Ann Marie “Ree” Smith Drummond, better known as the Pioneer Woman, is famous. Her fame isn’t limited to just northeastern Oklahoma where she lives and works. Drummond has achieved true world-wide renown. As she describes herself, Drummond is “a writer, a cook, TV personality, blogger, wife, and mother.” Ree’s notoriety makes Osage County in Oklahoma a popular tourist destination. Hundreds of devotees are now planning trips to see the charming little town of Pawhuska firsthand. Tours of Ree’s TV cooking kitchen, known as The Lodge, are available to visitors. Fans can get tickets at The Merc, her famous store in Pawhuska. While there, visitors grab a bite to eat and shop for Ree’s line of merchandise.
Drummond might be famous, but here are some facts about her that just might surprise you!
Photo: Facebook/The Pioneer Woman- Reed Drummond
1. She began her career with a daily blog in 2006. Her readership now is reported to reach approximately 23 million viewers.
2. Ree grew up in a golf community in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, but she attended college in California with the idea of going into journalism or gerontology.
3. She was a member of Phi Beta Phi.
4. Ree made her television debut in an episode of “Throwdown! with Bobby Flay.” She won the Thanksgiving cookoff, and the Food Network offered her a show in 2011. And thus, the Pioneer Woman was introduced to a whole new audience.
Photo: Facebook/The Pioneer Woman – Ree Drummond
5. The countertops in her working lodge kitchen are concrete. They remind her of a sidewalk, and there aren’t many of those on her ranch.
6. Columbia Pictures secured the rights of her book “From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.” Reese Witherspoon was in talks to star as the Pioneer Woman.
7. Her net worth is estimated at anywhere between $8 million to $50 million, but we can’t be sure if those figures are accurate or not.
Photo: Facebook/The Pioneer Woman – Ree Drummond
8. Land and lots of land. Ree and her husband Ladd own 430,000 acres.
9. Over the years, Ree’s hair has gone through several fluctuations of red, but she was born a red head with brown eyes.
10. The first Drummond, Frederick, came to Pawhuska, Oklahoma, in 1886. He worked in the mercantile, and that same building now houses one of Ree’s latest additions to the family business: The Mercantile.
