Permission has been granted to place the cache where it is located. From this point you can see the welcome sign. Wanted to put cache on the sign itself but it was to close to another cache.
My father worked for Evans and Associates when the Kaw Dam was built and he was instrumental in the design of the approches to and the road across the Dam. I was fortunate to be present at the dedication of the dam. My father also has an award presented to him by the governer of Oklahoma for his work.
Kaw Lake is a reservoir completed in 1976 in the northern reaches of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, near Kaw City. It is approximately 8 miles (13 km) east of Ponca City.[1]
Kaw Dam was authorized by Congress in the Flood Control Act of 1962. Ground was broken for the dam on May 21, 1966. The original town of Kaw City was covered by the waters of Kaw Lake in 1975. The city was rebuilt about two miles west of the old site during the late 1960s.[3] The dam was completed by the Corps of Engineers in May 1976. The cost of the dam and the lake was $111 million.[4]
The Pioneer Woman monument is a bronze sculpture in Ponca City, Oklahoma, designed by Bryant Baker and dedicated on April 22, 1930. The statue is of a sunbonneted woman leading a child by the hand. It was donated to the State of Oklahoma by millionaire oilman E. W. Marland. He commissioned models from twelve well-known sculptors and financed a nationwide tour to get feedback from art critics and the general public in order to decide which model to use for the final statue.
On April 16, 1930 it was announced that the statue would be unveiled on April 22, 1930 on the 41st anniversary of the Land Run of 1889 which opened the Oklahoma Territory to settlers. The day was declared a state holiday[24] by the governor and the celebration in Ponca City included a parade, 19-gun salute. An estimated 40,000 people attended the unveiling.[25]
The dedication itself began at 1:30 pm central time with a nationwide radio address on WJZ by United States President Herbert Hoover broadcasting from the White House.[26] He introduced the native Oklahoman, Secretary of War Patrick J. Hurley who had intended to attend the unveiling in person before his visit was curtailed by illness and so spoke from his home.[27] After the first half-hour the broadcast continued from Ponca City. Other speakers during the 90 minute broadcast were Marland, Baker, Episcopal Bishop of Oklahoma Thomas Casady, Oklahoma Governor William J. Holloway, and Oklahoma humorist, Will Rogers, who closed the unveiling ceremonies.[23][28][29]
The Pioneer Woman Museum[edit]
On September 16th, 1958, the 65th anniversary of the opening of the Cherokee Outlet which included the land of Ponca City, the state opened the Pioneer Woman Museum, on land adjacent to the monument.[30] An image of the Pioneer Woman statue serves as the de facto logo of the museum.