The Bull and Indian Maiden statue at Garfield Park is one of the public monuments that "warrant attention" according to the secretive Chicago Monuments Project, a committee assigned by Mayor Lori Lightfoot after the July riot outside the Grant Park Christopher Columbus statue that led to all three of Chicago's Columbus statues being moved into storage.
I was on the West Side last Sunday and I went to Garfield Park to see the statue, which stands outside the conservatory there. But I was told by a Chicago Park District employee that the outdoors portion of the conservatory was closed for winter.
Click here to see the bronze work, which is a replica created by the same molds used to create one for the 1893 Columbian Expostion, as well as a similar one featuring the Roman goddess Ceres. Both were designed by Daniel Chester French and Edward C. Potter. French's most famous work is the marble sculpture of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
We'll hear more about French and Potter as my series continues.
In 1986 Bull and Indian Maiden was stolen from Garfield Park. This is a massive and heavy statue, presumably a crane and a large truck were used for the heist. I suspect three strong persons, possibly more, were needed to snatch Bull and Indian Maiden. To me this theft screams "inside job." After being alerted by an auction house, the statue was returned to the Chicago Park District in 2010, where at the right time of year folks like myself can view it, along with, I think, the Ceres statue which was damaged during the theft of its sister work.
Among the reasons that this and several others of the 40 other monuments "in review" are that they are "presenting inaccurate and/or demeaning characterizations of American Indians." As cattle were not present in pre-Columbus America, perhaps "Bull and Indian Maiden" is innacurate. Demeaning? I don't think so.
How far do we want to take this misadventure into a left-wing rabbit hole? After all horses were brought to the Americas by the Spanish.
To comment on the monuments "under review" please visit the Chicago Monuments Project "Feedback page." Please be courteous but firm in your comments.Please Tweet this post. When you do so use the #ChicagoMonuments hashtag.
- Chicago monuments under assault, Part One, William McKinley
- Chicago monuments under assault, Part Two, Young Lincoln
- Chicago monuments under assault, Part Three, Melville Fuller
- Chicago monuments under assault, Part Four, Leif Erikson
- Chicago monuments under assault, Part Five, John A. Logan
- Chicago monuments under assault, Part Six, The Alarm
- Chicago monuments under assault, Part Seven, Phil Sheridan
Related posts of mine at Da Tech Guy
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