The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-05-18
Monument at Pawnee Rock to
Il BE Dedicated May "a.
Commentaries the War of Civ.
iIizatiOn ON Frontier.
LANDMARK FOR IMMIGRANTS
Used as a Fortress in Battles
With Indians.
Famous Generals Carved Their
Names on Face of Bluff.

The donation of the Pawnee Rock
monument, which will be presented to
the State of Kansas on the Path of
May, is a patriotic call to which most
Kansans have enthusiastically re-
sponded. It is one of the significant
events in the history of the state, es-
pecialIy important to the citizens Of
western Kansas. For more than a
year the village of Pawnee Rock has
been making preparations for the
ceremony, and the Woman's Kansas
Day club has been working untiringly
for a much longer time.
The festivities will take place on
May I'd, and large delegation is ex-
pected; representatives will come from
Kansas City, Lawrence, Topeka and
east. and the Colorado border. Elk
governor E. w. Hoch and Judge G. P-
Lobden will be the principal speakers
and Lieutenant Governor r. ]. Hop
lxins, in the absence of Gov. Stubs,
Is to accept the gift for the state.
The federation of women's clubs
will meet in Larned the 22nd and
2grd, and will adjourn in time to attend
the unwilling ceremonies. 1t is ex-
pected that the club women will at
tend in a body, as the citizens Of
Harmed have arranged to take them
In automobiles from Larned to Paw
nee Rock, a distance of 9 miles.
It is a notable facI that the funds
for the monument have come in min
ute contributions from loyal citizens
who desire to perpetuate this national
landmark. and many Kansas women
have given time, thought and money
to the completion of the plans for
this creditable project. The fruition
of their toll is now to be returned to
the Sunflower state.
The gigantic monument, set on the
historic rock itself, will be visited
yearly by hundreds of tourists Clear
cut against the deep sky above the
prairie, it will be visible over miles
of the short grass land. OF it Will
liam Allen White has said: THE
rock will be worth millions to Kan
Eas as the decades slip into centuries;
and the story that the great rock
symboiizes, as it is told and retold,
cannot but make a deep impression on
the life of this community"
On the 18th of May the shaft spent
a few hours in Topeka. Mrs. Scott
Hopkins, president of the Woman'S
Kansas Day club, Mrs. w. A. Johnston,
president of the Woman's Equal Suf-
frage League of Kansas, Mr.. g. H.
Chandler state architect, and Mr..
George w. Martin, secretary of the
State Historical society, went to the
station where the shaft, which had
just arrived from one of the large
quarries in Vermont, was uncrated to
ascertain if the marking was correct.
On a marble base which will rest on
the rock is a smaller square which
bears the inscriptions. On one side is
the name OIL benjamin WAO
gave the rock and five acres of land
surrounding it to the state, with the
stipulation that the women of the state
raise $4,000 to develop the park and
present the monument by the year
1912. On the other side is the dedi-
cation: Presented to the state of
Kansas by the Woman's Kansas Day
club, the Daughters of the American
Revolution. the Women's Relief Corps
and the Woman'S Christian Temper
ance Union On this is raised an
other block, and the most artistic
work is here. The genius of the old
world has expressed in stone the west
ern ideals the new world could not
portray; all the carving has been done
by skilled Italian artisans, but the de-
Sign is by Mr.. c. w. Guild of To-
peka. On one side is the head of a
mighty buffalo, grazing over the end
less plains with melancholy eyes. The
carving, which is done in intaglfo and
medallion, is superb. On the other
side is a magnificent Indian head in
profile. No other emblems would be
fitting for Pawnee Rock; the red man
and the buffalo. defrauded of their
hunting ground. will remain there
eternally in stone. From this block
rises the pointed granite shaft thirty
feet high.
History of the Rock.
In speaking of the donation, a brief
history of the rock might be given;
It means to Kansas what Plymouth
Rock stands for in Massachusetts, 1t