Cattle Arrive On Eastern's McAlester Campus
(Press Release 03-13-09)
Hank Mooney, Office of Public Information

If you’ve traveled east or west -- north or south -- through McAlester recently, no doubt you have noticed a few cattle traveling south on the hill on the northwest corner of the intersection of highways US 69 and US 270.

However, with a second glance, those two mounted cowboys driving the herd of nine cattle chaperoned by a blue heeler dog hasn’t moved very far since the were placed there January 17.

The 12 piece cattle drive arrived on a Saturday straight from Pendelton, OR, on a large flatbed trailer. Rumors started being “text” in the area about cowboys and cows going down the highway “on a flatbed” even before they arrived on the McAlester campus of Eastern Oklahoma State College just west of US Highway 69 and north of US 270.

By early afternoon, Patrick Lewis of Patrick Lewis Landscaping along with Gary and Ruyana Fugitt who had commissioned the sculptures for placement on the campus, were busy off loading and directing the positions of the concrete sculptures along the hill to be seen by passers by.

Ruyana Fugitt said she was looking for some way to give something to the community that “had been so good to her all of her life and also to honor her father who had been a rancher all of his.”

“One day a friend of ours, Bob Wallace, and I were talking about ways to put McAlester as a place people traveling across country would want to come to and remember.

“Bob showed me a picture of a cattle drive sculpture he had from Pendleton, OR. They have a motor home and travel all over the country.

“When I saw it, it tugged at my heart. It reminded me of my daddy and what he used to do,” Ruyana said.

“It just looked like something I wanted to do, and asked Gary if we could do it.

“You have to have your husband onboard if you are going to do a project like this. Gary agreed, and so we contacted the artist.

The Fugitt’s talked with the artist and eventually flew to Pendleton to see the sculpture, and after some discussion they decided on the cattle scheme on site today.

The original sculpture was rough, not smooth like she had pictured her dad’s cattle she remembered from her youth.

She said she considered bronze and other styles but decided on a more natural style.

The artist, Michael Booth, is an art instructor at a community college in Pendleton. Ruyana said the artist works in a number of mediums and is opening a gallery in Montana.

The sculptures are made with concrete reinforcement bars as a skeleton and covered with died concrete.

My dad, Freddie Browne, was a rancher and raised white faced Hereford cattle.”

Gary said her dad had about 20,000 acres in the Crowder, Blocker and Blanco areas near McAlester.

“I can remember going to cattle sales with daddy,” Ruyana said. “It was so neat; he used to let me help him do the bidding. I would raise my hand to bid then daddy would let me know when that was enough.

“We’re going to call it the –XL (bar XL) cattle drive. My daddy’s brand was –XL and the brands were placed on the left side of his cattle which we incorporated into the display. Daddy also had a blue heeler that helped him with the cattle.

“We were thrilled that the college was receptive to having the cattle drive on their campus. We wanted to put them somewhere where people could see them. I think it is a great location.”

Eastern President Dr. Steve Smith said they had talked to him more than a year ago about placing the cattle drive on the campus.

“It sounded like something that would be beneficial for not only for the Eastern campus but the whole community,” he said.

“It’s good to help represent a bit of local history.”

While it is something to see now, the Fugitt’s aren’t finished with the task. Plans include making it look more like a trail drive with more landscaping, additional trees, a couple of benches and maybe a picnic table so that students or tourists can stop and go out to the display and study or just rest a while Ruyana says.

“We plan to have the landscaper design lighting for the area,” she said, “so it can be seen at night as well.”

Cutline:

Ruyana and Gary Fugitt, center, along with Eastern Development Director Ann Owens and Eastern President Dr. Steve Smith toured the Bar XL cattle drive on the McAlester campus just west of US Highway 69 recently. The life-sized cattle drive and the surrounding area is still under construction. Plans call for further landscaping and lights so tourists and students can enjoy a bit of southeast Oklahoma history that began in the early part of the last century.

(click on photo for larger view)