By Gloria Hanson (Published Thursday, November 7, 2024 Capital Journal)
Shortly after we celebrated Fort Pierre’s Bicentennial in 2017, a group of volunteers formed Fort Pierre Historic Sculpture Committee. We had watched Pierre create the Trail of Governors and decided we wanted to celebrate our own rich history through art.
And now we have four projects in the works; a bison sculpture by John Lopez; Pierre Chouteau, Jr.; a generic Lakota woman water feature; and a detailed replica of Commander Waldron’s aircraft carrier, the Hornet.
The bison will be one of Lopez’ incredible scrap metal pieces. He’s had long time to work on it due to the bridge construction schedule, and it will contain many Fort Pierre – specific features. In John’s words “it will be a show-stopper”. Greater than lifesize, it will be part of the Tatanka Trail project, south of Highway 14 and the bridge approach.
Pierre Chouteau, Jr. is being sculpted by another South Dakota artist, Matthew Lanz. It is based on an actual transaction from Chouteau’s trading post ledgers, featuring a young Pierre Jr. standing with a bale of furs, ledger and quill in hand, surrounded by traps, beads, knives, ammunition, cooking pots, blanket, etc. Its location will likely be downtown possibly at river’s edge at the end of East Main Street.
The Hornet, a 1/200th scale replica, is the creation of Chicago artist Bob Groman. It is also extremely authentic, complete with sailors, machine guns, torpedo bombers, bridge, flight control tower, etc. The wood deck is so detailed you can see the wood grain. Mr. Groman has generously offered it to Fort Pierre as a gift. The committee’s job is to find an appropriate location (logically near the Lt. Commander John C. Waldron Memorial bridge) and have a display case built equipped with audio so you can push a button and hear Waldron’s story of heroism during the Battle of Midway.
The final piece in progress was also sculpted by Matthew Lanz: Water Carrying Woman, a lifesize piece featuring a Lakota woman in historic native dress, holding a clay pot over her head. It will most likely be located in the Tatanka Trail area and will be outfitted so water runs from the pot into a trough at her feet. Again, you will be amazed by the authentic detail.
With four pieces in progress, the committee is focusing on raising funds for completion and installation of all four, and to begin planning for the next projects on our list. We hope to have other pieces representing Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery meeting Chief Black Buffalo and his people at the confluence of the Bad and Missouri Rivers, another for the Verendrye Brothers, and for Scotty and Sarah Philip.
Please let us know if you would like to be involved. Tax-deductible donations can be made to Future Fort Pierre, Historic Sculptures Committee, PO Box 1194, Fort Pierre, SD 57532. Major donors will be recognized with bronze plaques at the sculptures’ locations.