Prescott's heroic bronzes

Premiere, of course, being the Rough Rider monument on the Square, at the front of the Courthouse. The creation of Solon Borglum, it is one of two local bronzes by the brother of Gutzon Borglum who designed Mt. Rushmore. The sculpture honors William "Bucky" O'Neill, one of the city's most famous sons, who led a local contingent of over 200 men to Cuba in the Spanish-American War, where he died. The statue was commissioned by the city for a fee of ten thousand dollars and unveiled in 1907, according to the Sharlot Hall Museum web site, which also gives data on four other major monumental bronzes in downtown Prescott.

Cowboy at Rest is the other Borglum work at the Courthouse. An upscaled version of a miniature original, it was dedicated in 1990.

The third Courthouse bronze is the All Veterans Memorial by Neil Logan, dedicated in 1989, to honor Prescott area veterans of the Vietnam War.

Now here is a lively monument to the rodeo cowboy that far too many people are unaware of. In fact, I was among them until a few months back when my friend Patty insisted that I take a look. The sculpture is at the entrance of Prescott City Hall, kittycornered from the Square at Goodwin and Cortez. Named Early Rodeo, it is the work of Richard Terry. 1988.

The fifth monumental work is dedicated to the city's Early Settlers, depicting a cowboy, a mule skinner, a gold prospector and pioneer woman. Created by Bill Nebeker, it was dedicated in 1985. Location: the little park at the east end of town where SR69 divides into Gurley on the south and Sheldon on the north.

Not covered in the Sharlot Hall note is the last of the Prescott area bronzes, to be found at the entrance to the Frontier Village shopping center. And, I might add, facing north making it a difficult shot for detail. If the mall were a bit closer, I might be able to walk there and spend some time on the project, so I've had to be satisfied with a drive-by shooting.

FYI, the public library has a miniature of the Early Settlers on display near its coffee shop, as well as the miniature of an Indian woman and child (below). I'm curious -- does this second piece also exist as a monumental bronze somewhere in the area?

Unexpected bronzes

It's an unusual collection of bronzes, especially for a funeral home. But then, this is the West. And what could be more historically western in Prescott than the Ruffner name! After making arrangements for Mom at Wakelin-Ruffner, I took these pictures. Saddles. And more saddles.They make rather strange-looking objects without an intervening horse!

There were quite a few name-brand cowboy and western bronzes, as well.

And, at the entrance, this splendid Uncle Sam. I know Mom would have liked him -- and would have then spent a few minutes figuring out how to make a better one. There was also much butterfly art on the walls; I'll talk about that tomorrow. In the meantime, the funeral home has posted a my brief biog of Mom here. BTW, I miscounted the number of great grandchildren -- it's 8.