THE CHEMA WA AMERICAN
3
and, in short, represents the Indian personality. I have left off the us
ual Indian trappings—the feather and buckskin and other conventional
signs. There is even a hint of the old Roman in the face, which was
necessary to make it suggest a spirit unconquered while still the con
quered race.”
When the leaves are off the trees the statue can be seen for 20 miles.
From the stand point of association it is the gateway through which
the Indians passed on one of their last trips west.
The exact site was obtained by much experiment. First a rough 20-
foot model was made a ad set up, but it was found that height and
distances were so great that it had to be enlarged and placed on a more
prominent part of the cliff. Finally a light 50-foot structure was erected
on a farm wagon, and the wagon was drawn around until the prop
er location was established.
For the foundation 15 feet of soil had to be removed before bed rock was
struck. Here the top of a natural ledge was reached. The ledge, 30 feet
deep, is formed a succession of stones which have the appearance of
being built artificially, as they now show on the river bluff.
Many engineering difficulties had to be overcome, inasmuch as a
great concrete statue had never before been made. The statue con
tains about two tons of twisted steel reinforcing and approximately 238
cubic \ ards of concrete, 20 tons of which are one-forth inch to dust
pink granite screenings, giving it the appearance of a granite statue.
More than 65,000 gallons of water were pumped up from the river for
maintaining two steam engines, and for mixing the concrete. Four
hundred and twenty barrels of cement were used in forming the mixture.
The first model was of plaster and only eight inches high; the next was
two feet, and the third was six feet. This last served as the working
model and was enlarged by careful measurement to a frame of scantlings
around an “ elevator shaft.” When the whole figure had been framed
in lumber wire netting was stretched over the timbers, and this in turn
was covered with burlap for surface. Later the burlap was painted
over with plaster of Paris, to stiffen it, and then subjected to a coat ot
clay-water to insure its release from the mold later on. Both coatings
were applied with a force pump. Meanwhile the head was modeled 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 made over the figure, about 10 tons of
plaster of Paris being used for this purpose, with many heavy timbers
for support. Thescaffolding 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 to support the head and shoulders of solid cement. The final
z