the
nation’s history, the foundation of Phillips
Petroleum was set.  Frank never looked back.
The amazing success of Phillips
came not only from Frank’s willingness to
take informed risks, but his determination
that nothing go to waste.  Phillips played a
leading role in finding value in the natural gas
so often simply burned off by oil men who
considered it a nuisance.  The researchers
Frank employed found dozens of uses over
the years for petroleum byproducts. They
have found creative ways to modify the fuel
(Photo Courtesy of Phillips
itself for various uses in the air or on the road.  Petroleum Company)
Phillips wasn’t just about finding buried wealth, but about making use of every part of it.  The
company eventually expanded to include transporting, refining, and selling as well–a triumph of
vertical integration which would have made Carnegie proud.
“Uncle Frank” was a demanding boss, but amazingly loyal to anyone who worked hard
and was loyal to him in return.  He was unerringly faithful in his commitment to customers,
stockholders, and employees, while never losing his love of pioneers, cowboys, and wildlife
of all sorts.  His generosity was unmatched, and his love of nature and of the west is preserved
still in the Woolaroc Museum he established as a reserve and retreat for himself, his family,
and his employees.  His home in Bartlesville is preserved by the Oklahoma Historical Society
(while his brother Waite’s is now better known as Philbrook Museum in Tulsa).  That he was so
often honored while alive speaks of the impact he had on those around him.  That so much of
Bartlesville and Northeastern Oklahoma still carries his name and memory speaks of the impact
he still has a half-century after his death.
For Further Discussion:
(a) Explain the title of this article.
(b) What similarities can you find between Phillips’ use of rainwater and his use of petroleum
products other than oil?
Harry Sinclair: Finding a Way To Make It Happen
Harry Sinclair moved to Bartlesville in 1904, right as Frank Phillips was laying the
foundations of what would become a virtual oil and banking empire in the suddenly thriving
town.  Sinclair’s successes, while substantial, did not compare to those of Phillips or the handful
of other oil giants of the day, and he and his wife soon moved back to Independence, Kansas.  Unwilling to accept this “defeat,” he was back in two years–this time settling in Tulsa–and he
soon had struck the real beginnings of his fortune in the Glenn Pool.
Sinclair’s investment capital for the Glenn Pool venture had come from selling lumber
for oil derricks and trading land leases, but many laughed that Sinclair, was for a time, limping
his way to the bank.  He had recently had a hunting accident in which he nearly shot off his big
toe with a shotgun, and some suggested he’d done so intentionally as a last-ditch effort to fund
his speculations with the insurance money.  Phillips was fond of repeating the story with his own
corollary: “It wasn’t necessary for Sinclair.  He had the drive and ambition that made success
inevitable.  But it proves one thing: every time Harry points anything at the ground, whether it’s
a gun or an oil drill, he’s going to get money.”
However it was funded, Sinclair’s acumen for capitalizing on this initial accomplishment
is incontrovertible.  Sinclair quickly became one of the biggest of the big-money players in
the Tulsa area. He found oil in the most unlikely places and built pipelines taking it outside
the expected markets– challenging the established giants not by might, but by innovation.  His ability to cut unexpected trails was further proven when Tulsa’s Farmers’ National Bank
collapsed.  Tulsa banks were historically cold-shouldered to oilmen.  They would risk capital on
businessmen and farmers, but found the oil industry–however explosive–too unstable.  Sinclair
decided to fix this by organizing Tulsa’s first “oil man’s bank”, the Exchange National Bank, in
downtown Tulsa.  Sinclair’s instincts were again correct. Within a decade, Exchange National
Bank was receiving deposits not only from the Tulsa area, but from oil men as far away as Latin
America and the Middle East.   Exchange not only served the oil men of Sinclair’s day, but today
flourishes as the Bank of Oklahoma.
Harry Sinclair was far from infallible, and in later years he ran into trouble in President
Harding’s post-mortem Teapot Dome Scandal.  He was never proven to have been involved in
the scandal itself, but received six months jail time for ‘contempt of Congress.’  He later fought
efforts by the state of Oklahoma to regulate oil operations in the name of stabilizing prices.  He
may have been right, he may have been wrong, but true to form for the Oklahoma wildcatters,
Sinclair always had trouble playing by the rules.
Bits & Pieces:
• Sinclair had been a popular small-town druggist in Independence before losing his shop in
speculation before he was even 21.  It seems that despite his relative success at that early age,
risk was in his blood.
• After his initial efforts and successes in Bartlesville, Sinclair and his wife moved back to
Kansas.  Rumor had it that Sinclair's wife was upset with their small house in Bartlesville,
because there was insufficient room in the living room for her piano.
• “The Teapot Dome Scandal” came to light shortly after President Harding's death when it
was revealed in 1924 that Harding's Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, had been receiving
loans, cash, and cattle, for leasing a government oil reserve (in Teapot Dome, Wyoming) to
private oil companies. Fall was the first Presidential cabinet member to be imprisoned for
crimes committed while in office.  It was never shown that Sinclair took part in the illegal
activity, but he did refuse to answer several questions of the investigating Congressional
committee, and apparently hired private detectives to tail members of the various juries
hearing different parts of the case.
For Further Discussion:
(a) Explain the title of this article.
(b) List several ways Sinclair fashioned his own paths to success rather than simply mimicking
those who were already successful.
J. Paul Getty: Home Run, Bases Loaded
Jean Paul Getty came to Oklahoma in 1904 at age 11.  Unlike so
many in the state who would build their wealth and reputations
from nothing, toiling against all odds until finally striking it rich,
Getty came in the footsteps of his father.  George Getty had arrived
the year before and found men who were positive that there
was black gold in this wild territory and that it was just waiting
for them to find it.  In a time of few motorcars (or telephones or
electric lights, for that matter), their faith that oil meant riches
beyond their wildest dreams had an almost mystical quality to it,
mystical and contagious.  By the time J. Paul arrived, his father had
determined to be one of those men.  His faith proved to be right
when he struck it rich in the young town of Bartlesville.
Because of his father’s success, J. Paul Getty was able to enjoy
the frontier atmosphere of Bartlesville, and as a young teenager
he loved the cowboys, Indians, outlaws and overall Wild West
lifestyle still predominant in the area.  After attending the finest
schools in California and England, he came back to the area in 1914
and settled in Tulsa, where his father helped him start his own fortune in the oil business–assisted
by the dramatic increase in demand brought about by World War I.  Although J. Paul did have
some help getting started, it was a leg up, not a ride up, and from that point on his success was
his own.  He proved to have both an oilman’s instincts and a businessman’s sensibility, and
retired a millionaire while still in his early 20s.  A few years of the easy life left him bored, and
Getty re-entered the oil & business world at the ripe old age of 25.
It was not the Getty style to shoot for being the biggest or the richest.  They didn’t sell
shares in their company and almost never borrowed money, nor did they believe in making
all of their money in one deal and leaving the other guy with nothing.  Their faith was in a
conservative, long-term approach, and it seems to have paid off–Getty was the one of the richest
men in the world during his lifetime.  Getty’s interest in art and culture is legendary, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los
Angeles is one of the country’s finest and focuses on making fine art “meaningful and attractive
to a broad audience.”  Jean Paul lived the last third of his life in a centuries-old manor just
outside of London and one of the most lavish residences in England (or anywhere else for that
matter.)  He had fresh flowers cut for every room in this virtual palace, and supposedly the ghost
of Anne Bolyn was a regular visitor–although she never haunted Getty himself.  Despite his taste
for high culture and history, Oklahomans are more likely to remember Getty for the practical and
the progressive.  He led Spartan School of Aeronautics for many years, buying it during World
War II and helping to expand it into an institution which continues to draw students from around
the world today.  Getty is also credited with developing movable housing to meet the massive
demand created by veterans returning after the war–these “house trailers” sprang up all over the
country and are a mainstay of housing options today.  In an interview shortly before his death, Getty was asked just what goals he’d set for
himself to get where he was.  His answer seems to sum up his life as well as anything.  Getty
explained that he really hadn’t set out with any particular end in mind, “I just tried to return the
ball as best I could.”  For Further Discussion:
(a) Explain the title of this article.
(b) Despite the obvious advantages, what disadvantages might there be to being born into a
wealthy or successful family?
Jake Simmons, Jr.–Taking A Place At The Table 
On January 17, 1901, Jake Simmons, Jr. was born near Muskogee in Indian Territory,
nearly seven years before that area would–along with everything else promised to the Natives
for as long as the grass grew and the rivers ran–become part of the brand new state of Oklahoma.
His mother delivered him in traditional Creek Indian fashion–alone in her room, with gravity
as her only assistant.  Jake was cleaned up and the cord cut. In a matter of hours, and Rose
Simmons soon emerged from her room with her ninth child screaming his way into the world. She was ready to get on with the day’s work.  It was an appropriate beginning for a man whose
grit and determination would make him the most successful African-American in the history of
the oil industry in an era when many blacks had to fight to make a living wage.
“Black Creeks” were an anomaly in post-Reconstruction America.  After the South
had effectively thwarted most of the civil rights efforts which followed the Civil War, tens of
thousands of African-Americans packed their few belongings and sought new lives in the West.  Many of these “Exodusters” were physically prevented from moving by a South still in need of
cheap labor, and even those who reached Kansas or other lands of promise were likely to find
less equal opportunity than they’d hoped. Ironically, however, there were already blacks in the
West who were not only surviving but who had been thriving for generations.  They had been
forced there in the 1830s during Indian Removal.  After the Civil War, the condition of blacks
in the South oscillated as the federal government and the southern states wrestled through more
than a decade of Reconstruction.  Federal policy towards freedmen in Indian Territory, however,
was far more favorable than anything to be found in the rest of the recovering nation, making
the future state completely unique in this regard.  While the tribes’ responses to the new status of
their former slaves varied, the Black Creek (led largely by Cow Tom, the only African-American
chief in the history of the tribe and Jake Jr.’s great-grandfather) fought successfully to maintain
their legal and tribal rights as long as Indian Territory remained just that. Simmons’ father, Jake
Simmons, Sr., believed that hard work and farming were the keys to self-sufficiency.  No one,
young or old, avoided a full day’s work in his family.  Because of this staunch self-sufficiency,
no one outside of the family was given the means to oppress or control Simmons. He couldn’t
be fired or evicted because the land, like his labor on it, was his.  Jake Jr. inherited his father’s
work ethic and insistence on self-sufficiency but decided by the time he was ten that he did NOT
want to be a farmer.  He saw an even greater potential in the land; he wanted to be an oilman.  Jake Jr. graduated from Booker T. Washington’s famous Tuskegee Institute at eighteen, and
within the year, he had married and moved to Muskogee where he began brokering oil leases.  Although the specter of racism always loomed large, the bottom line of any business
is profit, and Simmons was able to make money for people.  He gradually built his business,
eventually drilling his own wells and establishing the type of self-sufficiency that his father had
so valued.  This independence enabled Simmons to be rather outspoken about his views on racial
issues throughout his city and his state, and decades before anyone would hear of Rosa Parks or
Linda Brown, Simmons was loudly fighting inequity wherever he found it.  He was harsh and
uncompromising, demanding excellence from his own and fairness from others.  His own boys
knew if they ever dared oversleep they’d be quickly roused by one of Dad’s favorite questions:
“How in hell can a black man stay in bed when white men rule the world?”  Simmons’ color finally proved an advantage when American oilmen began looking to
Africa for new sources of petroleum.  African leaders were intrigued by an African-American
operating so successfully in a “white man’s business” and soon came to trust and respect him
not only for his aggressive sense of fairness in deal-making but for his commitment to his
heritage as well.  Simmons would regale officials with stories from his family going back
several generations, and explain why honest dealings and hard work were the keys to long-term
success in African drilling the same as they were anywhere.  Eventually even Phillips Petroleum,
headquartered only a few hours away from Muskogee in Bartlesville, OK, was courting
Simmons to take advantage of his African connections.  Never seeking notoriety, the Simmons oil dynasty, still headquartered in Muskogee,
continues today under the leadership of Don Simmons, Jake Jr.’s youngest son, largely unnoticed
even by those otherwise familiar with Oklahoma’s oil legacies.  While often discovered to be
working behind the scenes to open up opportunities for young blacks, Don, like his father, has
little use for “eastern liberals and their programs.”  In the end, for a Simmons, it’s all about
leading by accomplishment.  Jake Simmons never asked for a place at the table; he simply kept
achieving until others had no choice but to slide over and make room for his chair.
Bits & Pieces:
• The Dawes Act of 1887 forced Indians to give up tribal ownership of land and assigned each
tribal member a specific 160 acres of their own.  Black tribal members received their 160
acres the same as everyone else.  Many Native Americans, to whom private ownership of this
sort was a foreign and rather abhorrent idea, were quickly cheated or otherwise duped out
of their land allotments.  Ironically, however, this left African-Americans in Indian Territory
with an asset generally denied to blacks elsewhere in the United States.  It was from one 160
acre allotment that Jake Simmons, Sr., began building his substantial land-holdings and his
refusal to rely on anyone else for a job or other essentials to survival.  That independence and
self-sufficiency made him hard to intimidate—a trait passed on to his son. The eventual self
employment and financial success of Jake Simmons, Jr. made it impossible to coerce him
into anything he was not naturally in support of to begin with.
• Simmons learned about brokering by dealing with companies wanting to drill on his land.  He divided it into small sections and made separate deals on each, not hesitating to regularly
question a good friend in the business about how it all worked.  Simmons discovered he
could essentially be a go-between for oil speculators and land-owners–especially blacks and
Creeks in the area who were generally suspicious of whites offering deals.  This gave him a
start in a high-dollar industry without the need for capital.  The oil companies took the risk,
the land-owners received fair treatment, and Simmons got paid whether oil was struck on
a given property or not.  If oil was struck, most deals were arranged so that both the landowners and Simmons received a percentage of the profits.
• In his early years of brokering, Simmons managed to maintain a fairly comfortable middleclass existence for his growing family.  When the Depression swept the nation in the early
30s, Simmons was successful, but not so much as to be immune to its effects.  Having
inherited his father’s work-ethic and belief in self-sufficiency, he was unwilling to risk the
possibility he might end up looking for handouts.  Traveling to Texas to reap the rewards
of the oil boom after being experienced further south, Simmons soon discovered himself
making more money as a real estate agent–selling land to blacks in Texas eager to escape
lynching, beatings, and other harassments, and who suddenly found the resources to do so
by selling land to ravenous oil speculators.  Muskogee was the perfect solution–a relatively
isolated largely black community which was already successful and which had plenty of land
available.  Everyone won–including Simmons, who was able to return to Muskogee with a
little more assurance that his family, at least, wouldn’t be needing help from anyone in those
difficult times.
For Further Discussion:
(a) Explain the title of this article.
(b) How did owning his own land and farming relate to being politically or socially outspoken
and independent?
(c) How was Jake Jr. able to continue this tradition even though he was not a farmer himself?
John Mabee: Answering When Opportunity Knocked
John Mabee and his wife, Lottie Jane, came to Oklahoma just as it was approaching
statehood in 1907.  Mabee had had his fill of packing meat and waiting tables in Texas, and he
and Lottie Jane were ready to try their hands at homesteading—farming their very own 160 acres
in southern Oklahoma in what is now part of Cotton County.  Despite their best efforts, it didn’t
go well at first, and John had to deliver mail to make ends meet.
            While still struggling two years into this new life, the Mabees were approached by
an oil company wanting to lease part of their homestead.  Rampant speculation and drilling
were sweeping the state, and Mabee seized the opportunity and unexpected income to begin
investing in land, and then drilling operations.  Eventually, Mabee Consolidated Corporation
was the largest oil well drilling contractor in the world.  Mabee soon began to diversify his
business interests to include banking, insurance, real estate and ranching—giving him a measure
of security not possible in oil alone.  For all its burgeoning strength, experience was quickly
teaching that fortunes could still be lost overnight.
            But Mabee wasn’t trying to keep his fortunes for himself.  Although lacking all but the
most rudimentary formal education himself, his gifts to educational institutions throughout the
Southwest would provide the educational resources he lacked to the next generation. In Tulsa,
his generosity seemed boundless. A short list of institutions benefiting from his largess includes
the Community Chest, the YMCA, Children’s Medical Center, Hillcrest Hospital, Boston Avenue
United Methodist Church and The University of Tulsa.
            Mr. Mabee’s business-like approach to giving money away led him to found the J.E. and
L.E. Mabee Foundation in 1948. Through this foundation, Mr. Mabee’s generosity was sustained
after his death in 1961, and his magic of turning oil into bricks and mortar continues today.
[With thanks to www.tulsahistory.org]
For Further Discussion:
(a) Explain the title of this article.
(b) How much of Mabee’s fortune was the result of his efforts and decisions? How much was the
result of chance? Explain.
(c) How did Mabee’s choices of how to spend his money reflect his values?
Robert A. Hefner: Making Butter
Robert A. Hefner and his wife Eva were fond of telling their kids a story about two little
frogs who fell into a churn of milk and began paddling madly to keep from drowning. One got
tired and gave up, sank into the milk and drowned. The other kept going until he’d churned
some of the milk into butter. Exhausted, he climbed onto the floating chunk of butter and waited
until someone decided to pour themselves some milk, at which point he hopped out and escaped.
Robert A. Hefner was born into a Texas farm family whose means were modest enough,
but who like many of their kind held their heads up and refused to feel poor. The Hefners
could trace their genealogy back to Charlemagne, King Edward I, and Joan of Arc and seemed
determined to live up to such ancestry. When Robert was ten years old, his father sold everything he had to purchase thirty
head of cattle and moved the family to 160 acres of unimproved land, purchased on credit, in a
sparsely populated section of Texas. Robert helped his dad and brothers build a sod dugout, 12
by 15 feet, in which all seven family members slept and ate while they cleared the land, pulled
up trees by the roots, plowed the rough ground, and began to raise grain and vegetables on which
to live. They also raised cotton to sell. By his early teens, Robert had picked more cotton than
most men would see in a lifetime.
Trying every means possible to bring in income, Robert’s father committed him to
shepherd 3,000 sheep for a season. Barely in his teens, Robert spent twelve months herding
sheep. He had to keep them moving regularly so they’d find enough to eat, and it was his sole
responsibility to protect them from wolves, coyotes, and even the occasional mountain lion. The
long year taught him self-reliance, and long nights alone by the fire gave him time to read, and
read, and read. Such self-motivation and commitment to learning didn’t go to waste; Hefner managed to
gain admission to North Texas Baptist College and then the law school at the University of Texas
without a previous day of formal education in his life. Entering the world of higher education
did not mean an end to long hours and plenty of sweat. Hefner worked on a nearby farm to
pay his room and board at NTBC. He managed to pass the state exam required for a teaching
certificate before entering law school, and was thus able to work his way through at least the
latter part of his formal education
Hefner eventually settled in Ardmore, Oklahoma, where he established himself as an
attorney and businessmen whose expertise was the growing oil industry. He was later elected to
the Oklahoma Supreme Court, earning him the nickname that would stick with him long after
he moved on to other pursuits: “The Judge.” During his tenure as mayor of Oklahoma City, he
oversaw the development of a much-needed water supply for the city, the lake which today bears
his name. While Hefner was responsible for innumerable philanthropic contributions, Lake
Hefner remains one of the city’s most sublime attractions. His story reads like a fairy tale from his humble beginnings to his incredible success
financially and politically. He’s one of very few public men of his caliber who was never
once accused of scandal or moral corruption. He wasn’t particularly interested in credit for
his accomplishments, though, as much as he was interested in the lesson behind them—keep
working, keep churning, and when opportunity comes, take the chance to jump. For Further Discussion:
(a) Explain the title of this article.
(b) What long-term advantages might there be to struggle or poverty early on in life?
(c) What fairy tale or story would you tell to demonstrate your deepest held values?
E.W. Marland (1874 - 1941)
Roll Up Your Sleeves
E.W. Marland came to Oklahoma very shortly after statehood, having already made and
lost one fortune in the oil fields of West Virginia.  Although formally educated as an attorney in
his home state of Pennsylvania, Marland’s interest in geology and the oil industry led him west,
where he was convinced his studies and innovations in geology would help him to find profitable
supplies of petroleum in areas others had missed.
While Marland’s new methods for finding oil by studying the land’s geography were
not entirely unique, they were far from conventional for the times, and he found little support
from the existing petroleum industry.  Of more immediate concern was the resulting difficulty
in finding the necessary financial backing for his new operations.  This skepticism seemed to be
validated when his first major efforts at the 101 Ranch a few miles south of Ponca City yielded
almost no results.  Workers and supplies were scarce, and in order to keep things going, Marland
often had to roll up his sleeves and drive the teams of oxen carrying timbers and other materials
himself.
After his first effort yielded only a dry well, and his next seven efforts yielded
insignificant amounts of gas, Marland was determined to try yet again on a site that required
determined negotiations with the local Ponca tribe, under whose sacred grounds he was
convinced vast stores of petroleum were waiting.  His perseverance paid off, and this first
discovery of oil in the Ponca field led to Marland Refining Company becoming a giant in
Oklahoma oil less than a decade after start-up. “Call Me E.W.”
Marland’s tendency to go against the grain continued in
his management of Marland Oil, where a quarter-century before
most companies offered the most basic benefits standard today,
Marland provided free medical and dental care, profit-sharing, and
low-interest loans through a bank he purchased himself to make
it easier for employees to buy homes.  Such unusual altruism, of
course, helped E.W. (as he insisted his employees call him) to
accumulate some of the most dedicated and productive workers
in the industry. By 1922, over a third of Ponca City worked for
Marland Oil and Marland controlled nearly 10% of the known oil
reserves in the world.
Marland was free with his wealth, both personally
and publicly.  He gave generously to local charities, backed
innumerable improvement projects in Ponca City, and even built
a free public golf course for the city in a time when golf was
exclusively a rich man’s game.  Some of his choices raised a few
eyebrows–the building and
(Photo courtesy
decorating of what would become known as the Marland Mansion
www.marlandmansion.com
were undertaken with little concern for either expense or public
opinion.  Nor did E.W. flinch when some laughed at his desire to bring Old English fox hunting
to Ponca City.  The grounds, the horses, the hounds, even a master instructor from England were
provided for Marland employees, and those nearing the top of the corporate ladder soon learned
to ride in the hunt, as well as to keep up with the many late night poker games in Marland’s
library.  Perhaps his greatest show of independence from convention came when Marland
remarried two years after his wife’s death in 1926.  His new bride was the young Lydie Marland,
who had lived with the Marlands for over a decade. She was his wife’s niece and their adopted
daughter.  There was no indication anything in the relationship had been improper, but even those
accustomed to the relatively loose social mores of the Roaring Twenties were shocked by such a
move. Tabloids across the country couldn’t resist exploiting the tale.  It seems Marland followed
the same pattern personally as he did professionally; he followed his own instincts and usually
reaped the rewards.
E.W.’s golden touch was not infinite, however.  By 1928, financial maneuvering by the
J.P. Morgan Company left Marland out of control of Marland Oil. It was a major financial blow
from which Marland never really recovered. 
It also left Marland convinced that something had to be done to control the power and
greed of Eastern bankers and other powerful businessmen. After a successful 2-year term
representing Oklahoma in the House of Representatives, Marland was nominated for Governor
by Oklahoma’s Democratic Party and was elected in 1934. The country was in the grips of
the Great Depression and President Franklin D. Roosevelt was promising a New Deal for the
country, consisting largely of government programs designed to stimulate a nearly-dead economy
and head off complete destitution for individuals while they sought work in tough times. Marland
promised to bring this New Deal to Oklahoma.
New Approaches
Once immediate needs had been met, Marland insisted, the state must also address the
environmental problems and careless agricultural techniques which had helped cause the Dust
Bowl- a decade-long horror of drought and massive dust-storms which decimated the nation’s
farms in the Midwest at the same time the country’s businesses languished in the East. It wasn’t
just the land which had been carelessly used. The state had to find ways to bring other industries
to Oklahoma in order to diversify its economy and make fuller use of its natural resources. Oil
and agriculture may have formed the state’s economic backbone, but Oklahoma’s political and
business leaders were going to have to change their traditional ways of doing things as much or
more as its farmers.
Marland faced intense opposition from a state legislature convinced that cutting today’s
spending was more important than investing in tomorrow’s possible prosperity. While always
congenial, Marland hadn’t lost his penchant to dig in and do what he thought was best when
it was within his means to do so. After endless debate with the Oklahoma City Council over
his plan to build oil wells on the capitol’s grounds, Marland had had enough. He called in the
National Guard, put the grounds under martial law, and showed the drillers where to drill. They
struck oil in October of 1935, bringing desperately needed revenues into the state treasury. One can only speculate what the reaction would have been had E.W. been mistaken about this
particular pool of petroleum!
By the 1930s, the oil industry had become an essential part not only of Oklahoma, but of
many of its neighbors as well. The petroleum producing power of Oklahoma had been largely
responsible for the Allied victory in World War I, and it was clear that the U.S. and the world
would be looking to petroleum as a primary source of energy for many years to come. But the
petroleum industry had been a wild, boom-and-bust venture, and by its very nature had not
generally prompted extreme caution or extensive foresight. Without serious refocus, Marland
suspected, the industry and thus the nation would face difficult times down the road. Perhaps
his greatest contribution to the long-term security of the
country’s national resources was his leadership in creating
the Interstate Oil Compact (the IOC) and the resulting
Interstate Oil Compact Commission (IOCC). The IOCC
was a collaboration of states with the blessings of the
federal government agreeing to work against waste in their
petroleum industries (with both environmental and safety
concerns being addressed as a result). It would also work
against foreign imports in order to keep these industries
stable and in production, and to voluntarily control prices
and production—all without excessive federal interference. These changes would benefit the environment, the economy,
and the workers, all while promoting long life for the industry
and its constituent companies.
The Pioneer Woman
As important as his political and business
contributions were, Marland is perhaps best remembered for
a very simple statue he commissioned and donated to his
adopted hometown of Ponca City, Oklahoma. E.W. wanted
something to honor the spirit of the women who’d played
such an important part in settling the Midwest. He found it
in this 17 foot-tall sculpture of a confident woman, Bible in
hand and her young son by her side, striding forward with her
(Photo courtesy
www.marlandmansion.com
head held high. The “Pioneer Woman” statue was unveiled on April 22, 1930, and still stands in
Ponca City today, only a block away from the carefully preserved Marland Mansion.
Marland did not seek reelection in 1938. He moved back to Ponca City to spend his
remaining years with his wife, Lydia, in the remodeled chauffeur’s house where they were forced
to move after the Morgan takeover in 1928. They were no longer able to pay the utilities and
upkeep on the “big house” as they continued to call it. Marland died at home of natural causes in
1941.
Study Questions:
1. What were two difficulties Marland faced in trying to establish himself in the oil
business in Oklahoma? How did he overcome these challenges?
2. In what ways did E.W. run Marland Oil differently than most companies of the day?
3. How did Marland end up in politics?
4. What were two problem areas in which Governor Marland thought Oklahoma needed
to change its approach? What did he think needed to be done?
5. What was the main purpose or function of the IOCC? What were some of the
resulting benefits?
6. How did Marland spend his later years?
7. Despite Marland’s accomplishments in the oil fields and in politics, for what is he
most often remembered?
For Further Discussion:
1. What guarantee did Marland have that his methods for finding oil would be
successful?
2. List several things Marland did which were clearly philanthropic and several which
were somewhat controversial. When is going against the grain a good idea and when is it
a bad idea? How can you know when it’s one or the other?
3. What were some possible advantages and disadvantages to the way Marland treated his employees at Marland Oil?
4. What do you think of the means Marland used to start oil production on the capital
grounds? How might people of the time have responded? How might they have responded if he had NOT found oil there?
5. Describe the Pioneer Woman statue. Speculate as to why Marland might have found
this particular statue meaningful or important to himself or to the state.
Lloyd Noble (1896 - 1950)
Secret Agent “Oil”
The outbreak of World War II meant a massive increase in the demand for oil and
petroleum needed not only to keep America running, but also to supply the Allies fighting
Germany and Japan.  When Germany invaded Poland in September, 1939, Great Britain and
France declared war over two years before the U.S. would join the fray after the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor.  England’s oil supplies were critically low, and the equipment they
had was woefully inadequate for their burgeoning demands.  They quickly dispatched a
representative to the oil fields of Oklahoma.
The British official was introduced to Lloyd Noble and his chief officers, who very much
wanted to assist the British, but faced prior commitments in a time when every able oil worker
was in constant demand.  The official was very persistent,
however, even paying a surprise visit to Noble at his
home in Ardmore to discuss the matter further. After
considering the seriousness of the need, Noble put his
business interests aside and sent a sizeable delegation of
his best men to England to lend their time and expertise
to the war effort in a drilling project declared by both the
British and U.S. governments to be Top Secret. Unable
to get the necessary clearance to fly, the men began their
journey by boat, through waters increasingly controlled
by Nazi submarines. 
After arriving safely, if a bit rattled, the men
soon discovered they faced not only difficulties securing
sufficient equipment and supplies, but much harsher
conditions than they were accustomed to back home–and
they were accustomed to a lot.  The wind and rains of
the English Midlands, combined with the very limited
lighting allowed during nightly wartime
blackouts; made their chores particularly nasty;  (Photo courtesy of Samuel Roberts
nevertheless, by pure stubbornness and working in
Noble Foundation)
alternating 12-hour shifts, the oil began to flow.  The
quantities may not have been impressive by Oklahoma
standards, but the several million barrels produced in those few years were critical to the war
effort.  In addition, the work had been largely based in the legendary Sherwood Forrest of Robin
Hood lore, and the men were able to return with their national identity cards officially signed by
none other than the current Sheriff of Nottingham.  Lloyd Noble refused financial compensation
from the British or any other government.  His costs in salaries, equipment, and lost manpower
back home were his contribution to the winning of the war.
Noble Enterprises
While this may have been one of Noble’s more glorious contributions to his world, it was
typical of a man whose deepest conviction was that honor came more from what one gave than
what one earned.  Besides doing business and employing thousands of workers in 25 different
states, Noble founded the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, named after his father.  Its primary
goal of helping farmers and ranchers make wiser and more productive use of their land continues
today in the Foundation’s Agricultural Division.  The Foundation has expanded to include a
Biomedical Division which has pioneered many of the treatments now used in battling cancer,
and a Plant Biology Division which is working to improve disease resistance and production
potential in the world’s food supply. The Foundation also continues to establish new research
and education branches in related fields.
It will come as no surprise to college basketball fans that Noble was also a huge supporter
of higher education, especially at the University of Oklahoma where the multi-purpose arena best
known for housing OU’s basketball team still carries his name.  His contributions were not just
financial, however.  He served on the Board of Regents for 15 years and advocated huge changes
in both the academic realm and in student life on campus, taking steps to ensure both faculty
loyalty and a sense of student community.  Noble was also one of the leading voices in racial
integration during those complicated years when many other educational institutions were torn
by violent conflict in the face of social progress.  Legacy
Lloyd Noble stated long ago when establishing the management guidelines for the Noble
Corporation that he wished “should death intervene, to have matters so arranged that I would be
missed personally, while the machinery [i.e., the operation of the company] continued to function
smoothly.”  His legacy certifies he exceeded in this.  The many seeds he planted during his life-in business, education, or other philanthropic works too numerous to mention–have continued
to multiply a half-century after his death.  Shining over them all, however, is something Lloyd
Noble likely never intended to leave behind an example and a challenge for those who remain.
Study Questions:
1. What were three dangers or difficulties faced by Noble’s men in their mission to England?
2. How successful were their efforts in England?
3. Why did Noble refuse to let the British government compensate him for his efforts and expenses?
4. Give three examples of work done by the Noble Foundation.
5. What were three ways in which Noble was not only a supporter of higher education in Oklahoma but an innovator as well?
For Further Discussion:
1. Why would Noble’s sending men to England have been even more of a sacrifice during World War II than during other times? What would be different back home in Oklahoma as a result of the war?
2. How much control did Noble have over his legacy? How much control do we have
over ours? What can we do to shape how we are remembered or what lasting impact -good or bad- our lives have?
Robert S. Kerr (1896 – 1963)
Humble Beginnings
Robert S. Kerr was born in 1896 in a tiny log cabin in the Chickasaw Nation near
Ada. When he was elected governor nearly 50 years later it would make him the first native
Oklahoman to occupy that office, providing the foundation for one of the best “humble
beginnings” stories since Abraham Lincoln.
Kerr’s entire education took place in the public schools and state colleges of Oklahoma,
and he quickly rose to prominence as one of the most successful attorneys in the state. He served
as an artillery officer in France during World War I, then returned to Oklahoma to continue his
legal practice. Outside the office and the courtroom, Kerr worked faithfully for the Southern
Baptist church, serving in various capacities locally and regionally; he was eventually elected
President of the Oklahoma Baptist Convention.
His early years were not without struggle, however. His earliest business efforts failed
miserably. Attempts with his wife to start a family saw twin daughters die at birth in 1921. A
few years later, his wife died in childbirth after delivering a stillborn son. Kerr was devastated
financially as well as emotionally, and when he remarried several years later he had to borrow
money just to, in his words, “launch” the new marriage.
“I’m Just Like You, Only I Struck Oil”
His new wife was the daughter of a Tulsa oil man—a profession with which Kerr was not
totally unfamiliar—and within a year Kerr had organized a drilling company of his own and was
soon finding great success in his own right. In 1936, he formed a partnership with geologist and
oil man Dean McGee, and Kerr-McGee Industries was born. By 1942, Kerr was worth over $10
million but was known as much for his philanthropy as for his success in the oil business. In the
spirit of Andrew Carnegie, he certainly believed in making money, but he seemed even more
convinced of the need to give it away to churches, colleges, hospitals, and orphanages.
During this time, Kerr had become active in the Democratic Party. He’d supported
the gubernatorial campaigns of both E.W. Marland and Leon Phillips, and was developing
a reputation as a public speaker who was
both entertaining and persuasive. It was no
surprise, then, when he ran for Governor on
the Democratic ticket in 1942 and won. His
campaign slogan was simple: “I’m just like
you, only I struck oil.”
A New Set Of Challenges
Although Kerr could certainly be
confrontational when roused, he generally
preferred to win over his opponents rather
than attack them. He would need every bit of
his warmth and humor as he entered his new
job facing $37 million in state debt, struggling
public schools, and a state economy still not
fully recovered from the Great Depression. (Photo used with permission of The Saturday Evening Kerr began both working with his state
legislature and making friends in Washington
Post, BFL&MS, Inc., Indianapolis.)
to mobilize Oklahoma’s oil, grains and other
resources for World War II. He worked
to improve the state’s public education, bring federal projects to Oklahoma, and continue the
previous governor’s policy of luring diverse industries into the state in order to broaden the base
of its economy. It was in pursuit of this last goal that Kerr opened himself to criticism that he
was passing his term as an “absentee governor” as he traveled the country more than any of his
predecessors extolling the wonders of Oklahoma for a wide variety of enterprises.
The relatively mild climate and wide-open spaces of Oklahoma opened up other wartime
possibilities quickly realized by Governor Kerr—armed forces training camps and prisoner of
war compounds. Over the course of the war, Oklahoma was a primary site for both, and federal
building rapidly commenced, again bringing crucial dollars to the state while serving the needs
of the nation.
The Uncrowned King Of The Senate
At the end of his term, Kerr took the unusual step of running for the Senate; he was
Oklahoma’s first ex-governor to do so. He not only won, but served until his death on New
Year’s Day, 1963. Here he continued his habit of fighting for the state as well as looking out for
national interests. He also preferred to charm and reason with his opponents rather than alienate
them through personal attacks or angry outbursts. His speeches continued to draw in even his
most adamant opponents, and after a very short time in Washington, his influence was such that
he was commonly referred to as “the uncrowned king of the Senate,” a nickname old-timers still
recognize.
By the time of his death, Robert S. Kerr had not only become a legend in his home state,
but a household name across the country. It is difficult to say which part of his legacy presents
the greatest challenge for those who follow—his unceasing philanthropy, his tireless political
efforts, or his assumption that anyone else in his position would have done the same.
Study Questions
1. What are two significant things about Kerr’s birthplace?
2. List three occupations in which Kerr participated before he entered the oil business.
3. When did Kerr’s most famous partnership form and who was this partner?
4. What was Kerr’s approach to overcoming political opponents?
5. What were three challenges Kerr faced upon taking office as Governor of Oklahoma?
6. What did Kerr do as governor that led some to criticize him as an “absentee governor?”
7. Explain the nickname “the uncrowned king of the Senate.” Where did this name come
from and what does it imply?
For Further Discussion:
1. How might Kerr’s struggles in his early years have affected his decisions as oil man,
philanthropist, and politician?
2. Review what you know about Andrew Carnegie and his philanthropic beliefs. Do you
agree or disagree with his approach? How would you handle your personal fortune if in a
similar situation?
3. Explain Kerr’s campaign slogan in 1942. What was he trying to say? How can a
campaign slogan try to convey large ideas or impressions in short, memorable words?
Can you think of any other examples?
Charles Page (1861-1926)
Charles Page was born in Wisconsin in 1861. He had to drop out of school in 1870 when
his father became ill and support his mother and four younger siblings when his father died the
next year. He married his first wife, Lucy, in 1881 and adopted her son as his own. He worked
at many things over the years; mining, hotels, railroads, clerking in stores, commodities trading,
as a policeman, and even as a Pinkerton detective; anything to earn money to support his wife
and son, and send to his mother until her death.
In 1901, they moved to Oklahoma City and then to Tulsa in 1903. Page bought a hotel in
Tulsa and began to dabble in the oil industry. He drilled in the Red Fork and Taneha areas. His
first wells were unsuccessful, but in 1905 he hit it big with the Taneha, named for a Creek word
meaning “oil under land”. That well began producing 2000 barrels a day, helping Page make
his first million dollars. In the Glenn Pool one of his wells hit natural gas, making him a very
wealthy man. Sadly, his wife, Lucy, died in 1906. In 1909, Page married second wife, Lucille, and then adopted a baby girl. Page never
forgot the difficulties of his mother’s widowhood and his hard work as a young boy to support
his family. In the early twentieth century there was no safety net in place for fatherless children
and their mothers and now that he had begun to prosper he decided to do something to help
people in that situation. He decided to create a planned community where widows and orphans
could live so that the children could finish school and become productive members of society.
In 1908 he began to acquire land west of Tulsa, where he founded the town of Sand
Springs. He also helped to establish various schools in West Tulsa, including Berryhill, and
started a hospital, a power, water and light company and an interurban railroad to connect the
town with Tulsa.
In 1909, Page heard of an orphanage in Tulsa that was closing due to bankruptcy. He
legally adopted all of them and put the local Salvation Army Captain, Brinton Breeding, in
charge of the home he built for them. The children were housed in dormitories and in the dining
hall; they sat at tables with their family members to preserve family relations. In 1912, he began construction on a widow’s colony for widowed and divorced women
with children to support. The colony consisted of forty three room shotgun houses, a chapel and
a nursery. Each house was provided with free water, gas, electricity, free rent and a quart of milk
per child per day. To live in the colony a woman had to have at least one child in school, and
the children had to maintain a C average, and they had to follow a conduct code. No men were
allowed to stay overnight in the colony and when the youngest child graduated, the woman had
to move on.
Baron Fruit—Oil and Natural Gas Icons
Additional Information – The Legacies
Science Museum Oklahoma
The Kirkpatrick Planetarium was created in 1958 with a donation from the Junior League
of Oklahoma City. In 1962, the John E. Kirkpatrick family provided a permanent dome structure
for the popular planetarium at the State Fairgrounds. That year also saw the founding of the
Science Museum Oklahoma on the fairgrounds then called the Oklahoma Science and Arts
Foundation.
When the Kirkpatrick Center museum complex opened in 1978, Science Museum
Oklahoma became the building’s first tenant. In 1980, the Oklahoma Air and Space Museum
(now part of Science Museum Oklahoma) became a new addition in Kirkpatrick Center and it
just kept growing.
John Kirkpatrick envisioned an outdoor sanctuary and gardeners’ learning center and
in 1985 opened the Kirkpatrick Gardens and Greenhouse, adjacent to the south side of the
building. In 1996, the Kirkpatrick Center, the Oklahoma Air and Space Museum, and Science
Museum Oklahoma merged to create a new organization – the Kirkpatrick Science and Air Space
Museum at Omniplex. A few years later, Science Museum Oklahoma began construction on the
Dome Theater, the state’s first large-format, dome-screen theater. Science Museum Oklahoma
made history in 2000 by opening the state’s first large-format, dome-screen theater to sold-out
audiences.
Today Science Museum Oklahoma continues to promote science in everyday lives, with
the Dome Theater, Planetarium, and Science Live shows. Science Museum Oklahoma also offers
a show exclusively for the OERB titled “Petro Power.”
[Source: sciencemuseumok.org used by permission.]
Spartan School of Aeronautics
Spartan School of Aeronautics was founded
in 1928 by W.G. Skelly, President of
Skelly Oil Company. He established
Spartan Aircraft Company and formed
the corporation that built Tulsa Municipal
Airport (now called Tulsa International
Airport). Since 1928, this airport has
been the home of Spartan. Mr. Skelly was
convinced that air transportation would
come of age and bring with it a need for
skilled aircraft technicians and pilots; therefore, Spartan offered both mechanic and flight courses
and quickly became a leader in aviation education. During World War II and the Korean War, Spartan trained thousands of pilots and
mechanics for the armed forces while continuing to expand in the civil aviation field. Much of
the credit for this period of expansion goes to J. Paul Getty, who acquired Spartan from Skelly
in 1942. The ownership of Spartan was maintained by Getty until 1968, when it was purchased
by Automation Industries, Inc. Spartan opened a second campus in 1969 and has continued to
flourish through the present day. Spartan has graduated more than 80,000 technicians and pilots and through the
performance of its graduates has had a significant influence on world aviation.
[Source: spartan.edu used by permission.]
International Petroleum Exposition Building
At the suggestion of Tulsan attorney Earl Sneed, oil baron William G. Skelly and other
prominent oilmen in the area organized the first International Petroleum Exposition and Congress
in Tulsa in 1923.  It was to serve many purposes: oilmen could gather without rivalry to discuss
the industry and solve mutual problems, manufacturers of oil field equipment or related products
could display and demonstrate their wares, young people or other laymen could experience and
examine the workings of the state’s largest industry up close, and as a bonus, Tulsa could help
to solidify its claim to being the oil capitol of the world.  At first an annual event, then biannual,
the IPE continued sometimes regularly and sometimes sporadically until the oil bust of the early
1980s.  At the same time the IPE was being born, the Tulsa County Free Fair, thanks to a land
donation from M.E. Crosbie, was moved to a portion of the present Expo Square between 15th
and 21st Streets. Passage of a major bond issue of $500,000 provided for the construction of the
Pavilion in 1931. The fair board acquired land adjacent to the gift acreage in later years, and the
“state fair” was born.
Funded by a 1966 $3.5 million bond issue, the 446,400 square foot Exposition Center
was completed and became home to the International Petroleum Exposition. The Golden Driller
was added as a symbol of the IPE in 1966. Weighing 43,500 pounds and standing 76 feet tall, the
Golden Driller has become the symbol of Expo Square and is one of Tulsa’s most recognizable
icons.
During the 1970’s, marketing of the facilities for year-round usage was begun, and
the fairgrounds was renamed Expo Square. Improvements during that time period included
construction of the North Arena, improvements in the Pavilion, air conditioning of the
Pavilion and Expo Center, and construction of the 13,000+ seat grandstand complex. Further
improvements are currently underway, and now many major events and exhibitions are held at
the Expo Building every year.
Bits & Pieces:
• The first IPE met in the building now known as the Brady Theater.  Concert-going Tulsans know it best as “the Old Lady on Brady.”
Oklahoma Heritage House (Oklahoma Heritage Center)
In 1970, the family mansion of Judge and Mrs. Robert A. Hefner, Sr., and its contents,
including priceless antiques and Judge Hefner’s unique cane and bell collections, were donated
to the Oklahoma Heritage Association (OHA). The OHA is a non-profit organization dedicated
to preserving Oklahoma’s unique heritage and promoting enhanced pride in the state. The
Association was founded in 1927 as the Oklahoma Memorial Association along with the
Oklahoma Hall of Fame. The first Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony took place in
1928 and the event has been held annually since.
The Oklahoma Heritage Center was opened to the public in 1972. In addition to the
mansion, the facility now includes an Oklahoma Heritage Galleria, the Hefner Memorial Chapel,
and the Anthony Gardens. The OHA’s programs continued to expand, and in 1976 the Oklahoma
Trackmaker Series of biographies was launched with the publication of The Judge: The Life of
Robert A. Hefner, Sr. By 2000, the Association had published approximately 60 books in five
different series.
The OHA next established an awards program to recognize volunteers, teachers and
local organizations statewide for outstanding work in preserving Oklahoma’s unique state
and local heritage. From their base in Oklahoma City, they continue to help educate students
about Oklahoma’s heritage and publish Oklahoma: The Magazine of the Oklahoma Heritage
Association. The original program of the Association, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, has also
continued to grow through the years. A time-honored axiom states that “a society that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it.” It is the mission of the Oklahoma Heritage Association to ensure that Oklahomans do not forget.
[Source: www.oklahomaheritage.com used by permission.]
The Pioneer Woman Statue
In 1927, oilman E.W. Marland had the idea that a statue
should be erected to honor the spirit of women who played such a
significant role in settling of this part of the country. He hired twelve
artists to submit their own design, for which each was paid $10,000.
The twelve miniature 3-foot statues toured the country by
train, traveling to twelve different cities in six months. The statues
were viewed by 750,000 people who cast votes for their favorite.
The overwhelming favorite was the monument of a confident
woman and her young son, created by sculptor Bryant Baker of New
York. The statue stands 17 feet high and weighs 12,000 pounds. It is
mounted on a pyramid limestone base, making the total height over
30 feet.
When the statue was unveiled on April 22, 1930, more than
40,000 people gathered to witness the unveiling and hear famous
Oklahoma humorist, Will Rogers. Marland presented the Pioneer
Woman Statue and the land surrounding it to the State of Oklahoma
and her people. The Pioneer Woman Statue stands at Monument
Circle, one block from the Marland Mansion. The twelve original
miniature statues are currently housed in the Woolaroc Museum.
Lydie and E.W. Marland admire the
Pioneer Women Statue prior to its
installation on the stone base.
Bits & Pieces:
• The Bryant Baker sculpture, "Confidence,” which was chosen as the winner, was not
Mr. Marland’s favorite of the twelve models. His choice was by his favorite sculptor, Jo
Davidson, who had done the statues of Mr. Marland, Lydie and brother George. Mr. Marland
did, however, honor the public’s wishes and commissioned Mr. Baker to create his 17' bronze
masterpiece. Mr. Marland and Mr. Baker became good friends and most would agree the
public made the correct decision on the choice of the statue.
• Mrs. Lydie Marland was 52 and had become a recluse when she left Ponca City in 1952. Her
statue had been crated and stored next to her cottage for nearly a dozen years. She had no
need for it and did not want to be exploited in any way after her departure, so she paid a man
to destroy the statue. She watched as he destroyed the face and head and assuming he would
finish the job, she left. He instead buried the remainder of the statue, believing it was too
beautiful to destroy. The statue was not found until after the death of Mrs. Marland and the
worker. The workers' nephew stepped forward with the approximate location of the buried
statue.
[Source: www.marlandmansion.com used by permission.]
The Lloyd Noble Center
The Lloyd Noble Center is a multi-purpose facility which has been serving the University
of Oklahoma and the surrounding community since December 1, 1975.  Lloyd Noble was a
resoundingly successful businessman and an active participant in a variety of religious and civic
organizations across the state. Especially dear to his heart was the University of Oklahoma in
Norman. Upon receiving his diploma, Noble devoted much of his energy and a substantial part of
his financial resources to the advancement of the University.
Although certainly not Noble’s only contribution to the University, it is perhaps his bestknown. It has been home to outstanding men’s and women’s basketball teams. Each program has
enjoyed years of success as the 11,000-seat facility has rumbled with the cheers of the Sooner
faithful, but the Lloyd Noble Center is more than just a place for basketball. The multi-purpose
arena has hosted Sooner wresting and gymnastic events, OU freshmen convocations, international
student banquets and several commencement exercises.  It has also been the site of concerts by
artists ranging from Adam Ant and Alan Jackson to U2, Up With People, and ZZ Top.
The arena was financed through the University’s first $1 million gift by the Noble
Foundation. Additional funds for the arena were secured through donations by Phillips
Petroleum, Viersen Oil, and student activities fees. 
Woolaroc Museum
Hidden away in the rugged Osage Hills of Northeastern Oklahoma, in the heart of the
U.S., Woolaroc is an anomaly. Located on 3,600 acres, it is part Western art museum, part
wildlife refuge, and part nature trail. It has the world’s largest collection of Colt firearms, and has
a number of collections of cultural and historical importance. It was founded in 1925 as a private
ranch for oilman Frank Phillips and has continued to grow in scope and importance. From its
750 animals to its collection of more than 10,000 works of Native American and western art and
artifacts, from the historic Frank Phillips Lodge to its beautiful woods and lakes, Woolaroc is, as
its website proclaims, “intriguing, individual, and inviting.” Frank Phillips established a foundation in 1937 to which he later donated his beloved
3,600-acre ranch, wildlife preserve, lodge and art museum known as Woolaroc. Today, Woolaroc
is operated by The Frank Phillips Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization, whose sole mission
is to preserve the rich heritage of Woolaroc as an educational and historical attraction.
[Source: www.woolaroc.org used by permission.]
The Marland Mansion
The dream of oil baron E.W. Marland was to live in a palace. This magnificent mansion
reflects the elegance of the affluent days of the oilman, who lived lavishly and entertained in the
same style.
Master architect John Duncan Forsyth, along with artists, decorators, and sculptors
of international reputation combined their talents to create this “Palace on the Prairie.” This
National Historic Landmark took three years to construct, 1925 to 1928. The mansion is 78 feet
wide and 184 feet long, and contains 43,561 square feet distributed over four levels. There are
55 rooms, including 10 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, 7 fireplaces, and 3 kitchens. It takes 861 light
bulbs to light the mansion.
Greeting guests as they enter the mansion are the statues of Lydie Marland and George
Marland, the adopted children of E.W. and Virginia Marland. Lydie later became Mr. Marland’s
second wife. They were sculpted of French limestone by Jo Davidson, E. W. Marland’s favorite
sculptor. Lydie’s statue originally stood on the north vista. Destroyed and buried in 1953, the
statue was found in pieces in 1990, restored and returned to the mansion in 1992.
The Marland Mansion has been preserved by the City of Ponca City and the grounds and
mansion are still a popular tourist attraction. [Source: www.marlandmansion.com used by permission.]
Sand Springs Children’s Home
Sand Springs Home is the fulfillment of a childhood promise that Charles Page made to
his mother. One night at the age of 10, Charles watched her crying as she tried to care for him
and his siblings after the death of their father. Charles vowed “When I grow up I’m going to
take care of you, and I’m going to take care of other widows, and orphans too.”
In 1908 Mr. Page took over a failing orphanage and moved the children to his new townsite
west of Tulsa. The city of Sand Springs was built around his Children’s Home, and all of the
proceeds of the development of the city were used to create the charitable programs of the Sand
Springs Home. The Sand Springs Home Trust continues to fund 100% of it’s charities without
the help of state or federal funding. Sand Springs Home continues to be a major contributor to the city of Sand Springs. The children from the Home and the Family Village attend school and church in the community, and the Trustees are involved in a variety of boards and organizations in the city. Sand
Springs Home continues to operate two charities. The Children’s Home and the Charles Page
Family Village. The Children’s Home is a DHS licensed residential care home for as many
as 20 children ages 6-18 who can not live in their homes due to family problems. The Family
Village is a housing program for single mothers who have at least two children. The Family
Village can house has as many as 108 families in duplex-style housing.
[Source: www.sandspringshome.com]