The Point Richmond, California, Women's West Side Improvement Club decided to place a large fountain at the apex of the downtown Triangle at Park Place and Washington Avenue. After considerable research, they selected a large fountain which could accommodate horses dogs and humans. Ordered from J.L. Mott Iron Works in San Francisco, it was unveiled in 1909, revealing an impressive Indian statue atop the large fountain structure. The statue presided over the business district until one night in 1943, when a local truck driver, leaving one of the local bars, backed into the fountain, knocking the statue to the ground. This was in the midst of World War II, when every scrap of metal was precious, and, as the story goes, city maintenance crews picked up the pieces, which were used either for the 'war effort' or for local repair parts.
The statue, and it's base, are the same as that in Fargo. It's fate was remarkably similar.
A Mott Iron Works Indian statue stands today in Calhoun, Georgia which is about 45 miles south of Chattanooga. It is said that this is Sequoah, a Cherokee. The picture of the Calhoun statue, shown in color to the right was generously provided by Wes Schultz of Chattanooga. Thanks Wes !!
This is undoubtedly the best picture of what Fargo's copy once looked like.
A reader of the web site (Robert) from Mt. Kisco, NY, recognized the statue and provdied this interesting link.
In 1908 an unnamed statue of a male Indian, without tribal affiliation, was erected at the head of Broadway—an area sometimes referred to as Broadway Square. The statue was cast by an iron works in New York City, shipped to Broadway, and placed in the center of Broadway just south of the NP tracks. There it stood silently staring northward for 40 years.
The Indian Statue was initiated by the Fargo Humane Society with the idea that the base of the statue would provide a watering trough for horses. Horse owners soon protested that a public watering trough could spread disease and the fountain was turned off.
The Indian warrior continued to gaze northward up Broadway until a truck banged into the statue (I believe in the 1940s). The damaged statue was trucked away to the city garage where it sat gathering dust. In 1948, a Fargo businessman told the City Council that he was prepared to buy the statue and put it in the estate of a friend. The Pioneer Daughters of North Dakota protested that the statue should have a home in Fargo. As a result, the statue was rebronzed and in December 1949 it was placed in NP Park.
Fargo, North Dakota
The Indian Statue
The park, unfortunately, was turned into a parking lot in 1958 and the statue was once again hauled off to gather dust, this time in the Fargo Street Department. The statue rose once again, however, in 1961 when Street Department Superintendent Jorgen Miller had the statue fixed, cleaned, repainted bronze, and bolted to a concrete base next to the Street Department warehouse at 4th Street and First Avenue South.
That was 40 years ago. Where is it today? Let me know if you know.
The above information is from a 1961 Fargo Forum article found and provided by John Hallberg. Thank you John !
There is an identical statue still standing in a town square in Schenectady, New York. It was placed there in 1887 and apparently Schenectady has taken better care of their statue than did Fargo. The Schenectady statue is known locally as "Lawrence the Indian". Lawrence is representative of a Mohawk Indian who befriended the Dutch settlers and helped them re-establish the Dutch colony there following the 1690 Massacre. You can see a picture of the statue here. Apparently the Fargo Humane Society ordered it from the same iron works as the townfolk of Schenectady.
The statue of Lawrence the Indian was originally a carving done by wood carver Samuel Anderson Robb about 1860 for William Demuth who was the leading cigar store Indian peddler. Demuth published a catalog of his wares and in 1872 Lawrence is listed as "No. 53 Indian Chief." In 1873, the J.L.Mott Iron Works purchased the design and listed him for $500 in their catalog of statuary. The Schenectady statue was purchased in 1887. There are others like him still extant in Tilton, New Hampshire; Barberton, Ohio; and Cusco, Peru.
