Today’s postcard from a 1940 Oklahoma souvenir pack is of The Pioneer Woman monument in Ponca City. It was conceived, directed, and financed by Ernest Marland, an oilman, philanthropist, spendthrift, and politician. In 1928 he created a scandal by marrying Lydie, the biological daughter of his first wife’s sister, whom Marland and his first wife had adopted when Lydie was 16. Marland’s first wife later died, and he had the adoption annulled and then married Lydie when he was 54 and she was 28. Marrying his niece and former daughter didn’t prevent Oklahoma from electing him to Congress in 1932 and as governor in 1935.

In the early 1920s, Marland had been asked about commissioning a statue to the vanishing American Indian. Marland answered, “The Indian is not the vanishing American — it’s the pioneer woman.”

Ree Drummond came later.

Marland staged a design competition in 1926, paying a dozen artists to craft 3-foot bronze sculptures which were exhibited in a dozen cities. Bryant Baker’s model, Confident, was the most popular, and Marland commissioned a monumental version of it for Ponca City, which was unveiled in 1930.

The monument survives. The Pioneer Woman Museum says, “It is a heroic statue is of a young, sun-bonneted pioneer mother, protectively leading her son by the hand, striding confidently, head held high—a young woman of sturdy beauty and dignity whose eyes are fixed on the far southwestern horizon. Courage, determination, and humility in her face and a bible in her hand.”

The Museum adds that the statue is 17 feet tall, weighs 12,000 pounds, and sits upon a 16-foot-high granite base. It cost $300,000 back in 1930.

A Bartlesville Connection

In 1940, Marland faced financial ruin and sold the small bronze models from the competition to fellow oil tycoon Frank Phillips. The individual artists had each been paid $10,000 for their work, but Phillips acquired the bronzes from Marland for just $500 each. They are on display in his Woolaroc Museum near Bartlesville.

I’m not surprised that Faithful by Arthur Lee or Affectionate by James E. Fraser were not chosen for the monument, as Oklahomans might accept Marland marrying his adopted daughter/niece, but not public nudity. I’m truly glad that Trusting by Jo Davidson wasn’t picked, because her sun bonnet works too well, leading me to think, “Somehow Palpatine returned.”

If you ever go to Ponca City, you can take a look at the monument and its museum, but the town’s star attraction is the impressive Marland Mansion, which has an outbuilding with the contents of sculptor Bryant Baker’s New York studio with copies of many of his works. Marland’s previous home on Grand Avenue, Marland’s Grand Home, is also worth a visit. If you don’t make it to Ponca City, you can still enjoy a virtual tour of the Mansion and an interactive tour of the Grand Home. But you really need to go tour them in person, and be sure to eat at Enrique’s out at the airport and enjoy the puffy chips.

Tomorrow we go for a scenic drive along the Cimarron.