Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Mondrian Buffalo Butt and other things

On one of the last days before I go back to a regular schedule (4 days at Afton Station, 3 days of dialysis), I decided to take a "little" drive which, naturally, turned into a not-very-little drive. It's a lovely, sunny day, and with a big snow and ice "event" predicted for Thursday and Friday, I decided this was my last chance to do a little poking around here and there.

Here and there turned out to be Bartlesville (OK), which is only about 50 miles north of Tulsa, in the Osage Hills. It's very pretty country. Bartlesville grew up around the oil industry, and as the home of Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips Petroleum. There is also a strong Native American influence in Bartlesville. During the oil boom early in the 20th Century, B'ville saw growth and great wealth.

Frank Lloyd Wright's only skyscraper is in Bartlesville -- the Price Tower. There's an art gallery inside, a cocktail lounge on top, a hotel, and tours.

Frank Phillips' home is now a museum and also has tours.

The train station is very nicely restored.

Bartlesville is apparently having one of those community art projects, the likes of which my mascot Tripper the Penguin was born in Tulsa. In the case of Bartlesville though, the giant artfully-painted creatures are bison! I managed to snap a photo of this guy from the rear -- a tribute to the work of the artist Mondrian.

4 comments:

Trevor Hilton said...

The Osage Hills is a beautiful area. I have long thought that Bartlesville is a pretty city. Did you know, too, that movie star Tom Mix was a lawman in the nearby town of Dewey? There's even a "Tom Mix" museum there with some of his guns on display.
In the '20's oil boom, there were more Pierce Arrow automobiles in Osage County than in any other part of the country. The Osage Indians got very wealthy from all the oil Frank Philips found there. One of his oil derrick rough necks moved to Hollywood. His name was Clark Gable.
Did you know, too, about that dark period of Osage history? A white man married an Osage woman. Then, he began killing her family, so she, and he, would get there share of the oil royalties.

Mrs. G said...

Laurel! Thank you for coming up my way and giving a shout out to my town! You are the greatest! Next time, be sure to let me know you're here and I'd love to take you to lunch.

Laurel said...

I do love the Osage Hills, and go to Bartlesville quite often on the way to the Tall Grass Prairie, my favorite place on earth.

Trevor, I've seen the Tom Mix museum but have never gone in.

Laurel said...

Duhh... It took me a whole day to figure out who Mrs. G was! Thanks for the note, Maria. I do love Bartlesville! I'm excited about your coming "Baby Gus", too!