The Drummond Family and the Pioneer Woman

Welcome back. Two blocks off highway 60 in Hominy sits a piece of Oklahoma history that dates back to 1903 when a Scotsman who had come to America moved to Hominy and started a trading company. Originally called the Price Mercantile Company, when Fred Drummond bought it he changed the name to the Hominy Trading Company. According to a brochure I found last week at the Fred Drummond Home it came to be “one of the most successful trading and ranching organizations in Oklahoma.”

Fred died in 1913 but before he passed he built a three story Victorian style for his family, became President of Farmer’s State Bank and was in the process of buying his son his first ranch. Quite an achievement for a man who thirteen years earlier had been selling dry goods and working for wages. Fred’s house had to have been the finest in town at the time and friends it’s pretty special now.

The exterior of the first floor is native sandstone which is unusual and the second and third floors are wood framed with painted green shingles on the outside. A gas generator in the basement gave Fred and his family electricity and water was delivered with an air pressure system. Today the Fred Drummond house is owned by the Oklahoma Historical Society and in 1981 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is fully furnished inside with period furniture laid out just like when the Drummonds lived there. You can take a tour Wednesday through Sunday for a small admission fee of three bucks which in my opinion is way too cheap for a couple of hours spent with Fred and his wife Addie.

Although there are no Drummonds living in the original house today, Fred’s three sons and their children went on to become very successful themselves, buying up land before World War I through World War II and their heirs continue acquiring land to this day. I’ve done some research and according to several books and magazines, if all the Drummond holdings were combined, the family would rank among the top twenty landowners in the country.
Then of course if you add Ree Drummond into the mix, who married Ladd Drummond and started the wildly successful Pioneer Woman business, the family might just jump up a notch or two. A great family whose hard work through the generations helped to make Oklahoma a leader in the ranching industry. Once again, if you want to learn more about the Drummond clan or any other Oklahoma ranching family visit your local library, it’s a great place for research.

My travels this past week took me not only to Hominy but also to Pawhuska where I can tell you that at 11:30 AM there was a line a block long waiting to get into the Pioneer Woman Mercantile as the restaurant and the store were both already full. I also noticed two new stores in town that caught my eye. A book store! Yes a book store has opened on the main street of Pawhuska. Just the fact that a book store opens is news nowadays but in Pawhuska it’s quite a deal. The store is called the Book Burrow and the next time you’re over at Ree’s waiting in line you might check ‘em out.
The other new business is located in the same building as the Mercantile and actually sits right next door. Lorec Ranch is a big home furnishings store in Oklahoma City specializing in western stuff of course. Run by Kari Lopez, it’s been around for years and if you want cowboy décor Kari has it. Apparently Ree and Kari are friends and with the addition of Lorec Ranch along with a real book store, I’m wondering what could be coming next over there.

Till next time, I’ll see ya down the road……….

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