Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond says she's thrilled she's been able to revitalize her small Oklahoma town

She has a successful blog, authored several cookbooks and has her own show on the Food Network. 

And now Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond is adding to her empire by opening a boutique hotel in the small Oklahoma town of Pawhuska just down the block from her wildly successful restaurant and store, the Mercantile. 

She and her business partner and husband Ladd Drummond created 250 jobs with the two enterprises and will also shortly add to that when they open a steakhouse and saloon in the downtown of Pawhuska.

Pioneer Woman:  Ree Drummond has created 250 jobs in the Oklahoma town of Pawhuska as she translates her blog, cookbook and TV show success into brick and mortar enterprises 

Pioneer Woman:  Ree Drummond has created 250 jobs in the Oklahoma town of Pawhuska as she translates her blog, cookbook and TV show success into brick and mortar enterprises 

'It’s exciting to use whatever success we’ve achieved to do things that aren’t just about us,' Ree told People in an interview published Wednesday.

Ree added: 'I’ve always loved our small town and it just thrills me that the Mercantile is giving people a chance to see what it’s all about.'

'And Pawhuska doesn’t exactly have a huge inventory of hotel rooms, so that’s how the Boarding House came to be.'

Giving back: She and her business partner and husband Ladd Drummond, pictured last year, are thrilled to help revitalize the small town where Ladd was raised, they told People

Giving back: She and her business partner and husband Ladd Drummond, pictured last year, are thrilled to help revitalize the small town where Ladd was raised, they told People

Expanding: Ree is adding to her empire by opening a boutique hotel in downtown Pawhuska just down the block from her wildly successful restaurant and store, the Mercantile

Expanding: Ree is adding to her empire by opening a boutique hotel in downtown Pawhuska just down the block from her wildly successful restaurant and store, the Mercantile

Draws crowds: 'It just thrills me that the Mercantile is giving people a chance to see what it’s all about,' she explained. 'And Pawhuska doesn’t exactly have a huge inventory of hotel rooms, so that’s how the Boarding House came to be'

Draws crowds: 'It just thrills me that the Mercantile is giving people a chance to see what it’s all about,' she explained. 'And Pawhuska doesn’t exactly have a huge inventory of hotel rooms, so that’s how the Boarding House came to be'

Thousands of fans visit the small town every week thanks to her fame. 

And it has helped revitalize an area that was badly hit during economic downturns that have plagued the community for three decades.   

'In the early ’80s, everything went down—the agriculture business, the oil business—and that’s basically the economy in Osage County. Everybody was hurting,' Pawhuska native Ladd told People.

'I love seeing people come back here. We have some great old buildings, and a lot of them are being fixed up and restored,' he said.

Rich: The Drummond family are one of the largest landowners in the U.S., owning 433,000 acres of property, and received $23.9 million from the U.S. government since December 2006 

Rich: The Drummond family are one of the largest landowners in the U.S., owning 433,000 acres of property, and received $23.9 million from the U.S. government since December 2006 

Payments: The millions are given to the family to keep wild horses and burros on their property with government records stating that they need the land to 'support animal protection'

Payments: The millions are given to the family to keep wild horses and burros on their property with government records stating that they need the land to 'support animal protection'

Ree and Ladd have raised their four children on a ranch in Pawhuska and the Drummond family are one of the largest landowners in the U.S., owning 433,000 acres of property.

Ladd is now a key player at Drummond Land & Cattle Co, the notoriously private family-held company that Frederick Drummond started after arriving in this country from Scotland in the late 19th century.

In addition to the money they bring in from their cattle and horse endeavors, Drummond Land has also received $23.9 million from the federal government via he Bureau of Land Management since December 2006.

These contracts are awarded to the family to keep wild horses and burros on their massive property, with government records stating that they need the land to 'support animal protection.'

Ree also came from money, growing up as the daughter of a surgeon on a country club in Bartlesville, about 20 miles east of Pawhuska.

She left for school at the University of Southern California and, a few years after graduating, planned to move closer to home, to Chicago.

Her plans took a detour when she stopped for a visit in Bartlesville and meet her Marlboro Man, who she wed in 1996, paving the way for the birth of her alter ego.

'It was, kind of just, love that got me out here, and then after we got married I thought, 'Oh my gosh, what have I done?' You know, 'Where am I, and this is real. I live in the country,''she said in an interview last year.

'If I had sat down and tried to plan an empire there's no way, no way any of this would have happened,' she added. 

Booming business: 'It’s exciting to use whatever success we’ve achieved to do things that aren’t just about us,' Ree told People in an interview published Wednesday

Booming business: 'It’s exciting to use whatever success we’ve achieved to do things that aren’t just about us,' Ree told People in an interview published Wednesday

 

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