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Sculptural Works Pony
Express Website Owner: Jefferson Fairbanks, PhD, grandson of the sculptor Comments are welcome Related Links: Books on the Sculptor Avard Fairbanks by Eugene F. Fairbanks: "A Sculptor's Testimony in Bronze and Stone" "A Sculpture Garden of Fantasy" This web site is non-commercial in nature, and was not created for the purposes of selling art. Viewers interested in purchasing art may visit FairbanksArt.com for information regarding the sale of art. links: LDSMusician.com, LDSMusicNetwork.com, LDSMusicWorld.com, LDSMusic.org, BuyLDSMusic.com, |
The Old Oregon Trail
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 view of the monument |
 close view of the sculpture |
By Avard T. Fairbanks, PhD, 1924
Dedicated April 24, 2002 at the Oregon Trail Historic Reserve, Boise,
Idaho
Presented by the Boise Parks and Recreation Department
About the Monument
This sculptural bronze relief, 36 inches in diameter, was created
in 1924 by Avard Fairbanks while he served on the University of
Oregon faculty. It was inspired by his friendship with Oregon Trail
Pioneer Ezra Meeker whose passion for recognition and preservation
of the Trail was legendary. It depicts a pioneer mother and babe-in-arms
in a covered wagon with her husband driving the oxen on a rocky
trail.
Original placements of this sculpture are in Baker City and Seaside, Oregon. Additional locations of the monument include Vancouver, Washington and Casper, Wyoming at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center. The Fairbanks design was also selected for the Oregon Territory Centennial U.S. Postage Commemorative Stamp in 1948. The new bronze casting placed in Boise, Idaho is taken from the sculptor’s original model.
About the Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was the “backbone” of transportation
in the early American West. Along it traveled the greatest land
migration in human history. From 1841 into the 1880’s, nearly
one half million pioneers trekked it to settle America’s western
frontiers. Some 20,000 perished along the way. It stretched from
points along the Missouri River into the Northwest Territories,
and it encompassed parts of the California Trails (“Donnor
Party,” “49’rs,”etc.), the Utah (“Mormon”)
Pioneer Trail, the Pony Express Trail, and the Overland Stages Trail.
