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Show A9 America created a sphinx? A great concrete statue stat-ue cemented into tfye solid rock on the banks of the Rock river riv-er near Oregon. 111., has been built by Lorado Taft, the sculptor, sculp-tor, with every care that modern engineering en-gineering can take to make it as permanent per-manent as the Pyramids and other famous fa-mous landmarks of the ages. By his method of applying the concrete Mr. Taft bids fair to accomplish his purpose. pur-pose. The statue, erected to commemorate commemo-rate the American Indian, represents Black Hawk, chief of the Sacs and Foxes, standing with folded arms, looking down the picturesque valley of the Rock river. The figure is of noble proportions, being fifty feet in height, and crowns the top of a bluff 250 feet above the swirling waters of the river. The claim of the statue to fame rests in three things: First, any one who runs even those who run In automobiles may read Its message. As those who are rushing by in autos and steam cars and motor boats stop or turn to look it inevitably recalls the former occupancy by the red men of the places they are now In. Then the statue's great size places It on a scale with the Goddess of Liberty Lib-erty in 'New Pork harbor and the great statue of "The Pilgrim" on the New England coast. Its third and greatest claim to fame is that it is built to be permanent, and it is believed that it will outlast, the sphinx, the Pyramids and the stones erected by the Druids. ' It is utilitarian concrete which tt is hoped will make the statue of Black Hawk overtake the Sphinx in age by enduring after time has effaced ef-faced that grim figure. The statue was three years in process of making and represents a new era in concrete construction as applied to the art of sculpture. While fountains and pergolas per-golas and temporary figures for exhibitions exhi-bitions have been made lof concrete in the past, nothing approaching in magnitude or purpose the present piece of work has ever before been attempted with this material. It was a labor of love with the sculptor, who bore all the expense himself. Behind the building of the Black Hawk statue lies an interesting story. A few years ago Mr. Taft was watching watch-ing some workmen build a concrete chimney at the Chicago Art Institute, and there came to him his great idea of the mpans for making an enduring statue. With the process in mind it was not long until an adequate subject sub-ject presented itself. For fifteen years Mr. Taft has had his summer home and studio at Eagle's Nest Camp, near Oregon, the summer seat of the Chicago art colony. col-ony. Standing for the hundredth time at the highest point of the cliff he never failed to remember that it was from here that Black Hawk was finally driven out of Illinois. So he decided to bring ,back the famous Indian In-dian chief, and now in concrete Black Hawk again surveys his former domain, do-main, with an air of "immutable disdain," dis-dain," as one artist has put it. Black Hawk and his tribes fought on the English side in the War of 1812. He saw Booner than other chiefs that the whites would take all the Indian's hunting grounds from him. He tried ecerything from war to treaties to check the whites' advance. ad-vance. As he grew old he became more attached to his home along the Rock river and fought against removal re-moval to the Iowa reservation by the government. He even tried living in peace with the whites, but he had achieved such a reputation that any depredations that any Indians committed com-mitted were laid at his tepee door. Finally he and his people were driven driv-en across the Misslsippi by Uncle Sam's soldiers. After that, as an old man, he petitioned the government that he might come back and view his old domains on the Rock river. Many members of the tribe were brought with him, and suddenly there was panic among the whites. Wheth-rr Wheth-rr it was intentional from the first on the part of the Indians or the result of suspicion, a war was precipitated. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis Da-vis both fought with the whites and Black Hawk was made a prisoner. It is characteristic of Mr. Taft that whpn he went about what he hopes will be his most enduring work in a material way he started with as little lit-tle fuss as If it were a small matter. Silently and surely the work advanced advanc-ed as befits in character the approach of an Indian. Even the sculptor smiles at his work as if it were a conceit of the moment instead of the project of a lifetime, and succeeds partly in hiding his pleasure in the work. Mr. Taft did not study any one type or race of Indians in modeling the Black Hawk statue. It is a composite of the Fox and the Sacs, the Sioux and the Mohawks, and was intended to represent the general Indian personality. per-sonality. All the usual Indian ' trappings, trap-pings, such as the feathers and the buckskin, have been left off. There is even a suggestion of the old Roman in the face, which was necessary to make it suggest a spirit unconquered while still the conquered race. The head and profile and folded arms appear in perfect detail as they are outlined against the sky and forest for-est from many viewpoints around the country. On- a clear day, when the leaves are off the trees, the statue is visible at a distance of twenty miles. The exact site was selected after much experiment. . First a rough twenty-foot model was made and set up, but it was found that the height and distances were so great that the figure had to be enlarged and placed on a more prominent part of the cliff. Finally a light ffty-foot structure was erectetd on a farm wagon and the v wagon was drawn around until the proper location was established. For the foundation fifteen feet of soil had to be removed before bedrock bed-rock was struck. Here the top of a natural ledge of stone was reached. The ledge, thirty feet deep, Is formed of a succession of steps which have the appearance of being built artificially artifi-cially as they show on the river bluff. Many engineering difficulties had to be overcome, Inasmuch as a gTeat -concrete stetue had never before been made, The statue contains about two tons of twisted steel reinforcing and approximately 240 cubic yards of concrete, con-crete, twenty tons of which consists of pink grahfte screenings, giving It the appearance & a granite statue. More than 65,000 gallons of water was pumped up from the river for maintaining two steam engines and for mixing the concrete. Four hundred hun-dred and twenty barrels of cement were used in forming the mixture. The first model was of plaster and orriv eight inches high, the next was two feet high and the third six feet This last served as the working model mod-el and was enlarged by careful measurement meas-urement to a frame of scantlings around an elevator shaft. When the whole figure had been framed In lumber lum-ber wire netting was stretched over the timbers, and this In turn was covered with burlap for a surface. Later the burlap was painted with plaster of paris to stiffen it and then subjected to a coat of clay water to . insure its release from the mold later lat-er on. Meanwhile the head was modelled mod-elled in clay and cast by the usual process, the piece mold being saved for use again In casting the concrete. A three-inch mold was next mads over the figure, about ten tons ol I nlnatpr helne used for this purpose. with many heavy timbers for support. The scaffolding was then taken out and a steel reinforcing tower eight feet in diameter was built in its place. This tower ran the entire length of the body, ending In a dome just below the neck, and was designed design-ed to support the head and shoulders of solid concrete. The final work of casting was done in the middle of winter, ten days being be-ing required for this work, with twa crews of fourteen men each working in day and night shifts. When the mold was full heat was applied foi two days, and then the spirit ol Black Hawk was left to the elements. With the removal of this mold the following spring there emerged a perfect per-fect monolith concrete statue. This statue is, in more senses thaD one, the biggest thing that Mr. Taft has yet done. The statue is immensely immense-ly simple, the heavy folds of the blanket blan-ket surrounding the figure suggesting the man's body without following closely its outlines. The dignity, the stoicism and the bitterness of a vanquished van-quished leader are there. An interesting feature of the unveiling un-veiling ceremonies was addresses by Dr. Charles Eastman and Miss Laura M. Cornelius, or "Wynnogene," both full-blooded Indians and direct . descendants de-scendants of Black Hawk. |