Thanks to our reader John Orthmann, who was kind enough to comment on additional Lewis & Clark sculptures in his neck of the woods, we have more sculptures to add to our blogs about statuary featuring Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and the whole Corps of Discovery gang.
First of all, some sad news:
This terrific chainsaw statue is no more. Wah. But some great news:
I missed a terrific statue by the great Stanley Wanlass. Located in Long Beach, Washington, this statue commemorates the day when William Clark recorded on a sturdy tree what must have been a deeply satisfying moment: William Clark. Nov. 19, 1805. By land from the U. States.
In our novel, To the Ends of the Earth, we described Clark’s memory of that day:
He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and, taking care not to stumble in the darkness, went down to the sand spit and found a place to sit near the water. He looked at the blanket of gray mist covering the river, but he wasn’t really seeing it. In his mind’s eye, he saw instead the fog hovering in the giant, tangled trees along the Columbia River as the Expedition took their canoes through the river channels, coming ever closer to the Pacific Ocean they were so anxious to see. He could almost feel their heavy dugouts quiver in awe of the rough tidewater.
When they’d finally reached the great Pacific, he and Lewis had walked alone a short distance, leaving the men behind to whoop out their pleasure in the achievement. From a towering basalt cliff, they’d stood together in their ragged buckskins, drizzle dripping off their beards, watching enormous waves crash against the rocky shoreline. Clark’s heart was so full he couldn’t even speak. He would never forget the way Lewis faced down the great ocean with a challenging stare, as if to say I made it, you sonofabitch. Then he’d given Clark that defiant, crinkle-eyed smile, and a slow, satisfied nod.
Sacagawea is said to have been immortalized in statue more than any other American woman. Portland is home to one of the earliest monuments, a tremendous bronze by Alice Cooper. The sculpture was dedicated for the Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, a ceremony that was attended by feminist dignitaries including as Susan B. Anthony, and by Eve Emery Dye, feminist and author of The Conquest (1902), the historical novel that gave rise to many of the myths about Sacagawea that are still cherished today.
Not content with one statue of Sacagawea and little Pomp, in 2003, Portland added another, this time at Lewis & Clark College. Glenna Goodacre, who also designed the Sacagawea dollar, created the work, which was donated to the school by college trustee Richard Bertea and his wife Hyla.
One of the newest sculptures can be found at the Cascade Locks Visitor Center in Oregon, where a sultry Sacagawea is now on hand with the Expedition’s faithful dog Seaman. Heather Söderberg was commissioned to create the bronzes as a permanent memorial to the struggle faced by the Corps in navigating the rapids and the events of April 13, 1806, when Sacagawea and Seaman accompanied Captain Lewis on a mission to trade deer and elk skins for canoes and dogs (for eating) with the local people.
This video shows the casting of Sacagawea’s head:
Located near Tacoma, Fort Lewis (now named Joint Base Lewis-McChord due to an operations merger with the adjacent Air Force base), was named after Meriwether Lewis in 1917. Home of the Army I Corps, it is a huge and vital base. In a landmark choice, Major General John Hemphill, who spearheaded the project to bring these oversized bronzes to the base, commissioned a bronze of Sergeant John Ordway along with that of Lewis and his dog. Ordway’s statue is one of the few statues in the United States of a non-commissioned officer and the only one honoring one of the non-coms of the Corps of Discovery.
We wrote more about Ordway and his critical role in leading the Corps in our blog The Four Sergeants of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.
Near Dayton, Washington, an impressive collection of more than 80 — count ’em, 80 — life-sized steel silhouettes give visitors a sweeping impression of the scene at Patit Creek, where the Corps of Discovery camped on May 2, 1806, during the Expedition’s return journey. The full-scale scene was conceptualized and designed by local history buff and funeral director George Touchette, and the town of Dayton obtained a $108,000 grant from the Washington State Historical Society to complete the project. The sculptures were cut by Northwest Art Casting in Umapine, Oregon.
Thanks again, John, for all the great additions! Readers, let us know about other Lewis & Clark sculptures in your neck of the woods!
Previous installments:
Lewis and Clark in Sculpture (Part 1) – Virginia to Missouri
Lewis and Clark in Sculpture (Part 2) – Great Plains
Lewis and Clark in Sculpture (Part 3) – Rocky Mountains to the Sea
I have learned of more sculptures, all depicting Sacagawea.
One of these is located at the Sacajawea Center near Salmon, ID.
http://www.sacajaweacenter.org/index.html
Another statue is located in Showalter Hall at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, WA.
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8296
Yet another Sacagawea sculpture is actually the centerpiece of a fountain in Pioneer Park, Lewiston, ID.
http://www.danitadelimont.com/results.asp?image=US13+CRI0012
And finally, a 2008 statue of Sacagawea in Richland, WA (you will have to scroll to the web page a bit to find the photos, but they are the best I found).
http://www.mthigh.org/Photos2011.htm
Keep up the good work!
John Orthmann – Washington State
Wow! John, this is great! Thanks for adding this info to our post about “Janey” and the statues. It would be fun to see, and photograph, all of these — a great way to focus a road trip. 🙂
I have one of thr few bronze sculptures of Lewis and his dog done by an artist of Fort Benton, Montana. I bought this sculpture from him around 1971.
The sculpture shows Lewis writing in his diary with Seaman, his Newfoundland standing beside him.
Joseph Clawson 215 Newt Estates Road, Longview, WA 98632
josephpclawson@gmail.com