Page:The Pacific Monthly vol. 14.djvu/113



THE BLIZZARD, by Solon H. Borglum. "One can feel the sharp onset of the gale as it twists the horse's mane and blows the grizzled beard of the prospector in wavering strands."

private collections of art which exist in the Oregon of to-day are all bound by ties of direct succession to the heroic days of the past.

With distinct utterance, this tale is told by the noble groups of statuary in the Ex- position grounds. They bespeak an art worthy of the highest civilization, and, in two-fold expression — since, for the most part, their subjects are events of pioneer life — give insistent emphasis to the swell- ing tide of the century's progress.

It matters not that nearly all the groups of statuary at the Lewis and Clark Exposi- tion were brought from St. Louis. They fit admirably into the decorative scheme here, and are thoroughly typical of the Northwest. Moreover, they have a land- scape setting here which was lacking at St. Louis, and this offers such satisfactory background that persons who saw the groups there cannot fail to discover new beauties in them when viewed in this new environment.

Had special commissions for sculptural work been given out by the officials of the Portland Exposition, it is doubtful

whether more satisfactory results could have been secured. The Indian, the cow- boy, the prospector, the moving figures of the Lewis and Clark Expedition — what subjects are more typical than these of the early days of the Oregon Country?

The bronze statue of Sacajawea, which is to be placed in a commanding position near the top of the grand stairway, will doubtless hold first place in popular favor. As a newly discovered heroine in the pan- orama of American history and a rival of Pocahontas — for Sacajawea, too, was the daughter of a chief — the Shoshone ffirl has captured the warm heart of the West. The story of her fidelity and her fortitude has already been told in The Pacific Monthly. To the women of the Northwest is due the credit of having recognized her virtues and first given them the meed of public praise : to a woman, also, fell the pleasant task of creating a permanent idealization of the young Indian mother.

Here one may pause to refiect upon the distinction that our great expositions have conferred upon women sculptor? At the Columbian Exposit