Pawnee Bill Ranch

The Pawnee Bill Ranch was the home of Wild West Show entertainer, Pawnee Bill. The nearest large city is Tulsa Oklahoma, approximately a 2 hour car drive from the town of Pawnee, Oklahoma. According to a recent federal project published in 2007 the Pawnee Bill Ranch main house was built using slave labor and the illegal labor of local Indian tribesman for which the Lillies were cited and fined.

The structure is a 2-story home containing much of its original furniture. This Arts and Crafts home, completed circa 1910, contains rugs, photographs, and art work. The Pawnee Bill Ranch site is open limited hours and closed most of the winter. The site has a small museum with exhibits related to Pawnee Bill. The grounds include a blacksmith shop, a faux log cabin, a barn, and an Indian Shrine Folly. The main structure was built on sandy soil and is slowly decaying, sliding off of its foundation downward. There have been many efforts to maintain the plastered walls however the interior suffers from mold. There is a charge to view the Pawnee Bill Ranch and its adjacent, dwindling Buffalo Herd. It is a unique location set amid rolling hills in the otherwise flat area of the Southern Plains.

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  Mail Order House Plans
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  Pawnee Oklahoma
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  Image of Land Run in Pawnee Territory

The design of the house was based on mail order plans. Many Sears mail order houses were built in the same area. Expensive imported woods and other materials were purchased from Frank Phillips' who built his Arts and Crafts structure, Woolrac, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Bibliography

Carter, Bret A. “Kay County's Historic Architecture OK Images of America” (2007).

Morgan, Gale and Gini Moore Campbell. “Frank’s Fancy: Frank Phillip’s Woolrac. (2001).

Perkins, Scott. “Building Bartlesville, 1945-2000: Images of America: Oklahoma” (2008).

Wallis, Michael. “Oil Man: The Story of Frank Phillips and the Birth of Phillips Petroleum” (2001).

Other

• www.pawneebillranch.com
• Federal Work Projects Administration. “Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves“, Volume XIII: Oklahoma Narratives (2007).
• Stevenson, Katherin Cole, and Jandl, H. Ward, (1995) Houses By Mail: A Guide to Houses from Sears, Roebuck and Company John Wiley & Sons; Hoboken, New Jersey
• Thornton, Rosemary (2002) The Houses That Sears Built: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sears Catalog Homes Gentle Beam Publications; Alton, Illinois
• Thornton, Rosemary (2004) Finding The Houses That Sears Built: A Guide to Their 60 Most Popular Designs Gentle Beam Publications; Alton, Illinois
• Davis, Michael W.R. and Schweitzer, Robert (1990) America’s Favorite Homes. Wayne State University Press; Detroit, Michigan
• Flori, Laurie A. (2005) "Additionally Speaking - The Saga Behind The Largest Collective of Sears Homes in the World" Brown Paper Package Publications; Carlinville, Illinois