Mansion of E. W. Marland in Ponca City, Oklahoma is now a museum.

E.W. Marland the colorful oil baron of the 1910s and 1920s, was also a U.S. Congressman, as well as the 10th Governor of Oklahoma.

His dream was to live in a palace, and so he built this majestic home.The Marland Mansion & Estate, completed in 1928 after nearly three years.

The Marlands’ Mysterious Legacy

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WILL ROGERS BEDROOM

On our recent tour of the Marland Mansion in Ponca City, Oklahoma, we entered the

“Will Rogers Bedroom.”

THE foursome of

1. E. W. Marland,
2. Will Rogers,
3. Jo Davidson and
4. Hermon MacNeil

seem an unlikely quartet.  

However, their paths crossed multiple times, especially in the “Pioneer Woman” project.

• Marland recruited Davidson to come to Ponca City where he had built a studio for a sculptor.
• Davidson completed statues of Marland family members and traveled with Marland across the U.S. in his private railroad car.
• Marland invited Will Rogers to speak at the unveiling of the “Pioneer Woman”, to great public acclaim.
• Will Rogers stayed at the Mansion many times.
• Hermon MacNeil and his student, Jo Davidson, both submitted models for the “Pioneer Woman”.
• Will Rogers called Davidson “That old head hunter” because he asked to do Will’s portrait so many times.
• Davidson returned to MacNeil’s studio in 1945 to complete a portrait bust of his teacher, H. A. MacNeil. He then made a unique bronze casting of the piece. It graces the banner of this site.—>>
• In 1947 the American Academy of Arts and Letters hosted a retrospective featuring nearly 200 of Jo Davidson’s works..

The Marland Mansion in Ponca City has a picture of Will Rogers on the Bedroom wall.

 Betty Rogers, widow of Will, signed the photo as follows:

To Governor Marland,

    With Sincere regard,

         Betty Rogers

_________

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Will Rogers was the closing speaker at the 1930 unveiling and Dedication of the “Pioneer Woman” statue.